Sand control or sand management is estimated to be required in more than 50% of wells globally during their productive lives. The need arises in both conventional and unconventional wells with high rate gas production from unconsolidated sandstones reservoirs and flowback from hydraulically fractured wells providing common examples. In certain regions the use of slotted liners or sand screens to control sand production is widespread. In these locations production from unconsolidated sands would not be economically possible without their use.
Sand screen condition and performance often become areas of concern as reduction over time can impact production and well life. Typical screen problems such as plugging, leading to reduced flow capacity, or erosional failure, leading to sand accumulation and/or erosion of wellbore or surface components, are potentially very costly. In most cases, remedial solutions are straightforward: breaches in sand control may be resolved with the installation of mechanical barriers such as plugs, patches or straddles, or through the application of chemical treatments to consolidate the sand formation in the near wellbore region; whilst inflow performance issues may be addressed with targeted washing, or jetting services. The challenge, however, is identifying the site(s) at which these solutions should be placed and assessing their performance in-situ.
A gas storage well operator in continental Europe required detailed assessment and visual confirmation of the condition of sand screens within the well. Sand control in this well is further complicated by frequently alternating periods of injection and production. Regulatory requirements entail periodically confirming the condition of sand screens and other downhole components.
EV’s Optis Infinity M125 tool was deployed on slickline with both downview and sideview video footage acquired over the entire well. Four screen sections with an average length of 6m (20 feet) were captured. The resulting images were subsequently visually inspected and measured to evaluate both erosion and plugging of the screens, to provide a quantitative evaluation of screen integrity and inflow performance.
16 июн 2019
