Publications

Sand production has been identified as a challenge in Indonesia. Several techniques exist to prevent sand from being produced, from screens, gravel- or frac packs to optimized perforating, each with its own merits. But the choice of completion also has a major impact on hydrocarbon production rates, and therefore on the lifelong economics of a well.If sand production is not observed or recognized during well tests, operators may not install sand exclusion equipment. But in many cases, sand production starts soon after production commences, sometimes in a matter of days. If this happens, wells need to be choked back or taken off-line, resulting in lost production. These wells will then need costly, unplanned workovers or re-completions.On the other hand, an operator may opt to eliminate all sanding risk and run screens or gravel packs in every well. While this strategy can indeed prevent sand production, one also needs to consider the impact of the completion on the production rate of the well. The optimum completion not only excludes sand, after all. It also maximizes hydrocarbon production, over the life of the reservoir.Geomechanical modeling plays an important role in addressing sand production and completion optimization issues. The paper gives an insight into the physics of sand production and how this process can be geomechanically modeled. It goes on to show how geomechanical models are built from readily available data and how they are used to select feasible completion options and to quantify sand-free production rates for each option, over the life of the reservoir.The integrated Sand Management process brings together geomechanics, petrophysical reservoir evaluation and production and completion engineering to truly optimize completions, with maximized Net Present Value as the measure of success.