Hydraulic Fracturing for Sand Control in Unconsolidated Heavy-Oil Reservoirs

摘要

The North Slope of Alaska has significant accumulations of lowrnAPI-gravity oil in unconsolidated formations. The combinationrnof low-productivity wells in relatively unconsolidated formationsrnin the arctic environment presents many challenges. Consequently,rnboth formation stimulation (for economic productionrnrates), and sand control (for acceptable operating costs) arernrequired. A fracturing technique for sand control (FSC) with arnresin-coated proppant (RCP) for proppant-flowback controlrnproved feasible in laboratory testing. The initial attempts at fieldrnimplementation were an investment in learning that resulted in arnlarge number of first-order failures resulting from proppant andrnformation flowback. With these early failures, these attemptsrnwere not commercially viable. Laboratory investigations andrnfield tests revealed the source of the problems, and led to designrnchanges and improvements in implementation procedures. Fieldrnresults have demonstrated that the FSC completion is a viablerntechnique within certain formations on the North Slope that canrnachieve the stated goals of effective stimulation, proppantflowbackrncontrol, and sand control.