Technology Focus: Wellbore Integrity, Sand Management, and Frac Pack (September 2008)

Abstract

Technology Focus This year's focus is on the completion. A paper on near-wellbore modeling of sand-production behavior provides well engineers a glimpse into the world of cutting-edge rock-failure forecasting. The paper provides engineering practitioners valuable insight into the challenge of predicting produced-sand rates on a fieldwide scale. A second paper incorporates sand failure and produced-solids-transport fore-casts with the effects on surface facilities and production by use of a probabilistic approach to manage the uncertainties. This work provides a framework that may be used to move innovative reservoir- and production-systems failure models to the fieldwide level, which is necessary for asset management. The goal is to characterize the asset-development-plan cycle from appraisal through abandonment. A third paper presents a possible solution to the proppant-flowback problem associated with screenless frac-pack completions. The approach involves resin coating of the proppant during pumping, and a convincing argument is presented supporting induced-fracture-conductivity preservation after placement. For deepwater completions, this issue can be extraordinarily expensive and is a very real concern when evaluating risk in completion-design alternatives. A common theme among these papers deals with the challenge of scaling up laboratory learnings to field-development practice. Today's multidiscipline-team approach to field development can provide the connection needed to foster an awareness of the effect of diverse laboratory-measurement data on asset-development viability. Wellbore Integrity, Sand Management, and Frac-Pack additional reading available at the SPE eLibrary: www.spe.org IPTC 11472 • "Mechanical-Earth-Model Calibration for Sanding-Potential Estimation: A Case Study From the Tombua-Landana Development in Angola's Deepwater Block 14" by Peng L. Ray, SPE, Chevron, et al. SPE 109662 • "Enhanced Mechanical Earth Modeling and Wellbore-Stability Calculations Using Advanced Sonic Measurements—A Case Study of the HP/HT Kvitebjorn Field in the Norwegian North Sea" by Anke S. Wendt, SPE, Schlumberger, et al.