Improvements in Horizontal Gravel Packing
Improvements in Horizontal Gravel Packing
Improvements in Horizontal Gravel Packing
Brian Edment
Baku, Azerbaijan
Companies have been slow to adopt openhole gravel packs for inclined and horizontal
Fraser Elliott
John Gilchrist
Brian Powers
BP
Baku, Azerbaijan
Ren Jansen
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Tim McPike
Shell Exploration & Production Americas
Houston, Texas, USA
Henry Onwusiri
Shell UK Exploration & Production
Aberdeen, Scotland
Mehmet Parlar
Sugar Land, Texas, USA
Allan Twynam
BP
Sunbury, England
Aart van Kranenburg
Shell Exploration & Production Europe
Stavanger, Norway
FIV (Formation Isolation Valve), MudSOLV and QUANTUM
are marks of Schlumberger. Alternate Path and AllPAC
are marks of ExxonMobil; this technology is licensed
exclusively to Schlumberger.
1. Sherlock-Willis TM, Morales RH and Price P: A Global
Perspective on Sand Control Treatments, paper
SPE 50652, presented at the SPE European Petroleum
Conference, The Hague, October 2022, 1998.
Parlar M and Albino EH: Challenges, Accomplishments,
and Recent Developments in Gravel Packing, Journal of
Petroleum Technology 52, no. 1 (January 2000): 5058.
2. Tifn D, Stevens B, Park E, Elliott F and Gilchrist J:
Evaluation of Filter Cake Flowback in Sand Control
Completions, paper SPE 68933, presented at the SPE
European Formation Damage Conference, The Hague,
May 2122, 2001.
3. Ali S, Dickerson R, Bennett C, Bixenman P, Parlar M,
Price-Smith C, Cooper S, Desroches L, Foxenberg B,
Godwin K, McPike T, Pitoni E, Ripa G, Steven B, Tifn D
and Troncoso J: High-Productivity Horizontal Gravel
Packs, Oileld Review 13, no. 2 (Summer 2001): 5273.
50
well completions. This reluctance centered on operator concerns about the detrimental
Oileld Review
Cement
Intermediate
casing
Resin
Open hole
Production packer
Screens
Filtercake
Perforations
Production
casing
Screens
Cased-Hole Gravel Pack
Blank pipe
Intermediate
casing
Expanded screens
Production packer
Screens
Running screens
Perforations
Filtercake
Gravel
Production
casing
Screens
Blank pipe
Intermediate
casing
Gravel
Gravel-pack packer
Screens
Gravel
Filtercake
Gravel
Fracture
Production
casing
Screens
> Sand-control methods. In-situ chemical consolidation and selective or oriented perforating in cemented casing with positive zonal isolation avoids
weaker zones or minimizes sand inux (top left). Cased-hole gravel packs control sand in laminated formations, lower quality sands and marginally
economic vertical wells (middle left). Frac packs and screenless completions combine stimulation and sand control in reservoirs with layered pay zones,
poorly sorted grains or low uid transmissibility (bottom left). In open hole, stand-alone screens control sand in formations with large well-sorted grains and
in wells with short producing lives (top right). Expandable sand screen (ESS) systems provide viable well completions, but long-term reliability has not been
established (middle right). At high inclination angles, an openhole gravel pack (OHGP) often maintains well productivity or injectivity longer than other
methods (bottom right).
Spring 2005
51
52
Oileld Review
Enugu
7
Benin City
1
4
Area of
detailed map
A F R I C A
38
N I G E R I A
3
4
34
Warri
30
26
4 4
81
16
21
46
Owerri
15
27
3
79
26
Obigbo-North field
36
Bight of Benin
Port Harcourt
2
3
11
24
2
Uyo
17
22
13
14
2 1
7
7
71
> Niger Delta, Nigeria, concession map. The Obigbo-North eld is located in the OML-11 and OML-17 blocks about 18 km [11.2 miles] northeast of Port
Harcourt, Nigeria. This eld was discovered in October 1963. The reservoir consists of unconsolidated sands with permeabilities ranging from 900 to
7,000 mD and porosities of 21 to 33%. The Obigbo-North eld comprises 66 reservoir blocks: 55 oil-bearing and 11 gas-bearing. More than 50 wells have
been drilled in the eld.
Spring 2005
53
Casing
Borehole wall
Beta wave
Slurry
Screens
Heel
10
Toe
1
Wash pipe
Blank pipe
Gravel dune
Alpha wave
Open hole
Filtercake
Wash pipe
Surface treating pressure, psi
Screen
Gravel
Preflush stage
Alpha wave: slurry transport
along the screens
Annular
packoff
Slurry stage
Displacement stage
Borehole wall
> Water packing. Gravel packing with low-viscosity uids, usually brines, relies on gravel deposition around the
low side of a screen-borehole annulus, while a slurry with low gravel concentration moves in turbulent ow along
the top (top and bottom right). The borehole must be sealed with an efcient ltercake to minimize uid leakoff. If
circulationuid returns to surfaceis maintained, gravel moves in an alpha wave (1 to 5) toward the far end,
or toe, of a horizontal section. If the slurry dehydrates and forward packing ceases in intervals with high uid
losses, gravel lls the annulus and forms a bridge, resulting in an incomplete pack beyond that point. If bridging
occurs or after gravel reaches the toe, packing proceeds back toward the beginning, or heel, of a horizontal
section in a beta wave (6 to 10). Surface treating pressures provide an indication of how water-packing
treatments are progressing (bottom left).
54
Oileld Review
Spring 2005
Surface-controlled
subsurface safety valve
7-in. liner
6.184 in.
4.5-in. gravel-pack packer
3.958 in.
2.875-in. tubing
2.441 in.
9 58-in. casing
7-in. liner
6-in. open hole
4.45-in. screens
4-in. base pipe
3.548 in.
2.875-in. tubing
2.441 in.
FIV Formation
Isolation Valve
7-in. liner
Gravel
Heel
Gravel-pack packer
at 8,273 ft MD
Toe
> Obigbo-North eld wellbore and completion schematic. Shell Petroleum Development Company
completed Well QWSB-53 with 965 ft [294 m], or 32 joints, of screen deployed in open hole
without centralizers.
QWSB-53 OHGP
3,000
6
Injection pressure
Sand concentration
Injection rate
5
Beta wave
2,000
1,500
1,000
2
Alpha wave
500
2,500
Pressure, psi
0
0
20
40
60
Time, min
80
100
120
> Obigbo-North eld gravel-packing treatment. SPDC and Schlumberger pumped the
Well QWSB-53 gravel pack while monitoring injection pressure (red), sand concentration
(blue) and injection rate (green). Gravel-packing operations were performed at 3.5, 3,
2.5 and 1 bbl/min [0.56, 0.48, 0.4 and 0.16 m3/min]. The pumping prole showed pressure
responses corresponding to both alpha-wave and beta-wave gravel deposition. About
75% of the gravel was deposited during the alpha wave, leaving only 25% for the betawave deposition.
55
Casing
Slurry
Shunt tube
Protective shroud
Nozzles
Borehole wall
Heel
3
Toe
1
Wash pipe
Blank pipe
Gravel
Screen
Open hole
Filtercake
Transport tube
Packing tube
Protective shroud
Alpha wave: slurry transport
along the screens
Slurry at toe of well
Preflush stage
Borehole
wall
Annular packoff
Gravel
Slurry stage
Displacement stage
Pressure increase
as flow diverts
into shunt tube
Gravel forms
Screen
Nozzle
> Alternate Path gravel packing. This technology ensures complete packing of gravel around sand-exclusion screen assemblies
and across an entire horizontal section. Shunt tubes attached to the screens provide conduits for slurry to bypass gravel bridges
and ll annular voids (top and bottom right). Shunt packing does not depend on ltercake to prevent uid loss. If the annulus
between screens and openhole packs off prematurely (1 to 3), slurry diverts into the shunts, and gravel packing proceeds toward
the toe even with no uid returns, or circulation, to surface (4 and 5). Usually, pump rates are reduced after shunt ow begins,
and treating pressure increases because of the small shunt-tube diameters (bottom left).
56
Oileld Review
Spring 2005
KAZAKHSTAN
as
pia
nS
Aktau
ea
UZBEKISTAN
AZERBAIJAN
TURKMENISTAN
AZERBAIJAN
Baku
ACG fields
Bahar field
Shah Deniz
field
Bulla More
field
0
0
25
25
50 miles
50
75 km
> Azerbaijan, Caspian Sea offshore oil and gas eld developments. BP has a 34% interest in Chirag
eld, part of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) megastructure development. The ACG megastructure
contains an estimated 10 billion barrels [1.6 billion m3] of oil in place, in an area that is about 30 miles
[48 km] by 3 to 5 miles [4.8 to 8 km]. Chirag eld early oil production was the rst phase of ACG
development, along with part of the Central and West Azeri eld.
17. Arangath R, Onwusiri HN and Ogoke VC: A CostEffective Approach to Improve Performance of Horizontal
Wells Drilled in High-Permeability Formations, paper
SPE 73786, presented at the SPE International
Symposium and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control,
Lafayette, Louisiana, February 2021, 2002.
Onwusiri H, Onwuzurike C, Adiodun A and Uchendu C:
Rotating Jetting Nozzle Adds Value in the Cleanup of
Horizontally Gravel Packed WellCase Histories from
Sandstone Environment, paper SPE 82237, presented at
the SPE European Formation Damage Conference,
The Hague, May 1314, 2003.
18. Shunt-screen technology was developed by Mobil, now
ExxonMobil, in the late 1980s and early 1990s and is
licensed to Schlumberger.
19. Jones LG, Yeh CS, Yates TJ, Bryant DW, Doolittle MW
and Healy JC: Alternate Path Gravel Packing, paper
SPE 22796, presented at the SPE Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition, Dallas, October 69, 1991.
57
58
QUANTUM gravel-pack
packer at 6,875 m MD
Oil-bearing layer
Transport tube
Nozzles
Screens
93
Packing tube
> Chirag eld wellbore and completion schematic. BP completed Well A-19 by running and gravel
packing 504 m [1,653 ft] of AllPAC screens with two packing shunts, two transport shunts and a
protective shroud in open hole.
Oileld Review
Spring 2005
Injection pressure
Injection rate in
Fluid return rate
Sand concentration
A-19 OHGP
6,000
12
Final annular
packoff
11
9
8
4,000
7
3,000
6-ppa
concentration
2,000
6
5
Shunt flow
4
3
1,000
10
5,000
Surface pressure, psi
2
1
0
14:16:08
14:32:48
14:49:28
15:06:08
15:22:48
15:39:28
15:56:08
16:12:48
0
16:29:28
> Chirag eld Well A-19 gravel-packing treatment. BP and Schlumberger pumped the record-setting
Well A-19 gravel pack at 6 lbm/1,000 gal [17 g/m3] and about 10 bbl/min [1.6 m3/min] while monitoring
injection pressure (red), uid injection rate in (blue), uid return rate out (yellow) and sand concentration
(green). The pressure prole during pumping operations indicated responses corresponding to both
annular gravel deposition and shunt-tube diversion.
59
60
Looking Ahead
Many recently discovered elds require sand
management.23 For example, BP estimates that
within ve years 50% of its oil and gas production
will be from weak and unconsolidated sandstone
reservoirs. In the Niger Delta region of Nigeria
where Shell Production Development Company
operates, 70% of hydrocarbon reserves lie in
shallow reservoirs prone to producing sand.
Selection of suitable sand-prevention
techniques is a challenge that requires a
substantial amount of data, acquired at
significant cost. Even then, sand-control
measures that appear viable based on initial data
often fail. This makes experience in a particular
area an important factor in planning and design
of future well completions.
Based on experience, cased-and-perforated
completions yield low skins, but produce large
volumes of sand, even before water
breakthrough. These completions require
restricted production rates and longer flow
periods to achieve postcompletion cleanup. They
also involve repeated cleanout of surface
separators, and the transport and proper
disposal of sand at surface with associated
health, safety and environmental risks. Sand ll
in wells requires frequent remedial well
interventions, and flow from these wells
eventually must be choked back signicantly.
Completions with stand-alone screens exhibit
low skins, but often produce large volumes of
sand initially. Subsequently, sand inux rates
decrease, but there still can be occasional bursts
of higher sand production. However, both casedand-perforated and screen-only completions
produce large amounts of sand as water
production increases, even at low water cuts,
necessitating expensive premature sidetracks in
some elds.
ESS completions have low skins and currently
appear to provide sand control equivalent to an
OHGP, but the long-term impact of screen
deformation, and ESS performance and
reliability after water breakthrough remain
unknown. Many initial ESS completions have
been converted to injection after short periods of
production; others were installed too recently for
conclusive evaluation.
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
A-08Z
A-02
A-15
A-09Z
A-12X
A-01
A-06Y
A-19
A-06Z
A-08
A-10
A-07
A-05
0
10
20
30
40
50
A-11
A-18
60
70
80
> Completion skin data for the Chirag eld. Cased-and-perforated completions
in the Chirag eld yielded low skins. Stand-alone screens also exhibit low
skins. However, both types of completions produce excessive sand as water
production increases. ESS completions have low skins and control sand
production, but their performance after water breakthrough is currently
unproven. BP has reduced openhole gravel-pack completion skins to almost
zero by continuously improving uid designs and practices. Openhole gravel
packing is a proven completion technique that controls sand even after wells
begin producing water. For these reasons, openhole gravel packing is currently
the basis of design in Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli eld well completions.
Oileld Review