Sand Control and Gravel Packing Techniques: It Never Rains in the Oil Field!

By Khosrow M. Hadipour

This book is an introductory reference guide to oil well sand-control and gravel-packing techniques in the oil and gas field. The book examines the common techniques of controlling formation of sand and solids from entering into a wellbore. The author introduces the reader to the tools, equipment, and application methods of sand control and gravel packing. It also talks about the safety precautions one must take during the process. This work may appeal to readers who are interested in oil and gas field techniques.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796021653

Khosrow M. Hadipour

Graduate of Texas A&M University, Khosrow M. Hadipour has over forty-two years of offshore and onshore downhole experience in drilling, completion, production, fracturing, downhole fishing, sidetrack drilling, cementing, coiled tubing operation, oil and gas remedial workover repairs, artificial fluid lift, gravel packing, and plug and abandonment as well as consulting experience. He has worked for companies such as Gulf Oil Company, Chevron USA, Pennzoil Company, Devon Energy, and AmeriCo Energy in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico, and Venezuela.

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Sand-Control and Gravel-Packing Techniques

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It Never Rains in the Oil Field!

Copyright © 2019 by Khosrow M. Hadipour. 792276

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019903051

ISBN:    Softcover    978-1-7960-2166-0

Hardcover    978-1-7960-2164-6

EBook    978-1-7960-2165-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Rev. date: 05/08/2019

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

Contents

Gravel-Pack Sand-Control Technology in Oil-and-Gas Fields

The Conventional Sand-Control and Well Completion in a Gun-Perforated Well

What Is Gravel Packing?

Major Important Characteristics of a Reservoir Formation to Know

Rate of Fluid Production from a Reservoir

The Gravel-Packing Techniques

Control the Unconsolidated Formation Sand by Gravel Packing

The Standard Gravel-Packing Sand Control Techniques in the Oil Industry

The Water-Pack Sand-Control Techniques

Gravel-Packing Sand Placement Techniques

Casing Leaks and Splits

Wellbore Preparation before Gravel Packing

Oil Well Screen/Liner and Related Setting Tools

The Vertical Pipe Slots on the Base-Pipes (the Inner Jacket)

All-Welded and Ribbed-Welded Wire Screen Selections

The Formation-Sand Sieve Analysis

Selection and Evaluation of Gravel-Packing Sand

Fluid Filtration in Gravel Packing

The Gravel-Packing Units

I. The Water-Based Gravel-Packing Methods in Oil-and-Gas Wells

Safety Is Not an Accident!

Over-the-Land or Shallow Bay-Water Operation

Wellbore Preparation before Remedial Gravel Packing

Application of a Mule Shoe or Rock Bit before Gravel Packing

Presenting a Poor-Boy Gravel-Packing Sand Control

The Poor-Boy Gravel-Packing

Preparing to Gravel Pack

Run and Set an Isolation Bridge Plug as Foot Base

Wellbore Preparation and Cleaning before Gravel Prepacking

The Concept of Using a Perforation Washer in Wellbore Cleaning

Note to Operators

Wellbore Inspection and Preparation before Gravel Packing

Casing Inspection Test before Gravel Packing (Mechanical Integrity Test)

Presenting a Prepack Gravel-Packing Method

Prepacking Sand Gravel Using a Mule Shoe Joint

Going in the Hole to Conduct Prepack Sand-Gravel

Choice I—Stable Wellbore for Gravel Packing

Choice II—Unstable Wellbore

The Concept of Conventional Gravel Packing in a Cased-Hole

Prepare to Run and Use a Hole Opener

Open-Hole Gravel Packing Using an Under-reamer

Preparing for Under-reaming Operation—Short Procedure

Casing Open-Hole Method

Through-Tubing Gravel Packing

Reverse Circulating Method

Published by Khosrow M. Hadipour, professional petroleum engineer,

Texas A&M University

The subject material is based on forty-one years of offshore and onshore downhole experience in drilling, completion, production, fracturing, downhole fishing, sidetrack drilling, cementing, coiled tubing operation, oil-and-gas remedial workover repairs, artificial fluid lift, gravel packing, and plug/abandonment while working for the Gulf Oil company, Chevron USA, Pennzoil Company, Devon Energy, and AmeriCo Energy Resources in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Venezuela.

It is not the purpose of this book to be used as final procedure and/or definite guideline. This book is prepared to act as basic reference based on my experience only.

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Gravel-Pack Sand-Control Technology in Oil-and-Gas Fields

Gravel Packing is an art of controlling formation sand and solids from entering into a wellbore. Formation sand and solids are one of the costly unwanted materials coming out of oil-and-gas wells that must be kept under control. The most effective method of controlling formation sand and solid is gravel packing immediately upon initial well completion.

Slight formation disturbance will result in reduction of productivity.

There are basically two sand-control completion techniques:

A. Conventional sand-control completion methods

• open-hole sand-control completion

• case-hole sand-control completion

B. Standard gravel packing sand-control methods

• open-hole gravel-packing completion techniques

• cased-hole gravel-packing completion techniques

• through-tubing gravel-packing techniques

**************

A. Conventional Sand-Control Methods

The concept of conventional sand-control techniques is done based on the coarse and larger sand-gravel that may be produced by the reservoir formation. This method of well completion has been done since the early days of oil field in the open-hole and/or the gun-perforated cased-hole sand-control methods.

1. In the conventional open-hole sand-control method, the wire-wrapped screen and liner is designed based on the reservoir coarse sand grain samples from the open-hole formation. The wire-wrapped screen and liner is run and set at the bottom in the open hole directly opposite of the productive reservoir in the open hole and extends upward into the steel casing above the open-hole section. The annulus will be isolated in the casing section using a completion packer.

The open-hole sand-control completion technique is an excellent method of obtaining maximum allowable production out of the reservoir. The open-hole sand-control completion is applied in oil wells, saltwater disposal wells, and freshwater wells.

The concept of conventional well completion in an open hole is subject to change because of multiple zones with shale streaks above the productive reservoir.

The shale strata may cave in and cause failure in an open hole, causing gravel-pack failure and fishing problems. In this case, gravel packing around the screen and liner joints may be necessary to keep the shale strata from caving in around the screen and liner, causing sand-control failure.

2. In the screen-hang-off method, prepacked screen is run, hung off, or simply set at the bottom of open perforations using an isolation packer to protect the screen/liner.

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The Conventional Sand-Control and Well Completion in a Gun-Perforated Well

The concept of conventional sand-control completion in a gun-perforated wellbore is similar to the conventional open-hole sand-control method. The screen and liner is designed and run into the well based on natural coarse sand gravel that is produced from the reservoir formation without additional cost of gravel packing (a shortcut on gravel packing to save cost).

Cost cutting is an obstacle preventing you from doing the job right. (It might cost you several folds later!)

This concept of conventional completion without gravel packing was done in the early oil well sand-control methods and may be in practice in the oil fields of today.

The wellbore will be circulated clean and clear to the top of the bridge plug (foot base). A selected size of wire-wrapped screen and liner will be run and set at the bottom and across the casing’s perforated holes without additional man-made gravel-packing sand. The screen and liner will be isolated with a production packer, and the well will be put on production without man-made gravel-packing sand around the screen and liner.

This method is done based on using the natural coarse formation sand that is produced by the reservoir formation to become packed off around the screen and liner without additional gravel packing. Installing the wire-wrapped screen without gravel packing in a cased-hole wellbore is impossible to justify.

The success of conventional gravel packing in a cased-hole completion may not be too favorable because of early screen-section failure (plugged-off screen). That is, the screen becomes plugged off with contaminated mud and fine solids, and it may cause a large decline in the productivity.

B. The Standard Gravel-Packing Completion Technology

The standard gravel-packing technique is applied in a cased-hole gravel packing, as well as the open-hole gravel packing.

1. Run a selected sized screen and liner into a well and pump gravel-packing sand around the screen and liner.

2. Prepack the reservoir formation with sand-gravel first, then run and set the screen and liner in place across the open perforation and pump sand-gravel around the screen/liner. (It is carried out by a crossover method or a wash-down method.)

3. The through-tubing gravel packing (another innovating gravel-packing completion technique offered by the Gulf Oil company to save production) is normally applied in the wells with formation-sand problems, but it is too costly to use a workover rig to work on the well.

What Is Gravel Packing?

Gravel packing may be defined as the placement of selected resieved sand-gravel behind and across the gun-perforated holes and around the sand screen to stop the migration of formation sand entering into the wellbore. The idea of gravel packing is actually derived from freshwater well sand-control techniques to the oil-and-gas wellbore gravel packing and the sand-control methods of today.

The technology of sand control and gravel packing is well-known throughout the oil industry and the underground freshwater well completions since the 1900s. Nearly all the municipal water-supply wells are gravel packed in order to sell clear and clean water to the public.

The basic idea behind oil-well gravel packing is to create a form of screen or filtration mechanism between the reservoir formation and the cased-hole open perforations to block off or hold back the reservoir’s unconsolidated formation sand from entering into the wellbore.

The gravel-packing sand is derived from crushed, reprocessed, manmade silica gravel with higher permeability and porosity than most reservoir formation sands. The formation fluid will travel through the gravel-packing sand at a lower velocity and may reduce turbulence and formation disturbance.

Gravel packing is an art of filtering the reservoir fluid to control unconsolidated formation sand.

Sand filtration will take place as soon as high-porosity gravel-packing sand is forced across the reservoir formation. Gravel-packing sand will hold back the formation sand. The screen/liner will frame and support the gravel-packing sand and the formation sand in its original place.

The Elements of Surprise

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Production fluid coming out of an oil-and-gas well may consist of several visible and invisible elements:

• Crude oil (rock oil): A viscous organic compound that appears in dark, black, green, brown, and reddish color and texture. It smells like perfume to me as an oilman (believe it or not!).

• Hydrocarbon natural gas: Naturally occurring element consisting primarily of methane (CH4) and other mixed gases, such as ethane, propane, butane, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), helium, argon, carbon dioxide (CO2), and other elements. Natural gas is colorless at low concentration. Natural gas is a valuable fossil fuel product.

• Saltwater: Unwanted dense, low viscous product with various densities.

• Scale elements: Calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, barium sulfate, iron sulfate, and norms (naturally occurring toxic, radioactive materials that are transported to the deserts of Nevada or in your backyard).

• Drilling mud and fluid loss material: Unwanted, unstable manmade material that will break down and coagulate when mixed with saltwater (oil-based mud or water-based mud).

• Saturated salt: A hard, heavy, clear crystal or powder-like element.

• Formation sand: Unwanted loose material consisting of round- or angular-shaped quartz, feldspar, silica, and cement look-alike (like beach sand with a different physical and chemical structure and color).

• Silts and iron rust: Light, floating substance.

• Clay substance: Red-bed, blue, and greenish in color, and may appear like gumbo putty.

• Shale formations: Unstable formation that’s gray, brown, black (with different colors and texture).

• Other minor elements seen coming out of a well: Coal, lignite, wood, pyrite, metallic elements, and petrified marine remains. (The elements suggest that the earth has been rolled over and tumbled once upon a time and may happen again!)

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All the subject elements are absolutely unique in design and derived from dense, compacted, pressurized zones