New Visco-Elastic Surfactant Formulations Extend Simultaneous Gravel-Packing and Cake-Cleanup Technique to Higher-Pressure and Higher-Temperature Horizontal Open-Hole Completions: Laboratory Development and a Field Case History From the North Sea.

Abstract

New Visco-Elastic Surfactant Formulations Extend Simultaneous Gravel-Packing and Cake-Cleanup Technique to Higher-Pressure and Higher-Temperature Horizontal Open-Hole Completions: Laboratory Development and a Field Case History From the North Sea. S. Daniel; S. Daniel Schlumberger Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar L. Morris; L. Morris Schlumberger Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Y. Chen; Y. Chen Schlumberger Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar M.E. Brady; M.E. Brady Schlumberger Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar B.R. Lungwitz; B.R. Lungwitz Schlumberger Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar L. George; L. George Shell Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar A. van Kranenburg; A. van Kranenburg Shell Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar S.A. Ali; S.A. Ali Chevron Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar A. Twynam; A. Twynam BP Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar M. Parlar M. Parlar Schlumberger Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the International Symposium and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control, Lafayette, Louisiana, February 2002. Paper Number: SPE-73770-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/73770-MS Published: February 20 2002 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Daniel, S., Morris, L., Chen, Y., Brady, M.E., Lungwitz, B.R., George, L., van Kranenburg, A., Ali, S.A., Twynam, A., and M. Parlar. "New Visco-Elastic Surfactant Formulations Extend Simultaneous Gravel-Packing and Cake-Cleanup Technique to Higher-Pressure and Higher-Temperature Horizontal Open-Hole Completions: Laboratory Development and a Field Case History From the North Sea.." Paper presented at the International Symposium and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control, Lafayette, Louisiana, February 2002. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/73770-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE International Conference and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control Search Advanced Search AbstractFilter-cake cleanup in open-hole gravel-pack completions has traditionally involved several stages: gravel-packing, pulling out of the hole with the work string, running in hole with production tubing, running in hole with coiled tubing, circulating the excess carrier fluid from inside the base pipe and spotting a breaker solution. Furthermore, in cases where removal of both the polymeric components and the CaCO3 bridging agents is necessary, an enzyme or an oxidizer soak has typically been followed by an acid treatment. This process is time consuming and costly, in addition to being non-optimal in terms of uniform cake-cleanup in long open-hole completions, due to rapid reaction between acid and CaCO3 particles. Recently proposed simultaneous gravel-packing and cake-cleanup method incorporating breakers into the gravelpack carrier fluid have been demonstrated to be an efficient technique through more than a dozen field applications, as evidenced by higher productivity compared to offset wells completed with conventional techniques. Because of the inherent risk in simultaneous gravel-packing and cake-cleanup with water-packing technique, carrier fluids containing breakers for filtercake removal have been used in conjunction with shunt-packing, which has been demonstrated through both field applications and large-scale yard testing not to rely on either the filter-cake or the formation properties. However, because shunt technique relies on viscosity for gravel placement, application of the simultaneous gravel-packing and cake-cleanup technique with polymer-free visco-elasticsurfactant (VES) carrier fluids has been limited to wells requiring a density of about 9.8 ppg (for circulating packs) and a bottom hole circulating temperature less than 200°F.In this paper, we present new surfactant formulations, which have unique chemistry that allows them to form visco-elastic surfactant solutions in high-density brines and remain stable at elevated temperatures. Densities up to 13.8 ppg with a rheological profile suitable for shunt-packing at bottom hole circulating temperatures exceeding 250°F are achievable with this new surfactant, covering a large majority of the gravelpack applications. It is further demonstrated that this new surfactant system does not only allow the use of certain chemicals that can be used for CaCO3 dissolution in conjunction with a gravel-pack process, but also requires these chemicals as co-surfactants in order to develop a visco-elastic structure. In addition to discussion of the unique chemistry of this VES formulation, data pertaining to proposed gravel-pack applications are presented. These include rheology, gravel suspension properties, filtercake dissolution characteristics, and retained permeabilities. A field case history utilizing the new VES fluid incorporating filter-cake cleanup chemicals is also detailed. Keywords: drilling fluid formulation, upstream oil & gas, ve fluid, permeability, brine, cacl 2, cabr 2, drilling fluid selection and formulation, completion, carrier fluid Subjects: Drilling Fluids and Materials, Drilling fluid selection and formulation (chemistry, properties), Sand Control This content is only available via PDF. 2002. Society of Petroleum Engineers You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.