Schlumberger Public

Overview of Sand Control

Techniques
Sand Control and why is it important?

The goal of sand control is to produce oil, gas,

and water without formation solids (i.e.
formation sand)

Schlumberger Public

Unconsolidated sands are highly prolific
hydrocarbon producers, typically having high
permeability (100 mD – 10 D) and porosity
(>25%)

Inability to control sand production over the life
of the well can be extremely costly
– Wellbore damage or plugging
– Surface handling
– Subsea flowline plugging

2
Sand Prone Reservoirs

Every sand prone field / project has an optimum sandface

completion, balancing:
– Risk (longevity)

Schlumberger Public
– Production (skin)
– Cost (Capex and Opex)

Challenges
– Environment (remote, offshore, deepwater, jungle)
– Reliability
– Political (West Africa, Venezuela)

3
Sand Control
Geographic Distribution
Sand Prone Reservoirs
Alaska
North Sea

Sakhalin
Eastern Italy
Canada Caspian

Schlumberger Public
North Africa
Egypt
GoM Mauritania Saudi Arabia South China Sea
Venezuela and Trinidad
Chad India
Malaysia Brunei
Nigeria &
Colombia and Ecuador
Equatorial Guinea
Indonesia
Angola, Gabon, Congo
Bolivia Australia
Brazil

4
Sand Control – Where does it fit?

Subsurface /
Drilling
Reservoir
Engineering

Sand

Schlumberger Public
Sand Control
Control
Production
Completions
and Facility
Engineering

Disciplines:
– Geology – Mechanical Engineering
– Material Science
– Rock Mechanics
– Economics
– Fluid Dynamics

5
Sand Control Methods

Sand Control Methods

Borehole Stability
Insitu Consolidation Mechanical
Maintenance

Schlumberger Public
• Epoxies • Stand Alone Screens • Selective
perforating
• Resins • Gravel Packing
• Oriented
• Fracpacking perforating

In Situ
Consolidation
4%

Fracpacking Stand Alone

29% Screens
18%

Oriented and
Selective Perforating
6%
Gravel Packing
6 43%
Classification of Sand Formations
Zero strength dry sand E < 100,000 psi Porosity < 35%
(UCS 0)

Very very weak damp E < 300,000 psi Porosity < 30%
sand (UCS < 200 psi)

Schlumberger Public
Very weak weakly- E < 500,000 psi Porosity < 25%
cemented (UCS <500)

Weak stronger cemented E < 1,000,000 Porosity < 22%

(UCS < 1000 psi) psi

Gray area (UCS < 4000 psi) E < 2,500,000 Porosity < 20%
psi
Consolidated rock E< 4,000,000 psi Porosity < 18%

7
Sand Control Methods – Insitu Consolidation

Injection of resins and/or epoxies into the rock matrix to

consolidate the existing formation sand

Injection of “sticky” gravel into the perforation tunnels in

Schlumberger Public
order to hold back the formation sand

Limitations
– Multiple stages for resins and epoxies
– Permeability variations often limit applicability due to the
diversion (<10 m intervals) – injection into every perforation
tunnel
– Formation permeability reduction (50-80% retained)

Formation sand retention is like a chain, it is only as strong as its

weakest link. This has limited the application of insitu consolidation as a
primary sand control technique.
8
Sand Control Methods – Oriented and Selective
Perforating

Oriented perforating
– Perforate the casing so that the 350/10 Special guns
with deepest penetration

perforations oriented for maximum

stability OrientXact

Schlumberger Public

High side for horizontal wells

Deep penetrating with optimal shot density so as
to not create cross perforation destabilization

Selective Perforating
– Perforate the casing adjacent to the
formation with the most competency
(highest UCS)

Generally the lower permeability formation

These techniques most successful in formations with UCS > 1000 psi
9
Sand Control Methods – Mechanical (i.e. screens)

Mechanical Sand Control Methods

Schlumberger Public
Open Hole Stand Open Hole Gravel
Alone Screens Packs (A/B)
21% 23%

Open Hole Gravel

Packs with APS
9%

Cased Hole Cased Hole Gravel

Fracpacks Packs
34% 13%

10
Mechanical Sand Control Completions Types
Cased Hole (50 to 250 ft screen per well)

Schlumberger Public
Gravel Pack Fracpack

Open Hole (1000 to 3000+ ft screen per well)

Gravel Pack Stand Alone Screen ESS

(Alpha Beta and APS) (Including ICD)
11
Mechanical Sand Retention

Gravel Packing / Fracpacking

– Gravel is placed in the screen / casing

Schlumberger Public
or screen / open hole annulus
– This gravel holds back the formation
sand
– The screen retains the gravel
Wire Wrap Screen Formation

Stand Alone Screens (in Open Hole) 1

3
(including expandable sand screens) 2

– The screen retains the formation sand

– Crux: Analyzing the formation sand
size distribution and selecting the
appropriate screen opening
12
Gravel Pack / Fracpack Placement

The goal of gravel packing and fracpacking is obtaining a complete

“annular” pack.

Packing the entire screen / casing or screen / open hole annulus is the

Schlumberger Public
key to well longevity and production.

The “heart” of the gravel placement technique is in the service tool
(otherwise known as the crossover tool) Service Tool Flow Paths

Three different approaches:

– Water packing, where brine (in turbulent flow) is used as the gravel
carrier fluid
– Gel gravel packing, where a viscous fluid is used to suspend the gravel
– Fracpacking, where viscous crosslinked fluid (>200 cp) is used to create
the fracture and then carry the gravel

Horizontal Gravel Fracpack

Packing Animation
Animation
13
Sand Control – Examples
Sand Prone Reservoirs

Baku

Schlumberger Public
GoM
Saudi Arabia
Venezuela and Trinidad
Nigeria

Angola

14
GoM and Nigeria - Fracpacks

Highly customized stimulation

vessel fleet (i.e. frac boats)
– 270 ft (82 m) long
– 12,000 – 20,000 hhp

Schlumberger Public
– Pump rates up to 60 bpm (9.5
m3/min)
– Up to 15,000 psi (100 MPa)
– 100,000 – 500,000 lbs (45,000 –
227,000 kilograms) of ceramic
proppant

Reservoirs are often laminated and

stacked

Continental shelf and deepwater

Oil rates 1,000 – 40,000 BOPD

Gas rate 2MM to 200 MM SCF/D

15
 Schlumberger Public
Frac Boats

16
 Deepwater GoM and Nigeria Stacked Fracpack Completion Steps

Schlumberger Public
17
Baku and Trinidad (Open Hole Horizontal Gravel Packs)

Offshore skid based pumping

equipment

1000 to 3000 ft (300 – 915 m) open

Schlumberger Public
hole intervals

Pump rates 6-10 bpm (1-1.6 m3/min)

Gel is the preferred gravel pack
carrier fluid
– Sand suspension
– Simultaneous gravel packing and
filtercake removal

Shunt tubes (alternative path
screens) are used to ensure
complete annular packs, as failure is
not an option
18
Baku and Trinidad (Open Hole Horizontal Gravel Packs)

Screens are DTS (Distributed

Temperature Sensor) enabled to allow
continuous production logging across

Schlumberger Public
the sandface

Highly prolific wells

– Oil rate 40,000 BOPD – Baku
– Gas rate 350MM SCFD - Trinidad

19
Angola / Saudi Arabia – Stand Alone Screens

Stand Alone Screens – Angola

Stand Alone Screens with

Schlumberger Public
Inflow Control Devices (ICD) –
Saudi Arabia

Inflow Control Device Screen

20
Inflow Control Device (ICD) Ceramic nozzles
(2 or 4 per unit)

Schlumberger Public
21
Future of Sand Control

Wellbore consolidation continues to be the “holy grail”.

Recovery factor will become a big driver

Schlumberger Public
– Utilization of downhole instrumentation (electrical and fiber-
optic) will increase
– Use of downhole flow control (Intelligent and Inflow Control
Devices) will become widely accepted
– Sandface completion techniques for water injection wells in
sand prone reservoirs will evolve

Sand prone reservoirs will continue to be found in ultradeep

water (>10,000 ft / 3000 m)
22
 Thank you!

Schlumberger Public
Questions?

23