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Characterization of Lower Sand Control Completion Failure in Oil Wells
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, 80th EAGE Conference and Exhibition 2018, Jun 2018, Volume 2018, p.1 - 5
Abstract
Wells completed with sand control methods often suffer impaired performance. Near wellbore damage causing this impairment is typically associated with drilling and completion fluids, along with operational events and poor understanding of the changes occurring at the interface between the completion and the sand face. Whether the completion is compliant or non-compliant will vary the mechanisms causing impairment. A different approach is required to characterise the main mechanisms causing poor performance and completion failure, this work utilises a soil mechanics approach to investigate impairment for both production and injection wells completed with sand control methods. The use of soil mechanics principles involves the recognition that the failed material at the near wellbore will be in a cluster or granular form after failure. Failure of reservoir rock at the near wellbore during drilling and completion will result in deformation that can in some cases exceed 2 or 3 times the wellbore radius, failed material resulting from deformation is only contained by the completion components such as screens or granular type of filter media. Three main mechanisms are identified as contributing to failure of the completion, suffusion, suffusion and liquefaction, they are described in detail in this work.