Introduction

Open hole gravel packing using the alpha/beta wave placement technique, has become the completion of choice for many operators developing fields with horizontal wells in unconsolidated sands. The interrelationships of the gravel placement parameters in these wells are well understood, and the process can be effectively modeled. However, for completions in deep and ultra deep water, difficulties limit the use of this technique.

New solutions are required to overcome the challenge of successfully packing through shale intervals, and to reliably overcome the gravel placement limitations imposed by low frac gradients. This paper presents the solutions currently in use and provides an application example using a new solution.

Horizontal Open Hole Gravel Pack (HZ-OHGP) Techniques

Successful gravel packing of long horizontal open holes has been achieved with two alternative gravel placement techniques – alternate path (A/P) and alpha/beta (A/B).

Keywords:
society of petroleum engineers, sand control, fracture pressure, natural gravel, slurry, gravel, extension, gradient, wave height, operator
Subjects:
Drilling Operations, Gravel pack design & evaluation, Sand Control, Completion Operations
Copyright 2005, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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