Sand Production Prediction and Safe Differential Pressure Determination in a Deepwater Gas Field

Abstract

Sand production is a critical issue during the development of offshore oil and gas fields. Certain gas fields (e.g. the AB gas field) have high porosity and high permeability, and with water at the bottom of the reservoir, the risk of sand production greatly increases at high differential pressures. Based on reservoir properties, geological conditions, production requirements, and well logging data, in this study an ultrasonic time difference method, a B index method, and a S index method are used together with a model of rock mass failure (accounting for water influx and pressure depletion) to qualitatively predict sand production. The results show that considered sample gas field has an overall high risk of sand production. The critical differential pressure (CDP) without water influx is in the range of 1.40 to 2.35 MPa, the CDP after water influx is from 0.60 to 1.41MPa. The CDP under pressure depletion is in the range of 1.20 to 1.92 MPa. The differential pressure charts of sand production are plotted, and the safe differential pressure windows with or without water influx are obtained. The model calculation results and the experimental results are consistent with the field production data, which indicates that the implemented prediction method could be taken as a reference for sand production prediction in similar deep water gas fields.