Effect of Water Injection on Sand Production Associated With Oil Production in Sandstone Reservoirs

摘要

Sand production is a serious problem in many oil and gas assets worldwide. It can affect production rates; it can damage downhole and subsea equipment and surface facilities. Unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs the most susceptible to sand production, which may starts during initial inflow or later, when water breaks through. Pressure maintenance techniques such as water injection are among the most widely applied secondary recovery processes. When waterflooding is used, early breakthrough at the production well may occur due to reservoir heterogeneity. There are several possible reasons that may account for rock weakening after water injected water breakthrough: ? Chemical reactions between water and rock solids; ? The changes of surface tension and capillary force; ? Seepage force resulted from water pressure gradient; ? Plugging parts of the pay zone. Based on the actual production history data of Belayim Field wells, which are presented and discussed in the present work, sand production problems detected after salinity of produced water decreased and static bottom hole pressure increased due to water injection effect. Guidelines to optimize the water injection technique were proposed in the present work as the follows: 1- Appling compatibility test between formation water and injected water. 2- Sand control technique should be applied or Flow rate reduction after injected water breakthrough. 3- Continues water cut percent monitoring. 4- Appling sand production monitoring and prediction program.