The Relative Importance of Drawdown and Depletion in Sanding Wells: PredictiveModels Compared With Data From the Statfjord Field MM

摘要

Experience of sand production from the Statfjord field hasbeen systemized to be able to predict the effect of drawdownand depletion on sand production. The aim of the study is todetermine how reservoir pressure depletion will influence thesand production and to determine how sand production willinfluence the maximum liquid production rates. Most wellsproduce according to a maximum acceptable sand productioncriterion. Field data based on more than 300 maximumacceptable sand rate tests have been systemized by fittingthose to an empirical criterion. For a better determination ofthe parameters, sand production histories of four wells havebeen analyzed in detail.To understand more about the mechanisms underlying thesand production, the field results are compared with fourdifferent models. This work concludes that the behaviour ofsanding wells at Statfjord can be described by a concept oftwo sand production regimes, one controlled by shear failureand the other controlled by rate.Finally the empirical model is used to extrapolate the fieldexperience to low reservoir pressures related to the planneddeep depressurization. The results show that sand productionwill limit well production rates unacceptably for mostformations and that downhole sand control is needed to securehigh production rates during the late-life development of thefield.