OTC-25330-MS

Deepwater Methane Hydrate Gravel Packing Completion Results

and Challenges
Yoshihiro Terao, SPE, Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation; Mike Duncan, SPE, Baker Hughes;
Bill Hay, SPE, Baker Hughes; Le Dang, Baker Hughes

Copyright 2014, Offshore Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Offshore Technology Conference held in Houston, Texas, USA, 5– 8 May 2014.

This paper was selected for presentation by an OTC program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents
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Abstract
The world’s first subsea gravel packing for methane hydrate was conducted and production test success-
fully executed in the eastern Nankai Trough area off the coast of central Japan in March 2013. Methane
hydrate formations all over the world promise huge energy reserves on the earth to permafrost zones in
the Polar Regions, and formations within several hundred meters from the seafloor of an ocean. The
formation and shallow depths create an assortment of issues that must be addressed to successfully
produce this resource. The gas production from methane hydrate formation is different from conventional
oil and gas formations in terms of the mechanism and the phenomena, since low temperatures, high
pressures environment, and physical properties change in the formation as methane hydrate dissociation.
It is important to overcome the above issues for methane hydrate production.
During the planning process, studies were completed to review the formation particle size, the
low-temperature effects on tools, circulating temperature issues, the erosional considerations and potential
subsidence of the formation. Various experienced processes were used and testing completed to prove the
integrity of the system that utilized several nonstandard pieces of equipment and procedures. Vigorous
preplanning, experienced personnel and onsite expertise enabled the people and equipment to be prepared
for the procedure allowing successful variations. Post-job analysis and review of how the various products
and services worked together will enable further success in the future.
This paper discusses the application of vertical open hole gravel packing in a methane hydrate
production well from a floating-rig environment in the eastern Nankai Trough area off the coast of central
Japan. It reviews the pre-planning process, the equipment selection, procedure recommendations and the
on-job decision-making that enabled the successful flow testing.
Introduction
Methane hydrate, a sherbet-like solid formed by methane gas captured within water molecules, is
attracting attention as a new energy resource. Methane hydrate on the Earth is known to exist in
permafrost zone in Polar Regions and its formation lies within several hundred meters from the seafloor
of an ocean with a depth of 500m or deeper, methane hydrate is a substance that is stable at low
temperature and high pressure environment.
2 OTC-25330-MS

Figure 1—●●●

The volume of methane in methane hydrate concentrated zones is about 1.1 trillion m3 in the eastern
Nankai Trough area. This volume roughly corresponds to the volume of natural gas consumed for about
11 years in Japan.1
When methane hydrate production technique and commercialization is established, it is expected to
become a new domestic energy source and contribute to the stable supplies of energy
In order to prepare technologies for the commercial production of methane hydrate distributed off the
coat of central Japan, a production test was successfully carried out. Based on the previous experience on
methane hydrate production test and investigation of the methane hydrate zone in 2007 and 2008 at the
Mallik site located in the Mackenzie delta area of Northwest Territories, Canada, it was determined that
sand control was necessary and was critical to the success of production test.2 The paper provides an
overview to the design, development and execution the gravel pack system for the world’s first offshore
production test of methane hydrate reservoir.
Figure 1 shows the location of the first offshore production test of methane hydrate in the Eastern
Nankai Trough. It has been found that methane hydrate in the eastern Nankai Trough area is trapped in
the sand layer within the turbidity sequence and is also found in concentrated zones distributed within the
area. Distribution of methane hydrate concentration zones (MHCZ) were estimated using seismic
exploration data, and the original methane hydrate gas in place within the eastern Nankai Trough area has
been evaluated with a probabilistic approach.
Under the funding from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan Oil, Gas and
Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) planned and managed the project while Japan Petroleum
OTC-25330-MS 3

Table 1—●●● Exploration Co. Ltd. (JAPEX) worked as the oper-

Sorting Coefficients ator. Baker Hughes designed, equipment supply and
operated the open hole gravel pack operation under
d Sand (␮m) Silt (␮m) Clay (␮m)
the instruction of JOGMEC.
90 6.92 4.05 3.94 The preparation work for the first offshore, sub-
50 44.00 37.59 30.19 sea, production test was conducted during the first
10 156.16 436.70 448.76
d (4, 3) 93.65 151.56 139.82
quarter of 2012. A total of three wells were drilled
d (3, 2) 16.34 5.52 10.60 riserless utilizing the “Deep Sea Drilling Vessel
(D/V) CHIKYU”. During this drilling campaign, the
d (4, 3) – the volume moment mean of the particle
d (3, 2) – the surface area moment mean or Sauter Mean Diameter (SMD) production test well (AT1-P) and two temperature
monitoring wells (AT1-MC, AT1-MT1) with tem-
perature sensors were drilled, then temporarily
abandoned to be re-entered and completed later.
In February 2013, the “Deep Sea Drilling Vessel (D/V) CHIKYU” re-entered to the production test
field; the 12-1/4” hole section drilled, 9-5/8” 47lfb/ft set and cemented, then the 8-1/2” hole section drilled
to the total depth (TD) of 1, 083ftbsf (330mbsf). The Blow out preventer (BOP), casing and 8-1/2”
wellbore were cleaned up using convention wellbore cleanup equipment. The methane hydrate production
interval was completed using an open hole gravel pack in March 2013.

Pre-job Preparation
Analysis
Three each 2in. (35mm) diameter half cores were used for the pre-job analysis. Bottom hole temperature
(BHT) was reported at 55°F (13°C). Samples from each of the facieses were dried under ambient
conditions over several days. Each sample was subject to Particle Size Distribution (PSD) for gravel pack
and screen selection, Capillary Suction Time testing (CST) for clay sensitivity to completion fluids and
XRay Diffraction (XRD) analysis for mineralogy.
PSD analysis showed very fine grained samples. The sand measured a higher percentage of small grain
sizes based on cumulative percentage than the silt and clay. Silt and clay showed similar distributions to
each other. Cumulatively, the sand distribution was 90% grains smaller than 156 micron meter (␮m) and
the silt and clay distributions were 90% grains smaller than 437 and 449␮m, respectively.
The diameter at the 50th percentile point of the formation sand (d50) for all three samples ranged from
44 to 30␮m. PSD curves were plotted as cumulative (percent greater than) to reflect the d10, d50 and d90
values, see Table 1.
CST testing was performed on each sample with fresh water and completion brines: sodium chloride,
calcium chloride and potassium chloride. Potassium chloride was tested as a completion fluid and as a
tagging fluid to the sodium and calcium chloride fluids.
Fresh water results showed that none of the samples contained sensitive clays. Each of the completion
brines had a positive effect on the samples. Potassium chloride, when added to the sodium or calcium
chloride has no additional influence on the sample. Overall, the brines performed similarly, but the
calcium and potassium chlorides performed slightly better than the sodium chloride in controlling the
clays.

Recommendations
As the production test well (AT1-P) was considered a short term test, compromise was made to ensure
that the least amount of formation sand was produced to allow the longest gas/water flow even though
plugging of the gravel pack would be more likely, concluding that this may not be the proper long term
solution, see Table 2.
4 OTC-25330-MS

Table 2—●●●
Gravel Pack Design

Gravel Pack Sand/Proppant

Gravel Size Grain Diameter Grain Diameter Grain Diameter Recommended Screen Recommended Premium
(U.S. mesh) Max. (In.) Max. (In.) Max. (In.) Gauge Wire Wrap (In.) Screen Size (␮m)

50–70 0.0117 0.0100 0.0083 0.006 150

40–60 0.0165 0.0132 0.0098 0.008 200
30–50 0.0232 0.0176 0.0117 0.010 250
30–40 0.0232 0.0199 0.0165 0.012 275
20–40 0.0331 0.0248 0.0165 0.012 275
16–30 0.0469 0.0351 0.0232 0.016
16–25 0.0469 0.0388 0.0280 0.018
12–20 0.0661 0.0496 0.0331 0.020
10–20 0.0787 0.0559 0.0331 0.020
8–12 0.0937 0.0799 0.0661 0.050
6–10 0.1320 0.1054 0.0787 0.060

Table 3—●●●
Gravel/Proppant Size Smallest Particle Screen Opening
(U.S. Mesh) Gravel/Proppant Diameter (␮m) Size (␮m) Screen Type Weave Type

40–60 165 115 Excluder 2000 Fine

● Gravel pack with 40-60 U.S. mesh gravel pack sand retained with an 8-gauge gravel pack screen.
● Use of a low surface tension surfactant in all completion fluids to minimize imbibition and help
to recover fluid lost during the completion, thereby maximizing gas production and production
longevity.
● Extreme care should be exercised to bring the well production rate up slowly and manage the
choke size to minimize bottom hole drawdown pressure across the completion, or simply stated use
a choke size to maintain a high flowing bottom hole pressure.
Screen selection and sizing
Screen used in gravel pack completions act as porous barriers to the gravel pack sand. The opening size
of a screen used in this manner should be smaller than the smallest grain size of the gravel pack sand,
taking into the gauge tolerance of the screen type. For effective sand control, the screen opening is sized
relative to the formation sand, see Table 3. Screen opening allows the small, less permeable particles to
pass through while the larger particles are stopped by the screen, which creates a permeable filter cake
around the outside diameter of the screen. Additionally, due to the potential velocity of gas production,
a premium style screen would be preferred compared to a Wire wrapped version should formation shifting
occur and the gravel pack not remain in place.
For gravel pack applications, a minimum of 0.75in. (19.05mm) to 1.0in. (25.4mm) of radial clearance
between the outside diameter of the screen and the open hole wall is recommended. This provides
adequate space to create a good filtration layer with the gravel pack sand or proppant, see Table 4.
Selection of Completion design
In order to evaluate the sand control method for the methane hydrate formation, it has to be
considered that the intensive draw down 8, 700-1, 450psi (6-10 Mpa) will be applied to mechanically
OTC-25330-MS 5

Table 4 —●●●
Open Hole or Open Hole Screen Base Pipe Screen Base Pipe Maximum OD of
Cased Hole Size (In.) Size (In.) Weight (lb/ft) Screen (In.) Radial Clearance (In.)

Open Hole 8.5 5.5 17 6.320 1.09

Figure 2—●●●

weak formation. In such a case, incursion of sand into the well bore is one of the possible risks that
may obstruct continuous gas and water production. So a detailed sand control study for the eastern
Nankai Trough Methane Hydrate Project was conducted. Several options for the appropriate sand
control method were investigated based on physical properties of the hydrate-bearing sand formation.
The benefit of choosing open hole is that the risks related with cased hole sand control would be
controlled or eliminated such as cementing, placing the proppant into the perforation tunnels to low
permeability formation, etc. Also, the open hole gravel pack completion are for increase productivity
either providing a larger drainage area for the well or avoiding fracturing the formation by squeezing
gravel slurry.
The CS-300TM gravel pack system was selected due to its unique features and extensive global
installation history, see Figure 2. The system is specially designed for open hole gravel pack system to
ensure that hole stability is maintained during the screen deployment, packer setting, and gravel placement
by allowing hydrostatic pressure to be maintained on the filter cake at all stages during the operation.
However, due to the low temperature well environment the packer was needed to be qualified to meet this
application, see Figure 3.
Selection of Gravel Pack Proppant & Carrier fluid
Concern over the formation integrity was of optimal concern throughout the operations. Allowing the
well to flow or inversely fracturing the formation was considered unacceptable. A great deal of study
and focus revolved around the formation fracture gradient with 1.08 s.g. equivalent and fluid weight
6 OTC-25330-MS

Figure 3—●●●

Figure 4 —●●●

for completion fluids. It was determined that we should stay as close to 1.02 s.g. completion fluids
at all time to avoid fracturing the formation. Wellbore temperatures remain higher during circulation
with completion fluid thereby reducing the possibilities of any adverse effect such as methane hydrate
association in the completion fluids; refer to Figure 4, BHT changes while pumping.
In order to accomplish this, the proppant would need to have a reduced weighting to ensure that the
overall weight did not exceed the formation fracture gradient. LiteProp 125 was selected for its 1.25 s.g.
which is the light proppant available in market. The proppant would be added at a standard concentration
of 0.5 pounds proppant added per gallon (ppa) and gravel slurry weight about 1.021 s.g. For instance, at
OTC-25330-MS 7

Figure 5—●●●

1.06 s.g., Liteprop 108 is much closer weight to the completion fluid. The settling rates are so slow that
the proppant particles are nearly buoyant in 1.02 s.g. completion fluid.
Additionally, to ensure that the minimal weighting was applied, minimal additives were applied to the
completion fluid. The Proppant then was mixed with simple additives in completion fluid and it would be
used to circulate the LiteProp 125 into place.
Packer Qualification
The well conditions were such that it was necessary to prequalify the gravel pack packer to withstand fluid
and gas pressure differentials of 3,000psi (21MPa) from above and below at temperatures of 32°F (0°C)
and 37°F (3°C) to meet the application.
A modified SC-2R packer for the 9-5/8⬙ 47lb/ft with metallic and low temperature specific elastomeric
material was selected to meet the well environmental conditions. The packer and a fit for purpose test
fixture was designed, manufactured and supplied to an independent third party to conduct the test and
qualify the packer for this challenging low temperature application. A test procedure was prepared; see
Figures 5 and Table 5.
The size SC-2R packer test was conducted over a 5 day period, witnessed by representatives from all
parties involved at a 3rd party. The SC-2R packer and setting tool were made up and installed in the test
8 OTC-25330-MS

Table 5—●●●
Test Procedure

Tubing Pressure. Top Annulus Bottom Annulus Temperature

Step psi (MPa) Pressure. psi (MPa) Pressure. psi (MPa) Test Medium °F (°C)

1 0 (0) 3,000 (21) 0 (0) Water 37 (3)

2 0 (0) 0 (0) 3,000 (21) Gas 37 (3)
3 0 (0) 3,000 (21) 0 (0) Water 32 (0)
4 0 (0) 0 (0) 3,000 (21) Gas 32 (0)
5 0 (0) 0 (0) 2,500 (17) Gas 32 (0)

Table 6 —●●● Table 7—●●●

Item Gravel Pack Down Hole Equipment Item Gravel Pack Surface Equipment

1 7 5/8⬙ Model “SC-2R” Gravel Pack Packer 1 Model “SC725” Triplex Pump Unit –Zone II Rated-
2 7 5/8⬙ Model “CS” Gravel Pack Extension 2 Hi-Rate Gravel Infuser
3 7⬙ Quick Connect Gravel pack Tool 3 Hydraulic Power Pack
4 7⬙ X 5 1/2⬙ Cross Over Sub 4 5 X 6 Centrifugal Pump
5 5 1/2⬙ Model “GPR-24” Shear Out Safety Joint 5 BDAQ 9000NT Data Acquisition System
6 5 1/2⬙ Blank Pipe 6 2⬙ 5 Valve Gravel Pack Manifold
7 5 1/2⬙ Excluder 2000 Screen 7 2⬙ Field Iron and Accessories
8 5 1/2⬙ Anti-hydraulic Lock Seal Bore 8 Hoses and Accessories
9 5 1/2⬙ blank Pipe 9 Tool Box
10 5 1/2⬙ model “GPV” Shoe with Double Check Valve 10 M-15 Diaphragm Transfer Pump
11 Slurry Dehydrator
12 25 bbl. Mixing Tank
13 Turbine Blender
14 Twin Pod Cartridge Filter Unit
fixture in the test cell and the temperature set and 15 Air Compressor
allowed to stabilize at 37°F (3°C). The temperature 16 Generator
and pressures were continuously monitored using
pressure and temperature gauges. Once the temper-
ature had stabilized the packer was set and pressure
tested from above and below to confirm it had fully set. The fixture was removed from the test cell and
the setting tool removed from the packer and replaced with a Locator Seal assembly. The fixture was then
placed back in the test cell and the qualification test procedure steps 1 through 5 were completed. The
testing was completed using both a Glycol mix as well as nitrogen to confirm both a liquid and a gas seal
were created. The SC-2R packer successfully passed the testing and was then striped down and redressed
in preparation for the job.
The methane hydrate gravel pack sand face completion comprised of the components listed in table,
see Table 6.

Gravel pack Surface Equipment

The surface gravel pack equipment comprised of a 725CC pump, model capable of providing 600
Hydraulic Horse Power. It was designed for operating in DNV Zone II regions and ATEX Ex IIG T3
certified. The other related accessory equipment included Hydraulic Power Pack, Infuser, Centrifugal
pump, Dehydrator, manifold, storage tanks, surface iron, hoses and BDAQ Data Acquisition System. A
twin pod Filtration unit with pumps, hoses and Powder handling system was also mobilized, see Table 7
and Figure 6.
Prior to shipment and on arrival in Japan the gravel pack pump underwent exhaust emission testing to
ensure compliance with the Off-road Diesel Emissions Regulations, 2012.
OTC-25330-MS 9

Figure 6 —●●●

Table 8 —●●● Table 9 —●●●

Description Connections Description Connections

Bull nose Sub 4-1/2⬙ IF Box Bullnose 4-1/2⬙ IF Box

9-5/8⬙ 36.0-53.5lb/ft Multi-Task 4-1/2⬙ IF Box x Pin 9-5/8⬙ 40.0-53.5lb/ft Ultra-Clean 4-1/2⬙ IF Box x Pin
Wellbore Filter Casing Scraper
Crossover 5-1/2⬙ FH Box x 4-1/2⬙ IF Pin 6.57⬙ Dressed OD Grabitz Fish Magnet 4-1/2⬙ IF Box x Pin
6 5/8⬙ Drillpipe 5-1/2⬙ FH Box x Pin 9-5/8⬙ 40.0-53.5lb/ft Ultra-Clean 4-1/2⬙ IF Box x Pin
Crossover 4-1/2⬙ IF Box x 5-1/2⬙ FH Pin Casing Brush
8⬙ OD BOP Jet Sub 4 ½⬙ IF Box x Pin Crossover 5-1/2⬙ FH Box x 4 ½⬙ IF Pin
Crossover 5-1/2⬙ FH Box x 4 ½⬙ IF Pin 6 5/8⬙ Drillpipe to Surface 5-1/2⬙ FH Box x Pin
6 5/8⬙ Drillpipe 5-1/2⬙ FH Box x Pin
Crossover 4-1/2⬙ IF Box x 5-1/2⬙ FH Pin
20⬙ Riser Brush 4-1/2⬙ IF Box x Pin
Crossover 5-1/2⬙ FH Box x 4 ½⬙ IF Pin
Job Execution
6 5/8⬙ Drillpipe to Surface 5-1/2⬙ FH Box x Pin Pre-completion cleanout
Prior to installation of the gravel pack completion
the cased hole and open hole sections were cleaned
up conditioned and the well fluids were changed out. The clean-up was done in three trips.
Trip one: The wellbore clean up assembly for the 19-1/2” marine riser and BOP was made up on the
rig floor and run in hole. Once on depth, with the jetting tool above the BOP, rotation was started,
the pump rate increased and the bottom hole assembly (BHA) jetted down across the BOP three times.
The BOP was then functioned and the marine riser/BOP stack circulated bottoms up as per programme,
see Table 8
Trip two: The 9-5/8” casing clean-up assembly was made up on the rig floor and run in hole. The BHA
was tripped in hole and the casing scraped across the packer setting depth interval 4 times while
circulating, see Table 9
Trip 3: The wellbore clean-up assembly for 8-1/2” open hole cleanup was made up on the rig floor
and run in hole. The BHA entered the open hole section smoothly without incident and tagged bottom,
see Table 10
While located on bottom the well was reverse circulated through the Choke line to displace the well
fluid to completion fluid.
10 OTC-25330-MS

Table 10 —●●● Gravel Pack Installation

Description Connections
For this Sub-Sea operation, the “Deep Sea Drilling
8-1/2⬙ Tri-Cone Bit 4-1/2⬙ Reg Pin Vessel (D/V) CHIKYU” was utilized. A fixed index
Boot Basket 4-1/2⬙ Reg Box x Pinline was prepared and attached to the riser, extending
8.5⬙ Smooth OD Watermelon Mill 4-1/2⬙ IF Box x 4-1/2⬙ Reg Box
6.57⬙ Dressed OD Grabitz Fish 4-1/2⬙ IF Box x Pin
to the drill floor as a fixed reference indicator. During
Magnet the operation, each position was not only marked on
Crossover 5-1/2⬙ FH Box x 4 ½⬙ IF Pin the drill pipe but was also marked on the fixed index
6 5/8⬙ Drillpipe to Surface5-1/2⬙ FH Box x Pin
line. The systems was deployed to depth and set as
planned. Testing confirmed the system integrity was in
effect and the running tools were released.
All downhole tool position were confirmed and marked against the fixed index line and finally
circulation was established and circulation pressures were confirmed, see Figure 7.
The circulating test was performed with hydril close, circulation of the brine @ 3.5bpm (0.56m3/min)
only realized a return of 2.8bpm (0.45m3/min), and this indicated that 25% of fluid was lost into the
formation. After discussions, and additional flow testing, the decision was made to go ahead with the
gravel pack job with a slightly reduced rate of 3bpm (0.48m3/min). Pumping at 3bpm (0.48m3/min)
commenced with 0.5ppa proppant concentration, during the initial half hour 2.2bpm (0.35m3/min) return
was obtained, a sudden increase was then realized as proppant reached the OH section and the rate of
return increased to 2.5bpm (0.40m3/min) and the annulus began the packing process. After about one and
a half hours’ packing, the flow rate decreased rapidly to nearly no return. It was analyzed that a
mini-fracture or washout area was allowing losses into the formation. The engineers on location made a
quick decision to increase the slurry concentration with the aim of plugging the leaking point. The
concentration was increased to 1.5ppa gradually. Meanwhile, the pumping rate was decreased from 3bpm
(0.48m3/min) to 2.5bpm (0.40m3/min) gradually. Final screen out occurred with 1, 178psi (8.12MPa)
screen out pressure, see Figure 8 for pumping chart.
With the screen out, tools were moved into reverse and excess sand was removed from the tubing. The
tools were then lowered and the packer was tested to ensure pressure integrity. Successful testing indicated
screen out had been achieved and the annulus was well packed. The service tools were pulled from the
well with no losses encountered and no fluid loss control valves were used. The well was ready for upper
completion.

Understanding the Gravel Pack

An Estimated 4700lbs (2, 132kg) of proppant or 75ft3 (2.12m3) was packed into the annular area. This is
⫹/-3 times the calculated volume of 1800lbs (817kg) of proppant or 31ft3 (0.88m3). There were various
theories on the placement of the excess proppant, the most likely event, based on calculations and fiber
optic inflow data of the well during production is that a fracture was created or a high perm zone which
did not have the hydrate inside it was exploited and the there was an extension pack into the formation.
The decision to increase the concentration appears to be the best solution for the issues faced, upon the
higher concentration fluid contacting the formation; the gravel pack completed rapidly resulting in a
screen out as expected.
The fluid loss which occurred prior to the gravel pack is still not fully accounted for, a reaction between
the circulation and the formation must have occurred leading to an increase in permeability and in turn
losses into the formation.
A change in permeability of the methane hydrate formation is unlike that of other conventional oil and
gas formations due to the particle of methane hydrate between the sand particles of the sandy sediments.
The disassociation starts to occur, due to heat or reduction of pressure; then the permeability of the
methane hydrate formation is realized to be exponentially higher.
OTC-25330-MS 11

Figure 7—●●●

Figure 8 —●●●

Production and Flow

Through the Fiber Optics, Down Hole Gauges and surface flow equipment an analysis is completed and
reviewed. The flow was of course not uniform from the top to the bottom of the reservoir and it would
appear that the flow was higher from the area expected to have seen the loss of sand based on the gravel
packed in the annulus prior to losses. This being the case, it brings the question of whether fracturing may
be applicable in future methane hydrate formations. This must always be balanced with the safety as
methane hydrate formations are extremely close to the sea bed.
During the 6th day of production period, it was discovered that formation sand was producing to
surface. The change was rapid and the quantity was substantially enough to review the continuation of the
12 OTC-25330-MS

flow test. Given the good data and flow up to that point, as well as the weather turning worse, it was
decided to cease flowing and allow the analysis to begin.
To identify the location and root cause of the sand problem, a research team was formed by JOGMEC,
AIST and other MH21 researchers and engineers. After the starting of sand production, lots of changes
in formation response happen, such as fluid temperature in AT1-P well, formation temperature at the
monitoring wells, and water content. Those data are analyzed and interpreted.
Also some numerical simulation and laboratory testing are carried out to understand the physical
processes.
Results and Challenges
The first marine deepwater methane hydrate production test was conducted successfully. Valuable
reservoir data, methane gas and formation water was obtained from this production test helping plan for
future long term methane hydrate production development projects.
Before offshore operations were carried out using the floating drilling vessel, ocean wave and
operational risks when the open-hole gravel packing is applied were carefully evaluated, concerns about
the working property of down hole equipment, such as setting packer and changing gravel pack tool
positions, were arisen. Ocean wave and operational risks had been previously investigated and made the
working plan.The gravel packing tool system, screen and Proppant selections as well as an experienced
field crew lead to a successful gravel packing in methane hydrate bearing sediment with 1, 178psi
(8.12MPa) screen out pressure and using 4, 700 lbs (2, 132kg) of proppant. During the flow test period
(6days), formation sand production was not observed until after 6days of flow test, MH formation sand
suddenly produced about 30m3 to surface test equipment. It resulted in early termination of the flow test.
The cause of the formation sand production will be investigated by a team of sand control and take steps
to deal with the situation.
There are lessons learned and challenges laying ahead for commercial production of methane gas from
methane hydrate formation. Sand control is inevitable in methane hydrate sediment formation, this open
hole gravel pack lasted for the 6 day flow test, however, open hole pay-zone wellbore stability in methane
hydrate is not fully understood. Long term stability while methane produces may be the biggest challenge
to obtaining this energy source.
Recommendations and Future Concerns
Given the possible pay-zone wellbore stability challenge as methane and water produce in a methane
hydrate sediment formation, shear failure causing formation subsidence and formation sand production,
cased hole frac-pack completion, which is a very matured sand control and stimulation completion
technique should be considered.3 Not only does it maintain good wellbore stability and good sand
management, it will also provide high permeable conduits for methane gas production through the gravel
packed fractures and perforations. Current fracture fluid system can be perfected to fit the low temperature
& high pressure environment in methane hydrate reservoir. The frac pack will contact a larger reservoir
area, which should yield a lower delta-P across the sandface for the same fluid volume production,
therefore reducing at least some of the causes of sand production. Designing the treatment to yield a short,
wide, proppant-filled hydraulic fracture should limit conductivity losses to proppant embedment. Further
geo-mechanical studies with respect to the sealing integrity above the methane hydrate production layer
as well as proppant consolidation chemicals and treatments to ensure the gravel pack stays together
preventing movement, should be conducted to ensure the success of frac-pack methane hydrate well.
There are many recommendations for future wells and tests which need to be preformed to achieve
commercial long-term methane production. Concerns are to be noted:
– Compaction of reservoir, live monitoring on the outside of the screens must be considered on an
extended 2-3 month test to fully determine the amount of formation shifting.
OTC-25330-MS 13

– Long term erosion effects on Resin coated proppants

– Further analysis of Fiber Optic results to determine flow profiling
– Review of ICD’s (inflow control devices) to balance inflow and reduce hot spotting and screen wear.
– Review possibility of planned fracturing of formation in single or multiple places
– Review alternative sand control methods as using GeoFORM
– Review hole size for optimal reservoir contact (hole openers or under reaming reservoir area)
– Review Vertical vs. Horizontal OH Section for inflow performance as well as compaction
tolerance

Nomenclature
in. Inch
m Meters
ft. Feet
lbs Pounds
psi Pounds per Square Inch
MHCZ Methane Hydrate Concentration Zones
TD Total depth
ftbsf Feet Below Sea Floor
mbsf Meters Below Sea Floor
lb/ft Pounds per Feet
d10, d50,
d90 Diameter at the 10th, 50th, 90th percentile of the formation sand
BHT Bottom Hole Temperature
PSD Particle Size Distribution
CST Capillary Suction Time
XRD X-Ray Diffraction
SMD Sauter Mean Diameter
F.H. Full Hole
IF Integral Flush
BOP Blow Out Preventer
BHA Bottom Hole Assembly
bpm Barrels per Minute
m3/min Cubic Meter per Minute
ppa Pounds Proppant Added (Per Gallon)
s.g. Specific Gravity

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express thanks to MH21 Research Consortium, JOGMEC (Japan Oil, Gas and
Metals National Corporation), JDC (Japan Drilling Co., Ltd.), JAPEX (Japan Petroleum Exploration Co.,
Ltd) Baker Hughes for giving permission to print this manuscript. The authors also give thanks to all the
behind the scene personnel, third parties, operations support personnel and crew of the “Deep Sea Drilling
Vessel (D/V) CHIKYU”, the entire Baker Hughes operations team and personnel who made this project
the success.

References
1 MH21 Research Consortium Website http://www.mh21japan.gr.jp/english/
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2008 Gas Hydrate Production Research Well Program. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin
601.
3 L F Neumann, C A Pedroso, L Moreira, and R C Bezerra de Melo, BJ Services. 2002. Lessons
Learnt from a Hundred Frac Packs in the Campos Basin. Paper SPE 73722. SPE International
Symposium and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control held in Lafayette, Louisiana; 20-21
February 2002.