Factors affecting the sand plug formation process in controlled directional wells

Abstract

Many wells of offshore fields in Azerbaijan are subject to sanding and plugging. This is especially observed in wells at a late stage of development. The process of plug formation in directional wells is known to be characterized by a variety of factors associated with both natural conditions and the parameters of their development and, most importantly, operation. The degree of influence of the factors varies, in addition to the fact that all of them (directly or indirectly) are interconnected. Sand production is often observed during completion (development) and operation of wells, especially when the productive reservoirs are represented by weakly cemented rocks. It is worth noting that in the case of sand plug formation, the permeability of which is 200 times greater than the per-meability of the productive formation, the oil production rate decreases by 34%. This sand contains up to 5% of oil and poses a problem upon its removal, as it results in environmental contamination. In addition, it deposits in pipelines, surface equipment, causing erosion. This kind of complication is almost universal. Sand removal is one of the main reasons for the formation of cavities and collapse of columns. This problem has acquired particular relevance with the development of thermal methods for the extraction of high-viscous oils: the viscosity of oil decreases, and its fluidity increases. In this case, some reservoirs lose their cementing binder - viscous oil. During planned and emergency shutdowns, when the coolant injection stops, the reverse flow of the coolant enters the injection wells and removes mechanical impurities. This also leads to the formation of sand plugs in the wells and prevents the normal injection of the coolant. The existing methods of operating wells affected by sanding can be divided into two groups: 1) operation of wells with the removal of sand from the reservoir; 2) prevention of sand production from the formation.