Identifying the Root Cause of a Deepwater GoM Infant Sand Control Failure

摘要

When sand control failures are associated with high-costdeepwater completions, the need to understand the mode offailure is of paramount importance. This paper illustrates howShell attained this understanding by adapting the Root CauseFailure Analysis (RCFA) approach, commonly used in Shell’sdownstream chemical business, to the sand control failure of aGulf of Mexico sub sea well. The basic steps of a RCFA areData Collection, Problem Identification, Problem Descriptionand Causal Analysis. Using the RCFA process in the upstreampetroleum industry has rarely been conducted in the past.In the process of identifying the root cause failure, the detailrequired for the RCFA explores the underpinning assumptionsfor commonly accepted processes and techniques. In the caseof this failed well, the detailed analysis of the RCFA led toadditional learnings that will not only reduce the incidence offailures in the future but also improve completion designgenerally. This paper provides a summary of these findings.In conclusion, based on this RCFA, guidelines are provided toidentify when this technique should be applied, how thisapproach could be improved in the future and the necessaryfactors (staff, data, and management sponsorship) required forthis process to be of maximum value to the corporation.