An assessment of gravel packing methods used in the petroleum industry

Project Abstract

Gravel packing is a critical technique used in the petroleum industry to prevent sand production from reservoir formations during oil and gas production. This research project aims to assess the various gravel packing methods employed in the industry to optimize efficiency and production performance. The study involves a comprehensive review of existing literature on gravel packing techniques, including open hole gravel packing, cased hole gravel packing, and expandable sand screens. The research will focus on evaluating the key factors that influence the selection of gravel packing methods, such as wellbore stability, reservoir properties, and operational constraints. By analyzing case studies and field applications, the project will identify best practices and challenges associated with different gravel packing methods. This analysis will provide valuable insights into the factors that contribute to successful gravel packing operations and help in improving overall well productivity. Furthermore, the research will investigate the impact of gravel pack design parameters, such as gravel size, concentration, and packing efficiency, on well performance. By conducting numerical simulations and sensitivity analysis, the study aims to optimize gravel pack designs for different reservoir conditions and production scenarios. The findings from this research will contribute to enhancing the understanding of gravel packing methods and their application in the petroleum industry. In addition, the project will explore emerging technologies and innovative approaches in gravel packing, such as advanced sand control screens and chemical gravel packing solutions. By comparing traditional methods with new developments, the research aims to assess the potential benefits and limitations of adopting novel techniques in gravel packing operations. This analysis will provide valuable insights for industry professionals seeking to enhance sand control practices and maximize reservoir recovery. Overall, this research project will offer a comprehensive assessment of gravel packing methods used in the petroleum industry, highlighting key considerations for optimizing sand control and well performance. The findings will contribute to the development of guidelines and best practices for selecting and implementing gravel packing techniques in oil and gas production operations.

Project Overview

<p> </p><p><strong>INTRODUCTION</strong></p><p>Many reservoirs are comprised of relatively young sediments, which are so poorly consolidated that sand will be produced along with the reservoir fluids unless the production rate is reduced significantly. Sand production leads to many numerous production problems including erosion of down hole tubular, valves, fitting and surface flow lines, collapsed casing because of lack of formation support. Thus a means to eliminate sand production without greatly limiting production rates is desirable.</p><p>Sand production can be controlled using different methods but the method of utmost importance to this project is the mechanical method which basically involves the use of gravel pack (GRAVEL PACKING).</p><p>This method is considered the oldest and most effective sand &nbsp; control mechanism. It is simply a down hole filter designed to prevent the production of unwanted sands which involves the placement of gravel across a perforated interval in the sand screen annulus and also in the perforation tunnel to prevent the influx of sand.</p><p>Inaccurate determination of gravel pack size, could lead to sand influx which could be detrimental to both the technical and economic aspect of production which is the overall objective of this project aimed at identifying means to selectively select appropriate gravel pack sizes from formation sands produced through sieve analysis to meet optimum sand control for maximum production without any detrimental effect to production hard wares.</p><p>In a gravel pack completion, sand that is larger than the average formation sand grain is placed between the formation and a screen or slotted liner with the aim of retaining most of the formation sand, but letting &nbsp;very fine particles through it and be produced.</p><p>The two most common types of gravel pack completion are the inside casing gravel packing or internal gravel packing (IGP) and underreamed gravel pack or external gravel pack (EGP). The underreamed casing gravel pack provides better conductivity through the gravel but is limited to single zone completion.</p><p>1.1 <strong>AIMS AND OBJECTIVES</strong></p><p>This project is aimed at</p><ol><li>To study &nbsp; the various types of gravel packing methods used in the petroleum industry.</li><li>To analyze sieve analysis data of formation sands gotten from OBEN13L in other to determine the appropriate gravel pack size used.</li><li>To make conclusions on the state of OBEN WELL 13L on the basis of sieve data analysis and give possible recommendations.</li></ol><p><strong>1.2</strong>&nbsp;<strong>SCOPE AND LIMITATION</strong></p><p>The scope of this project is limited to the mechanical method of sand control with more emphasis on the sieve analysis of formation sands gotten from OBEN13L.</p><p><strong>1.3 METHODOLOGY</strong></p><p>The method to be adopted for this project is the use of sieve analysis and sucier correlation to determine the gravel pack size to be used for OBEN WELL 13 with formation sands gotten from the case study as mentioned above and useful information gotten from the internet, textbooks, petroleum journals. This method simply involves collecting core samples and running them through different sieves with different opening sizes, usually sieves with larger openings at the top and sieves of smaller opening at the bottom and plotting each weight retained on each sieve against the sieve opening size to determine the average formation sand size which is used to find accurate gravel size using &nbsp;sucier correlation.</p> <br><p></p>