High-Angle Frac-Pack Completions in Shallow Sands: A Case Study

Abstract

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper IPTC 18220, “High-Angle Frac-Pack Completions in Shallow Sands: A Case Study on Program Learnings and Operational Improvements,” by Azhar Ibrahim, Edgar Romero, and Chiu Chee Yang, ExxonMobil, and Woon Geok Cheen, Halliburton, prepared for the 2014 International Petroleum Technology Conference, Kuala Lumpur, 10–12 December. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Telok is a gasfield development in the Malay basin offshore Terengganu, Malaysia. This paper discusses the program learnings and operational improvements captured while completing eight new wells in 2012 and 2013. The primary reservoirs targeted in the field require sand control, specifically frac-pack technology, because of high fines content. Introduction Telok field is a faulted, east/west-trending anticline in the Formation A reservoir. The major reservoir in Telok is Formation A sands, containing dry nonassociated gas (NAG). The Formation A reservoir is located at approximately 700- to 800-m true vertical depth subsea (TVDSS) and is laterally extensive across the Telok, Tabu, and Guntong fields. Minor NAG reservoirs are the Formation B group and Formation C group sandstones. Formation B and C reservoirs are located between 1100- and 1900-m TVDSS. Sand control was performed for the Formation A and B-1 reservoirs on the basis of the offset well’s performance and sand-screening evaluation completed on the basis of data from a Telok exploration well. Sieve analysis conducted on core material collected from the exploration wells, together with sand-strength-modeling work, confirmed that the Formation A sand is friable and would produce sand on initial completion with a high percentage of fines. Mechanical properties of the formation and fluid flow were evaluated and in-house sand-control experts were consulted before adopting the frac-pack option as the sand-control method.