Root cause of sand production and methodologies for prediction

Abstract

The consequences of sandstone reservoir rock failure may lead to sand production. This phenomenon can have negative impact on lifting cost and economic of any field development. Metal erosion due to sanding can lead to loss of integrity and hydrocarbon leakage. Poor decision on the type of completion can risk the viability of the field. To facilitate best sand management over the life of a field and to maintain economical productivity, accurate prediction of sand production volume/rates is needed to increase both productivity and the ultimate recovery of the hydrocarbon while keeping the operating cost low. This paper summarizes the sand production modeling for onset and volume of sand namely technology that required to improve understanding on sand production and mitigation. Three main questions will be answered, why industry needs to worry about sand production, what are the available technologies to predict sanding volume/rates finally, how the current technologies can be improved to estimate sand production volume/rates.

Keywords

• Sand production
• Sanding rates
• Geomechanics
• Sand control
• Constitutive model
• Failure criteria