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Effective Gravel Pack Technique for Well Completion

Received: 20 April 2024    Accepted: 6 May 2024    Published: 17 May 2024
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Abstract

Sand production occurs when oil and gas is produced alongside reservoir formations at some point in the productive lifecycle of a well, understanding why reservoir produces sand is a crucial step towards managing sand production, the objective of this research is to improve the quality of produced fluid (oil/gas) for easy separation, the study method of this research work was basically a laboratory based sieve analysis of formation sand of a well in consideration, this is designed to achieve the most effective gravel pack grain size to be used, from the result analyzed with careful interpretations as presented, the Niger Delta Well-X formation comprise grain sizes of 0.0788” – 0.0025” range as captured from the available set of sieves used, the concentration of percentage retain falls within grain size 0.0197” – 0.007 1” with 0.0197” having about 41.4% retain by weight with the total grain weight of 737grams to stand at 305grams, while grain size 0.0118” had a percentage retained of 25.5% having a weight of 188grams and 0.0071” had a percentage retain of 12.9% with a weight of 95% respectively, keeping all other size to be 20.1%, for the sorting, 9.4 was calculated from the analysis of this research which makes the gravel pack to be well sorted. Therefore, permeability and plugging challenges are not a problem. The range of gravel size recommended for the gravel pack was kept at a minimum of 0.0727” and a maximum of 0.1639”. A screen size of 55 gauges was calculated to enable effective gravel pack placement operation, which is practical solution to sand production for the well investigated if properly managed.

Published in Petroleum Science and Engineering (Volume 8, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.pse.20240801.17
Page(s) 56-62
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Sand Production, Grain Size, Sieve Analysis, Screen Size, Gravel Pack

References
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[2] Nouri A, vaziri H and Islam R (2003); “A comprehensive Approach to Modeling Sanding During Oil Production,” paper SPE 81032, Presented at the SPE Latin American and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, West Indies, April 23-30.
[3] Vaziri, H. (2012); “Determination of mobilized strength properties of degrading sandstone,” Journal of Soils and Foundations, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 658–667.
[4] Tiffin DL, Stein MH and Wang X (2003); Drawdown Guidelines for Sand Control Completions, “paper SPE 84495, presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Dever, Colorado, USA, October 5-8.
[5] Han G, Dusseault MB and Cook J (2002) “Quantifying Rock Capillary Strength Behaviour in Unconsolidated Sandstones, “ Paper SPE/ISRM 78170, presented at the SPE/ISRM Rock Mechanics Conference, Irving, Texas, USA. October 20-23.
[6] Belheine N. J. P. Plassiard, F. V. Donzé, F. Darve, and A. Seridi, (2009); “Numerical simulation of drained triaxial test using 3D discrete element modeling,” Computers and Geotechnics, vol. 36, no. 1-2, pp. 320–331.
[7] Powers B. S., Edment, B., Elliott, F., Gilchrist, J., Twynam, A. J., and parper, M. (2006), A critical Review of Chirag Field Completions Performance Azerbaijan. Paper SPE 98146 presented at the international symposium and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control, Lafayette, USA, 15-17 Feb.
[8] Xiao Y and H. H. Vaziri (2011); “Import of strength degradation process in sand production prediction and management,” in Proceedings of the 45th U.S. Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium, San Francisco, Calif, USA.
[9] Papamichos E. P. Cerasi, J. F. Stenebråten et al., (2010); “Sand production rate under multiphase flow and water breakthrough,” in Proceedings of the 44th U.S. Rock Mechanics Symposium and the 5th US/Canada Rock Mechanics Symposium, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
[10] Wang J, D. P. Yale, and G. R. Dasari (2011); “Numerical modeling of massive sand production,” in Proceedings of the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Denver, Colo, USA.
[11] Wagner, M., Webb, T., Maharaj, M., Twynam, A., Greene, T., Salamat, G., and parlar, M. (2006). Open-hole Horizontal Drilling and gravel packing with oil-based Fluids. An industry Milanese, SPE Drilling and Completion; 21(1): 32-43. SPE- 87648. PA.
[12] Rahmati H, A. Nouri, D. Chan, and H. Vaziri (2011); “Validation of predicted cumulative sand and sand rate against physical-model test,” Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology, vol. 51, no. 5, pp. 403–410.
[13] Ofoh, E. P., Wariboko, M., U waifo, F., and Parlar, M (2006). Openhole Gravel Packing with Oil-Based Fluids: Implemetation of the Lessons Learned from past Experiences Leads to the Best producer in Okpoho Field, Nigeria. Paper SPE 98151 presented at the international symposium and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA, February.
[14] Hecter, M. T., Barry, M. D., and Martin, T. B (2004). Reducing Well cost by Gravel Packing in Non aqueous Fluid. Paper SPE 90758 presented at the SPE annual conference and Exhibition, Houston, 26-29 September.
[15] Ali, S., luyster, M., and Patel, A. (2006). Dual purpose Reversible reservoir drill-In Fluid provides the perfect solution for drilling and completion efficiency of a reservoir. Paper SPE 104110 presented at the SPE/IADC Indian Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition, Mumbai, India, 16-18 October.
[16] Venkitaraman A, Behrmann LA and Chow CV (2002); “Perforating Requirements for Sand Control,” paper SPE 65187, presented at the SPE European petroleum Conference, paris, France, October 24-25.
[17] Gillespie, G., Deem, C. K., and Malbrel, C. (2000). Screen selection for sand control based on laboratory tests. Presented at the SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, 16-18 October, Brisbane, Australia. SPE 64398-MS.
[18] D. H. Schwartz, “Successful sand control design for high rate oil and water wells,” in Society of Petroleum Engineers, 2013.
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  • APA Style

    Macdonald, I., Adimie, E. O. (2024). Effective Gravel Pack Technique for Well Completion. Petroleum Science and Engineering, 8(1), 56-62. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pse.20240801.17

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    ACS Style

    Macdonald, I.; Adimie, E. O. Effective Gravel Pack Technique for Well Completion. Pet. Sci. Eng. 2024, 8(1), 56-62. doi: 10.11648/j.pse.20240801.17

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    AMA Style

    Macdonald I, Adimie EO. Effective Gravel Pack Technique for Well Completion. Pet Sci Eng. 2024;8(1):56-62. doi: 10.11648/j.pse.20240801.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.pse.20240801.17,
      author = {Indighe Macdonald and Elvis Ogede Adimie},
      title = {Effective Gravel Pack Technique for Well Completion
    },
      journal = {Petroleum Science and Engineering},
      volume = {8},
      number = {1},
      pages = {56-62},
      doi = {10.11648/j.pse.20240801.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pse.20240801.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pse.20240801.17},
      abstract = {Sand production occurs when oil and gas is produced alongside reservoir formations at some point in the productive lifecycle of a well, understanding why reservoir produces sand is a crucial step towards managing sand production, the objective of this research is to improve the quality of produced fluid (oil/gas) for easy separation, the study method of this research work was basically a laboratory based sieve analysis of formation sand of a well in consideration, this is designed to achieve the most effective gravel pack grain size to be used, from the result analyzed with careful interpretations as presented, the Niger Delta Well-X formation comprise grain sizes of 0.0788” – 0.0025” range as captured from the available set of sieves used, the concentration of percentage retain falls within grain size 0.0197” – 0.007 1” with 0.0197” having about 41.4% retain by weight with the total grain weight of 737grams to stand at 305grams, while grain size 0.0118” had a percentage retained of 25.5% having a weight of 188grams and 0.0071” had a percentage retain of 12.9% with a weight of 95% respectively, keeping all other size to be 20.1%, for the sorting, 9.4 was calculated from the analysis of this research which makes the gravel pack to be well sorted. Therefore, permeability and plugging challenges are not a problem. The range of gravel size recommended for the gravel pack was kept at a minimum of 0.0727” and a maximum of 0.1639”. A screen size of 55 gauges was calculated to enable effective gravel pack placement operation, which is practical solution to sand production for the well investigated if properly managed.
    },
     year = {2024}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Effective Gravel Pack Technique for Well Completion
    
    AU  - Indighe Macdonald
    AU  - Elvis Ogede Adimie
    Y1  - 2024/05/17
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.pse.20240801.17
    T2  - Petroleum Science and Engineering
    JF  - Petroleum Science and Engineering
    JO  - Petroleum Science and Engineering
    SP  - 56
    EP  - 62
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2640-4516
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pse.20240801.17
    AB  - Sand production occurs when oil and gas is produced alongside reservoir formations at some point in the productive lifecycle of a well, understanding why reservoir produces sand is a crucial step towards managing sand production, the objective of this research is to improve the quality of produced fluid (oil/gas) for easy separation, the study method of this research work was basically a laboratory based sieve analysis of formation sand of a well in consideration, this is designed to achieve the most effective gravel pack grain size to be used, from the result analyzed with careful interpretations as presented, the Niger Delta Well-X formation comprise grain sizes of 0.0788” – 0.0025” range as captured from the available set of sieves used, the concentration of percentage retain falls within grain size 0.0197” – 0.007 1” with 0.0197” having about 41.4% retain by weight with the total grain weight of 737grams to stand at 305grams, while grain size 0.0118” had a percentage retained of 25.5% having a weight of 188grams and 0.0071” had a percentage retain of 12.9% with a weight of 95% respectively, keeping all other size to be 20.1%, for the sorting, 9.4 was calculated from the analysis of this research which makes the gravel pack to be well sorted. Therefore, permeability and plugging challenges are not a problem. The range of gravel size recommended for the gravel pack was kept at a minimum of 0.0727” and a maximum of 0.1639”. A screen size of 55 gauges was calculated to enable effective gravel pack placement operation, which is practical solution to sand production for the well investigated if properly managed.
    
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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