Sand Consolidation Treatment: Durability in an Alternative Primary Sand Control Method for a Marginal Reservoir

Abstract

Field A is mature hydrocarbon producing field located in east Malaysia discovered in 1963. With multistacked reservoirs more than 7,000 ft high, the reservoirs are predominantly friable and unconsolidated, requiring sand exclusion from the beginning. Most of the wells were completed using internal gravel pack (IGP) methods in the main reservoir. Being an aging producing field, many of the main reservoirs have been depleted and watered out, making the wells inactive. There are, however, several shallower marginal reservoirs, which have been bypassed and undeveloped, known as behind casing opportunity (BCO) reservoirs. The challenge is accessibility to this sand prone reservoir, which might require substantial workover operations, and thus higher costs. Remedial options with proven screen completion can be costly and economically difficult to justify. Mid-2020 marks seven and a half years since the application of a single treatment of epoxy resin in an idle well located in Field A as a remedial approach for BCO. The treatment, proven economically attractive by yielding cost savings of USD 5 million compared to the workover option, further supported by rigorous production monitoring, is unequivocally valuable based on the duration of sustained sand-free production, once again providing reassurance in making this solution a reliable sand-control remedial method for marginal reservoirs. It is important to note that the solution considered a range of laboratory data associated with the chemicals that effectively addressed the requirement based on the characteristics typical of this formation. Well test data from 2013 to 2019 supported sand-free production. Despite experiencing an increment of water cut percentages up to 93.29%, the well is still performing at acceptable production rates. The groundwork processes of candidate identification to the execution of converting the well are described, emphasizing technology comparisons applied in terms of resin fluid system type, execution plan, lessons learned, and best practices developed for maximizing the life of a sand-free producer well.