An Engineered Fiber for the Fracturing of Unconsolidated Sand in Highly Deviated Wells in the Tali Field of Brunei

摘要

This paper discusses the application of fibers for the Frac and Pack application for Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP). Seven wells with a total of seventeen fracturing treatments in this study are on a multilayered unconsolidated formation, where sand control is a part of well management during the production life of the wells. Previous techniques of open hole external gravel packing and cased hole Internal Gravel Packing (IGP) for controlling formation sand were challenged by reduced flow efficiency of the wells. The recent development of Expandable Sand Screen (ESS) combined with fracturing treatment could not control produced sand, due to failure in perforation techniques. An improved idea of perforating only the lower side of deviated wells using minimum viscosity fluids and minimum amount of pad with limited proppant sand concentration resulted in low net pressure build up. These challenges were prevailed over by the application of a new fiber technology in which fiber is used (1) to transport higher sand concentration to the fracture, and (2) to control the sand flow back during production as well. Since this technology is physical rather than chemical, the proppant flowback is controlled without specific shut-in time, temperature, or pressure constraints. The use of fiber technique prevents sand falling down from perforations and ensures the ESS running smoothly. This technique enabled Brunei Shell Petroleum to cost effectively complete the highly deviated wells with stimulation and sand control. In presence of the fiber, higher proppant concentrations upto 9 ppa could be used successfully even with linear guar gel. This promotes the net pressure build up which is vital for fracturing treatment in high permeability reservoir. Eleven fracturing treatments on five different wells have been performed with excellent results.