IPTC 17036

Optimisation of Sand Control Technique for Offshore Heavy Oil and

Unconsolidated Sandstone Reservoir: Case Study from Bohai Bay
Chen, Shenghong, CNOOC Energy T&S Ltd., Cheng, Kun, SPE, Gokdemir, Metin, Weatherford, Xing, Xuesong,
CNOOC Engineering Technology Department, Cheng, Zhong, SPE, CNOOC Energy T&S Ltd
Copyright 2013, International Petroleum Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the International Petroleum Technology Conference held in Beijing, China, 2628 March 2013.

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Abstract
As conventional hydrocarbon resources in current basins of the world continue to decline, heavy oil becomes a significant
candidate to fulfill the worlds thirst for energy. In China, the potential reserves of heavy oil amount to 220 billion BOE, with
more than 13% in offshore fields. For Bohai Bay, up to 80% of developed reservoirs are heavy oil and unconsolidated
sandstone reservoirs.

Due to the geological process and depositional environment in generating heavy oil, the common characteristics of such oils
are high viscosity, low gravity, high asphaltenes, and weak homogeneity and cementation. As a result, the productivity of
heavy oil is usually low in a single well, accompanied with sand production. In recent years, the sand control customization
technology and single well precise design based on single formation was developed to optimize deliverability of single
formation. The optimized sand control technique has become one of the major methods for increasing and stabilizing
production in Bohai Bay offshore oilfield.

This paper begins with an introduction of the application and limitations of traditional sand control methods in Bohai Bay
offshore oilfield. Then, to meet the requirement of further enhancing oil recovery, sand management and proper sand control
completion technology are introduced. After the experiment was conducted, the results of sand control were obtained from
most oilfields. However, bad results of application still existed in some oilfields.

Introduction
Up to 80% of developed reservoirs in Bohai Bay are heavy oil and unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs. The restrictions
such as the wide range of reservoir distribution, shallow depth, poor diagenetic grade, and sand production become
principal obstacles for reservoir development. According to official statistics, up to 90% of wells in Bohai Bay need sand
control. The effect of the sand control will directly affect the enhanced oil recovery. Traditional sand control methods cannot
satisfy the requirement of better enhanced oil recovery since the most of oilfields in Bohai Bay are characterized by high oil
viscosity, sand production, high asphaltenes and resin content, and weak homogeneity and cementation. Since 2002,
operators have applied the sand management concept and sand control completion technology to multiple oilfields with
enlarged production pressure differential and expansion of well production capacity. Under the above circumstances, the sand
production has been controlled within the scope of the security. It has been proven that the sand management concept and
sand control completion technology have successfully controlled sand production in most oilfields. But for a few low-
pressure heavy oil reservoirs, the results have been poor. In 2008, the optimized sand control technique, which can maximize
every formations production capacity and control sand production at the same time, became one of the key measures of
oilfield production stabilization and stimulation.

Reservoir Geological Characteristics
Bohai oilfield belongs to fluvial facies and delta facies with features such as strong reservoir heterogeneity, unsolidated rock
cementation, free sand, strong sensitivities (especially for water sensitivity and stress sensitivity), and shallow depth (within
3,600 ft to 5,600 ft). The heavy oils with 12 to 20 API are mainly produced from the Guantao and Minghuazhen formations.
The oil viscosity at the reservoir ranges from dozens to thousand centipoise (cp). Therefore, most oilfields lack enough
2 IPTC 17036
natural energy to produce with low oil mobility.

Early Sand Control Technique in Offshore Oilfields
Several failed sand control wells produce large volume sand which affects normal production. Due to the weak offshore sand
processing capacity, the general requirement of sand production is lower than 0.003% and most wells adopt the early sand
control method. During the recent decade, Bohai Bay oilfields applied sand control treatment to more than 1,000 wells.
Before 1998, wells utilized stack packing technology which had high operation risk and cost for wells with multiple sand
control segments. Since year-end 1997, oilfields JZ 9-3, SZ 36-1 second section, and QHD 32-6 have been developed based
on the single-trip, multi-zone (STMZ) or dual-trip, multi-zone (DTMZ). STMZ and DTMZ can minimize rig time over
conventional stacked frac-pack systems by significantly reducing the number of trips in and out of the well. Formation
damanage is reduced by decreasing exposure time to completion fluids with intervals perforated at once in a well. However,
high operation risk and complicated tool structure present challenges. Thereforeoperators optimized the sand control tools
and technique with enhanced completion operation efficiency, reduced operating costs and controlled operation risk.
Consequently, STMZ and DTMZ are widely used in Bohai Bay.

Prior to 2002, sand control completion for unconsolidated sandstone offshore oilfields was preferred to gravel packing. The
goal was to eliminate sand production. Gravel packing completion uses packed gravel to block formation sand and utilizes
screens to block the packed gravel. The packed gravel can be used for the sand control practice, but it will create a sand ring
around the screens. The sand ring reduces the permeability significantly, resulting in a high skin factor and low well
productivity.

Sand Managementand Proper Sand Control Completion Technology in Bohai Bay Oilfields
With sand management concepts in which traditional sand control techniques are not normally applied, operators manage
production through sand influx, fluid rates, and well pressures control and monitoring. North Adriatic Sea Oilfield conducted
a successful pilot test that has resulted in approximately 300 wells utilizing sand management methods during production.

For appropriate sand control, operators put a special sieve tube into oil reservoir sections with enlarged sand particle size.
During the production process, the formation sand whose size is below the specified particle size is allowed to enter the
wellbore. Artificial lift methods are adopted to lift the formation sand onto surface for further separation treatment. Finally,
the fine formation sand particles around wellbore are produced. The production formation is unloaded and could destroy the
damaged areas during well completion. Then, the permeability around wellbore is optimized, which will increase
conductivity and promote well productivity.

Sand Management in Bohai Bay
In 2002, sand management concept was introduced to Bohai Bay oilfields. Operators using sand management achieved
success on the pilot well CF1 of SZ 36-1 oilfield. After increased applications and modifications in other oilfields, current
sand management for offshore oilfields has been gradually established.

Proper Sand Control Completion Technology in Bohai Bay
CZ 36-1 oilfield is the first oilfield with over a billions tons of oil reserves, with depths ranging from 4,200 ft to 5,250 ft. The
oil density is 0.968 g/cm
3
and thehe oil viscosity is 380 cp. The oil reservoir permeability is around 500 to 2300 mD. The
development of CZ 36-1 oilfield is divided into 2 sections. The first section has 3 platforms named A, B and J with 64 wells
which were built from 1993 to 1996; the second section has 6 plateforms named C, D, E, F, G, and H with 186 wells which
were built from 1999 to 2001. On Septermber 2002, the first attempt was proceeded on the pilot well CF1 of CZ 36-1
oilfield.

Well CF1 is a multi-laterals horizontal well with 1 main borehole and 4 laterals, using the multi-laterals open-hole
completion. The main borehole uses 7-inch metal cotton screen to control sand as shown in Fig. 1.

IPTC 17036 3

Fig. 17 Metal Cotton Screen

The target layer of well CF1 is next to the well SZ 36-1-15, and its well core grain size analysis as shown in Fig. 2 can be
used for the metal cotton screen effect of well CF1. The formation of well CF1 is the fourth layer of Dongying formations
first oil group. The oil and water interface meets at 5,227 ft. From Fig. 2, the median grain size of the fourth layer is between
0.042mm and 0.125mm. The operator decides the median grain size based on the 10% allowable sand production amount.
For well CF1, the value is selected as 0.081mm. Considering that the gravel median grain size must be 6 to 8 times the
formation sand particle size, the sand control ability of well CF1 is equal to 30/40 mesh gravel pack effect, which would be
40/60 mesh based on the early sand control method. After implementing sand control completion, electric submersible pump
(ESP) with 100 m
3
/day capability was settled in downhole.


Fig. 2Median Fromation Grain Size of Well SZ 36-1-15

Since production on September 17
th
, 2002, before changing ESP on November 15
th
, 2002, the daily liquid production had
been around 80 m
3
, and the production pressure differential was around 0.9 Mpa without sand production. On November 15
th
,
2002, with the attempt to produce sand and increase pressure differential, ESP changed to 200 m
3
/day capability. After
starting a new pump, the maximum liquid production rate was180 m
3
/day with sand production blocking the platform
processing screens twice. Then the liquid production became stable without sand production. The liquid rate was 165 m
3
/day.
The water cut was approximately 1%. The production pressure differential was around 1.5 to 2 Mpa. Consequently, daily
production rate of Well CF1 is more than its designed production rate of 100 m
3
/day. The designed production pressure
4 IPTC 17036
differential is 3 Mpa. Two followup multi-laterals horizontal wells with proper sand control are C25hf and C26hf on platform
C. Their practical production rates are both more than their designed production rate, which can be seen in Fig. 3.


Fig. 3The Comparison between Normal Wells Group and Wells Group With Proper Sand Control Completion Technology

From the production data in Fig. 4, it can be concluded that the liquid production rate of Well CF1 had been above 100
m
3
/day until July 2011. The proper sand control technology proved successful on the first attempt.


Fig. 4The Production Curve of Well CF1 of SZ 36-1 Oilfield

Promotion of Proper Sand Control Completion Technology in Bohai Bay Oilfields
After 2002, the proper sand control completion technology was optimized and promoted on adjustment wells and new oilfiled
development. The adjustment wells are the second section of SZ 36-1 oilfiled and QHD 32-6 oilfield.The new developments
include the first section of PL 19-3 oilfield (2003), BZ 25-1 and Lvda oilfileds group (2004-2005), and NB 35-2 oilfield
(2005-2006).

When making sand control completion decision, operators predicted the sand production quality, analyzed the well logging
interval transit time curve, tested core lab works, and investigated the sand production situation of adjacent wells and records
of oil and sand production from exploratory wells drill stem tests to decide the sand control completion type and sand
filtration precision.


IPTC 17036 5
Proper Sand Control Completion Technology on Directional Wells
For the well-sorted and cemented reservoir conditions with large formation particle size and shale content that is less than
10%, it is recommended that the mash screen be settled after the perforation. For the opposite situation, it is suggested that
gravel pack with wire wrapped screen be utilized in regular directional wells or that mash screens be used for highly deviated
wells.

Proper Sand Control Completion Technology on Horizontal Wells
Open-hole completion is adopted for horizontal wells. For the well-sorted and cemented reservoir conditions with large
formation particle size and shale content which is less than 10%, it is recommended to settle the mash screen. For the
opposite situation, it is suggested to use gravel pack with mash screen.

Application Examples of Proper Sand Control Completion Technology
One group of oilfields located in Liaodong Bay of Bohai Bay has achieved success with the application of proper sand
control completion technology. This group is combined with three heavy oil and unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs. For
example, oilfield A has 41 wells. The target layer is Dongying formations second oil group. The depth is around 4,265 to
5,580 ft. The average porosity is 33%. The permeability is around 100 to 1000 md. The oil density is 0.97 g/cm
3
. The oil
viscosity at Dongying formations upper second oil group is 210 cp. For the lower second oil group, it is around 36.1 to 75.9
cp.

From the formation sand grain analysis, operators have gathered a set of data, such as median grain size is 330 m for the
upper second oil group and 140 m for lower second oil group. The uniformity coefficient is less than 5 and fine sand
content with a grain size below 44 m is less than 5%.

Among the 39 producing wells, only one is a horizontal well. The others are directional wells. For the horizontal well, open-
hole completion is adopted with mash screens to perform sand control. For the directional wells using tubing perforation
completion, only 4 wells adopt gravel packing, the others have mash screens. The development started on July 2005. From
April 2007 to now, all wells are in production status. According to the statistical data, all the directional wells have good
production performance with average single well production rate of the 70 m
3
/day.

The Application of Customized Sand Control Completion Technology
The proper sand control completion technology is implemented successfully in most of oilfields. However, in some low
pressure heavy oil reservoirs, it cannot perform optimally. Based on proper sand control completion technology, in 2008,
operators of Bohai Bay proposed the customized sand control completion technology for shallow buried and unconsolidated
reservoirs with major sand production problem.

Since 2008, the customized sand control completion technology has been used on hundreds of wells with conclusive results.
Most of these wells produce more than the production allocation amount. Several wells produced more than 1000 m
3
/day.
Rapidly declining production is eliminated using proper sand control completion technology. Using multi-lateral Well A25m
as an example, operators implemented the customized sand control completion technology. The unified drilling and
completion concept was adopted. During the drilling process, the ESP depth was considered to be the steady inclined section.
To stop blocking sieve tube in the completion process, 210 mesh shaker cloths were used to clear solids in mud. To secure
the sieve tube settlement, wellbore trajectory was optimized. Considering the risk of reservoir bottom water, a staged sieve
tube was settled to delay water coning. Finally, with customized sand control completion technology, Well A25m achieved
the goal of producing 800 m
3
/day.

Conclusions
The optimisation of sand control technique for offshore heavy oil and unconsolidated sandstone reservoir changes the
traditional thinking which we relaid on the gravel pack completion technique. The introduction of different sand control
completion technologies at different periods can help conclude that sand control technique aid improvement in Bohai Bay
oilfields. Meanwhile, the optimization of sand control technique should be joined with other technologies, such as unified
drilling and completion mode. Currently, the optimization of the sand control technique is widely used for offshore heavy oil
and unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs in Bohai Bay. The goal of enhancing well productivity and lowering the
development cost is achieved.

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