Experience With Chemical Sand Consolidation as a Remedial Sand-Control Option on the Heidrun Field

Haavind, Frode; Bekkelund, Sissel Solberg; Moen, Arild; Kotlar, Hans Kristian; Andrews, Jamie Stuart; Haland, Torstein Sleire

doi:10.2118/112397-ms

Cited by 14 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…More detailed information on these results will be reported elsewhere [13]. Unfortunately, this test could only be effectuated 80 days after the initial back production and the well had been producing on and off during this period.…”

Section: Case Historymentioning

confidence: 97%

Field Experience With Chemical Sand Consolidation as a Remedial Sand Control Option

Kotlar

Moen

Haaland³

et al. 2008

All Days

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Sand production from wells is an ongoing challenge for the oil industry. In some wells intervention is required for remedial sand control or new sidetracks are required. However, for a limited number of suitable wells, chemical treatments that consolidate the near wellbore area can be a viable alternative to improve well offtake rates. Chemical sand consolidation can give a formation some additional residual strength in order to enhance the maximum sandfree rate (MSFR).Sand production in weakly consolidated reservoirs will occur when stresses in the well/perforation tunnel walls are large enough to disrupt the binding between the individual sand grains. This will generate a plasticised layer of sand in the near well bore area. The layer will erode by the produced fluid and may be transported to the surface. The rate of erosion will depend on the residual strength of the plastified material and the fluid rate.The chemical treatment developed to overcome these problems is environmentally acceptable with a low value for bioaccumulation and a high value for biodegradation.The chemical is mixed in diesel and bullheaded into the well allowing placement that can be complimentary to existing control measures. Once placed the active chemical components will react with the connate water in the near wellbore area and form a polymerized network which binds the sand grains together. In that way, the residual strength of the formation is increased and can withstand larger hydrodynamic forces (i.e. production rates) before the grains are transported into the wellbore.The method has been employed in eight different StatoilHydro operated wells in four different fields, with encouraging results. Moreover, there are indications that water cut could be reduced due to the treatment. Combined with a higher draw down potential, this gives support for the use of the sand consolidation method as an IOR initiative.

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Section: Case Historymentioning

confidence: 97%

Field Experience With Chemical Sand Consolidation as a Remedial Sand Control Option

Kotlar

Moen

Haaland³

et al. 2008

All Days

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“…Chemical sand consolidation technology prior to a squeeze has been done as a means of reducing the risk for sand production after a squeeze operation (Haavind et al, 2008).…”

Section: Formation Damagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Haavind et al, (2008) reported that well A-14 was treated 3 times over a period of 14 months with sand consolidation chemical prior to scale squeezes. Water based scale inhibitor squeezes have also started sand production in some wells on Heidrun.…”

Section: Viscosified Inhibitor Formation Damagementioning

confidence: 99%

Squeeze Related Well Productivity Impairment Mechanisms & Preventative/Remedial Measures Utilised: Norwegian Continental Shelf

Fleming¹,

Ramstad²,

Mathisen³

et al. 2010

Proceedings of SPE International Conference on Oilfield Scale

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Squeezing is routinely employed by Statoil as a means of maintaining well productivity and avoiding safety issues related to downhole safety valve scaling. In the majority of cases, squeezing maintains well production through minimisation of scale related downtime. However, it has been observed occasionally by Statoil that the benefits of scale prevention by squeezing can be outweighed by the detrimental impact on well productivity. While there have been several articles covering specific elements of a squeeze operation that have affected well productivity, little has been published that attempts to completely describe squeeze related, production impairment mechanisms. This paper will aim to address this gap by demonstrating how squeezing, in some cases, can have an adverse impact on well productivity and highlight the remedial or preventative methods that have been utilised.A review of the squeeze related, production impairment mechanisms from Statoil operated fields show that they can be related to near wellbore formation, alteration in the reservoir production characteristics or completion design. Physical formation damage mechanisms include a. Squeezing of sensitive reservoirs (fines mobilisation and clay swelling) b. Scaling of production intervals due to incorrect inhibitor placement c. Viscosified inhibitor formation damage d. Damage related to precipitation squeezes e. Increased sand production after squeezing Liquid formation damage mechanisms include a. Squeeze related relative permeability alteration causing increased water cut and reduced oil rates. b. Water blocks and emulsion formation due to squeezing of an aqueous treatment into an oil producing or water sensitive interval. Other examples of squeeze related productivity impairment are screen and gravelpack blockage while an indirect effect are lift problems after squeezing in wells with depleted reservoir pressure. In all instances, the economic costs of lost production can far exceed those of actually performing the squeeze. Case histories will be used to illustrate the productivity impairment mechanisms and methods used to overcome these along with lessons learned.

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“…orientation and diameter of the perforations [26], [8] , inclination and azimuth of the well) or by shooting the perforations only in the layers with best mechanical properties. It is also possible to complete the well with tools (such as standalone or expandable screens, gravel or frac pack or chemical consolidation [9] ) which prevent the sand particles, once detached from the formation, to be dragged into the well by the fluid flow.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sand Prediction: A Practical Finite-Element 3D Approach for Real Field Applications

2010

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Sand production is a critical issue in Oil & Gas industry. During the production of a well, sand production may have negative consequences such as risk of well failure, erosion of pipelines and surface facilities and need for sand separation and disposal. Knowing the conditions for the onset of sand production allows optimizing sand free production and, eventually, avoiding or delaying the use of sand control methods. The aim of this work is to establish a reliable workflow for the estimation of the conditions for sand production, in real field cases, by means of Finite Element Modelling. With this respect, the fundamental requirement is to set-up a 3D coupled model that can be easily adjusted the most complex conditions (e.g. stress anisotropy, deviated wells, complex perforations patterns). The most suitable geometries and associated meshing strategies to describe the wellbore, the perforation tunnels and the surrounding formation are analyzed. The drilling and completion phases were also simulated to compute the correct stress distribution before the production. Fluid flow and rock deformation are simulated in a fully coupled way to investigate accurately the effect of drawdown. Shear failure of reservoir rock, considered as an elasto-plastic medium, is the main sand production mechanisms analyzed and the damage of the rock around the perforations is evaluated by analyzing the distribution of the equivalent plastic strain. A real field case is simulated and the results of the Finite Element model are consistent with the ones obtained by means of an analytical model and with field observations. Moreover, this numerical approach allows quantifying the spatial distribution and the severity of the damage of the rock around the perforations, facts that are either oversimplified or not considered at all in analytical models. For future applications, this model can be straightforwardly extended to more complex conditions and can also be improved to provide volumetric sand prediction. SPE 134464The common drawback of all these approaches is their cost and their negative impact on the productivity of a well: the correct assessment of the risk of sand production from a well can be a key factor in establishing the most profitable compromise between the maximization of the production and the control of costs for eventual sand management actions. Therefore, various approaches were proposed in literature to evaluate the eventual onset of sand production and, if possible, to quantify it. Available approachesPredicting the onset of sand production is a geomechanical issue that has been investigated for a long time (see e.g.[10], [19], [5] and [3], even if not an exhaustive list of the earlier works). The approaches developed throughout the years can be divided into three categories. The first class includes the development of methods based upon empirical relationships between the onset of sand production and some parameter that characterize either the mechanical properties of the rock (e.g. P-wave transit time [21] ) or the o...

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Experience With Chemical Sand Consolidation as a Remedial Sand-Control Option on the Heidrun Field

Cited by 14 publications

References 5 publications

Field Experience With Chemical Sand Consolidation as a Remedial Sand Control Option

Field Experience With Chemical Sand Consolidation as a Remedial Sand Control Option

Squeeze Related Well Productivity Impairment Mechanisms & Preventative/Remedial Measures Utilised: Norwegian Continental Shelf

Sand Prediction: A Practical Finite-Element 3D Approach for Real Field Applications

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