SPE 58731

High Angle OHGP’s In Sand/Shale Sequences:

A Case History Using a Formate Drill-In Fluid
G. McKay, C.L. Bennett, & J.M. Gilchrist , BP Amoco Exploration

Copyright 2000, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.

performance, as deduced from pressure transient
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2000 SPE International Symposium on analysis, will be presented to demonstrate the success
Formation Damage Control held in Lafayette, Louisiana, 23–24 February 2000.
of the unique clean-up approach adopted for this
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of
information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as
operation.
presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to
correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any
position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at Introduction
SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of
Petroleum Engineers. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper
for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is
prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300
An integrated, holistic approach was taken during the
words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous planning, installation and production phase of this well
acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O.
Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, USA, fax 01-972-952-9435. completion. Good communication of the key issues
between the various technical disciplines was regarded
as critical to ensuring a robust life of well completion,
Abstract consistent with the reservoir management strategy,
facilities constraints and maximising rate of return,
Historically, application of open hole gravel packs have whilst also minimising any environmental or HSE
mainly been limited to completion of deviated and impact.
vertical wells. Other limiting factors affecting selection
of this type of completion are reservoir quality and In addition, assessment and management of the
heterogeneity, or the need for selective completion. productivity and sand control integrity risks (Figure 1.0)
However, with an increasing number of high angle and helped ensure a trouble free operation.
horizontal wells being drilled, the industry is focusing
more attention on how to use gravel packs to greater
effect in long heterogeneous sections. Keys to success Reservoir
are productivity, management of formation damage
through optimal filter cake design, and attainment of The reservoir comprises sand/shale sequences, with a
long term sand control by ensuring complete gravel net-to-gross of approximately 60%. The intra-reservoir
placement over the entire producing interval. shale comprises layers varying in thickness from several
meters to a less than a millimeter, and discrete clasts or
This case history discusses a high angle open hole inclusions within the sandstone bodies.
gravel pack application for a sand shale sequence.
Inhibition of these highly reactive intra reservoir clays It also contains a high levels of reactive smectite clay.
was achieved using a low solids formate based mud The individual sand bodies comprise clean, well sorted,
system. Full gravel placement along the high angle 3-4 Darcy unconsolidated sands, of D50 250µm and UC
(75°) reservoir section was accomplished using an 2.0 (based upon dry sieve analysis). However, when pay
alternative path gravel pack technique. Filter cake and non-pay are combined, the formation has a
removal, unlike other industry approaches using acids, significant fines tail.
relied on application of enzymes to enhance the clean-
up/back production of filter cake through the oversized Completion Design
gravel and so maximise productivity.
Given the heterogeneous nature of the formation
The discussion will focus on the system design particle size distribution, an open hole gravel pack was
approach to drill-in fluid design / clean-up, and the selected as the optimum completion design. Recent
1
actual gravel pack placement. Finally, the productivity field experience in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico ,
2 G McKay, CL Bennett, JM Gilchrist SPE 58731

and laboratory studies2 has indicated that screen only Well Productivity Issues
completions are susceptible to high failure rates in
formations containing significant non-pay (shale, The water based fluid selected should have the
mudstone/siltstone) and/or have a heterogeneous following characteristics
particle size distribution.
• MINIMAL SOLIDS WEIGHTING - this make operations
As part of the integrated design, a number of key easier by allowing running of the screen assembly to
completion issues were highlighted; these will now be run in the drill-in fluid without plugging
discussed. • A NON DAMAGING FILTER cake on the wall of the hole
that could be gravel packed in place
Drill-in Fluids, Shale Stability & Well Productivity Issues • MINIMAL CLEAN-UP W HILST MAXIMISING PRODUCTION -
drill-in fluids that required massive acid jobs to
Drill-In Fluid remove filter cake were not favoured
• FULL COMPATIBILITY with all formation rock/completion
The drill-in fluid is critical to successful delivery of a high fluid and completion fluid/formation fluid interactions
productivity, reliable gravel pack. To do this, the fluid
must: Recent unpublished work has further confirmed that
• deliver a stable, gauge hole throughout the while both synthetic and water based drill-in fluids can
completion phase to minimise operational problems be back produced with no or minimal clean-up, the two
• offer excellent well productivity characteristics fluids behave in fundamentally different ways.
(minimal formation damage; easily removable filter Depending upon the application (particularly low
cake, minimal screen plugging potential) drawdown, high transmissibility application open hole
• present no handling or operational problems with gravel packs), the water based systems may require
regard to HSE impact some form of degradation prior to being placed on
production to maximise productivity.
Shale Stability
To achieve this, enzyme treatments were investigated.
Shale stability is important in assuring successful Compared with conventional mineral or organic acids or
OHGP’s for two reasons: peroxide breakers, enzyme breakers have a number of
• hole instability can lead to washouts or hole collapse advantages:
- this makes defining a successful gravel pack very
difficult unless the exact hole size is understood (e.g. • more environmentally friendly
from calipers) • lower HSE risk for the rig crew / completions team
• plugged screens - if shales are unstable during the • promote more even degradation of the filter cake,
gravel placement process, shale particles spalling hence even inflow
into the hole can cause plugging of the screen, which • less risk of formation damage as a result of sudden
can lead to stalled gravel pack in the worst case fines ingress into the formation, often associated with
very rapid filter cake breakthrough
X-ray diffraction has shown that the reservoir interval
contained up to 27% smectite (up to 80% of the total For this application, the enzyme breakers were
clay content). Cation exchange capacity (CEC) data was incorporated within the gravel pack carrier fluid (a visco-
in good agreement, with values up to 27meq/100g elastic surfactant solution) in order to degrade the filter
(note:CEC>20 is indicative of high reactivity). cake polymers, and thereby facilitate even inflow. This
approach offered significant operational advantages:
While synthetic oil based mud can offer an excellent
solution to reactive shales and have been successfully • prolong degradation of filter cake to minimise losses
applied in OHGP completion, a desire in this project was whilst pulling wash pipe
to further increase the range of fluid designs in our ‘tool • take advantage of incremental soak time available
box’ - essentially to offer a non SOBM solution where whilst running upper completion
synthetics might not be an available option. This is
particularly a requirement where heavier fluid weights Selection of the Potassium/Sodium Formate Drill-In
are required due to reservoir over pressure (12-18+ ppg
fluids)
Fluid

Based on the criteria discussed above, engineering and

laboratory work selected a potassium/sodium formate
mud. A primary driver in selection of the formate
SPE 58731 High Angle OHGP’s In Sand/Shale Sequences: A Case History Using a Formate Drill-In Fluid 3

system was to develop experience with a base fluid Core soak tests were performed with the fluid, along
system that has very wide weight range (up to 2.3 SG with stringent compatibility testing with the drill-in fluid,
with caesium formate) for future overpressured the carrier fluid and the Harding crude oil.
applications.
A cocktail of two enzyme systems were selected to work
To rank fluids on dispersibility, ‘cage dispersion tests’ on on the polymer and starch elements of the filter cake
reservoir shale were carried out. Typical data are respectively. Even at relatively low concentrations the
shown in Figure 2. Greater recoveries, indicative of effectiveness of this combination was clearly
good shale stability, were observed in the presence of demonstrated. Based on visual observation of the filter
formate brine (a sodium/potassium blend), even cake, the resulting clean up proved to be just as efficient
compared with conventional sodium chloride or in filter cake degradation when compared to acid/
sodium/potassium chloride brines with glycol added. oxidiser based systems.

By having a wide base brine range, the amount of Table 2: Enzyme Treatment Design
bridging solids can be determined by well productivity
concerns and not by well control / pore pressure issues - Component Concentration
while still staying with a monovalent brine system with
the operational (and design) advantages that brings (i.e. Enzyme (Starch removal) 2.5% by volume of carrier fluid
fully biodegradable, minimal HSE issues etc, minimal Enzyme (Polymer removal) 1.25% by volume of carrier fluid
corrosion issues3).
Compatibility tests also showed no interaction between
The final formulation selected is given below. the gravel pack carrier fluid and these enzyme breakers.

Table 1: Formate Drill-In Fluid Design for 11 lb/gal Screen & Gravel Placement Design
(1.32 SG)
Along with the development of very inhibitive water
Component Concentration based drill-in fluids for reactive sand/shale sections,
Base Brine Potassium / sodium formate there was a strategic interest to further increase our
108 ppb K formate / 69.5 ppb Na understanding of gravel placement techniques and the
formate associated well longevity. Ultimately, the desire is to
Viscosifier / Fluid loss Control 4 ppb Bio-polymer / 5 ppb modified maximise well productivity and longevity whilst
starch
Bridging Agents Calcium carbonate
minimising costs (operational times, sandface
completion assembly cost etc.).
Selection and testing of the gravel pack carrier To date, most high angle gravel packs have used the
fluid circulating placement technique with considerable
success. However, there is concern that “complete
A Visco-Elastic Surfactant (VES) carrier fluid was packs” may not achieved for a number of reasons4. As a
selected for it’s non-damaging polymer free qualities. consequence, for high value wells, a “premium” screen
These fluids also have other helpful properties (e.g sintered metal, mesh based vs. conventional wire-
particularly when used with alternate path gravel pack wrap) may be selected as insurance against operational
systems. problems during gravel placement. While this may give
“peace of mind”, it does increase total completion cost.
The key advantage is the shear thinning behaviour,
which helps to reduce leak-off inside the shunt tubes via Hence for this well, a modified conventional wire-
the packed annulus, thereby reducing the risk of wrapped screen was selected along with the alternative
premature slurry dehydration. path placement technique which is perceived at this
point to offer a more reliable method of gravel
Various base fluids were tested for use with the VES. placement. Details of the actual alternative path
Formate brines were tested, but were avoided as VES assembly chosen is illustrated in Figure 3.0.
fluids tend to be sensitive to high salt concentrations.
The most effective base fluid for our application was The slurry design selected is given in the table below.
found to be 5% sodium chloride. With a VES Large gravel was used to maximise clean-up of the filter
concentration of 6%, a viscosity of 130cP @ 170sec-1 at cake, whilst preventing sand production. Use of the
140 deg F was achievable. VES’ viscosity allowed a relatively high gravel loading;
this in terms of reduced the total pumping time.
4 G McKay, CL Bennett, JM Gilchrist SPE 58731

Table 3: Slurry Design for Alternative Path GP conditioned mud. The screen assembly was run to TD,
with good agreement between the torque and drag
Variable Value modeling and actual field data.

Gravel Size 16/30 US mesh With the screens at TD, the open hole was displaced to
Gravel Concentration 8 lbs / US gallon kill weight 8.8 ppg NaCl brine (filtered to 2 microns) via
Carrier Fluid 8.8 ppg NaCl brine
a 40bbl push pill, and the gravel pack packer set.
Viscosifier Visco-elastic surfactant
Placement Time 60 mins (vs. 210 mins for a circulating
water pack)
Gravel Placement
Assurance of Gravel Placement - Yard Trial
The service tool was lowered to the circulating position,
Given the emerging nature of the alternative path and slurry pumping then commenced with a 30bbl VES
technology in open hole application, a yard trial was pre-pad followed by slurry. In total 180 bbls of 12.1 ppg
carried out to provide assurance to the field operation. slurry consisting of 16/30 US mesh gravel at 8ppg in a
visco-elastic carrier fluid (spec: > 120 cP at 170 s-1 and
A single 1” x ¾” shunt tube was placed inside ca. 1000ft 140°F) was pumped, initially at 5 bpm until the initial
of slotted 3” PVC pipe. Two blank, non-slotted sections annular screen-out was observed at 500 psi above initial
ca. 60ft in length were placed at the start and half way circulating pressure, at which the pump rate was
along to simulate shale sections, i.e. no leak-off. reduced. A plot of pump rate, fluid return rate, surface
Viewing windows and pressure gauges were also placed and downhole pressure is shown in Figure 4.
at intervals.
The point at which flow diverts through the shunt tubes
Slurry containing gravel of the same size (16/30 US can be seen. After the annulus screen-out, the pump
mesh) and at the same concentration planned for the rate was dropped to ca. 2 bpm and maintained until final
well completion, and including the enzyme breakers, screen-out. In total, approximately 100% of the
was pumped through the simulated cross-over tool and designed amount of slurry was placed, based upon a
into the shunt/PVC pipe. nominal open hole size - note, without a caliper log this
can only be regarded as an approximation, although
All 1,000ft was successfully packed (as shown when the cuttings returns and the mud quality when under-
PVC pipe was taken apart after the test). In addition, the reaming with the formate drill-in mud indicated no
pressure response showed the progression of the significant wash-outs occurred.
packing along the pipe.
The washpipe was pulled, closing a copper beryllium
In summary this test, along with other similar yard trials, flapper valve to isolate the open hole. In total ca. 15
provided the assurance that this technique would work in bbls of fluid were lost. After running the upper
the field. completion, the flapper valve was used to test the upper
completion (removing the need for wireline
Completion Operations intervention). The valve was then hydraulically sheared
by applying pre-determined tubing pressure before the
Payzone Drilling well was produced.

After setting 7-5/8” liner above the reservoir, a 300 ft Well Performance & Sand Control Integrity
long, 8-1/2” open hole section was drilled at a deviation
of 75 degrees through the reservoir using 11 ppg With the application of new technology, the importance
synthetic oil-based mud. This was then displaced to the of successful and comprehensive data acquisition
11 ppg potassium/sodium formate drill-in mud and cannot be understated. In this regard, the installation of
under-reamed to 10”. a permanent downhole pressure gauge and surface
solids detection have been fully taken advantage of.
Hole Preparation & Screen Running
Initial Clean-Up Performance
The whole mud was conditioned over 230 mesh (63
micron) shaker screens to remove potential screen Initial well performance has been very good. As
plugging solids. A modified HPHT fluid loss cell expected, the minimal completion fluids lost to the
containing a disc of 16 gauge wire wrap screen was formation promoted a rapid clean-up (i.e. getting to 0%
used to ensure no plugging occurred with the water cut). During the initial clean-up period, a number
SPE 58731 High Angle OHGP’s In Sand/Shale Sequences: A Case History Using a Formate Drill-In Fluid 5

of pressure build-ups were conducted; the results are production to surface, acoustic sand detectors have
interesting in that they illustrate a very rapid clean-up - been fitted to every flowline. In addition to protecting
both in terms of time and volume of fluid produced. surface facilities from sand damage, detection of
incipient completion failure may allow remedial action to
Transient Analysis Results prevent a catastrophic loss of the completion, requiring
a re-drill or side-track.
Unfortunately, the exact magnitude of the mechanical
skin is unknown due to the uncertainty in the estimate of Dedicated offshore production engineers have been
the formation kv/kh. assigned responsibility for the maintenance of the
To this end, sensitivity was run to investigate both the detectors, including periodic re-evaluation of the input
impact of this uncertainty and ensure the actual skins parameters, and evaluation of the output.
associated with the completion (Smech) was deconvolved
from the total skin (Sglobal) which includes the benefits of To date, this well has shown no signs of solids
the well deviation. production.

Table 4: Current Well Performance Analysis Conclusions

PBU 1 PBU 2 PBU 3 PBU 4 1. Integrated, cross disciplinary planning has achieved
k, md 4,100 4,100 4,100 4,100 an excellent well result in a relatively challenging
Global skin 3.8 1.6 1.7 1.1 reservoir environment for open hole completions.
k v k h =.1 2. The potassium/sodium formate with the enzyme
treatment has yielded excellent productivity and
Geometric skin -0.95 -0.95 -0.95 -0.95
Mechanical skin 5.5 3.0 3.0 2.7
minimal clean-up time.
∆p skin, psi 84 35 34 42 3. The alternative path technique offers an effective
alternative to conventional circulating gravel
k v k h =.5 placement - in this case, a full pack was achieved
Geometric skin -2.7 -2.7 -2.7 -2.7 and no solids production has been observed at
Mechanical skin 13.0 8.5 8.5 8.0 surface.
∆p skin, psi 109 55 53 68 4. The confidence gained on this well will be put to
immediate use in implementing longer, higher angle
well designs as well as higher fluid weight designs in
At time of writing, the well continues to exhibit further
other fields.
clean-up - this will be confirmed with further PTA work
5. Once again, the need for aggressive, large acid
as the cumulative production increases.
stimulation to achieve good well productivity has
been challenged.
Well Deliverability

While the skin figure is of considerable interest, it is the

Acknowledgments
impact of this near wellbore impairment on well
deliverability that is of most concern. In this regard, the A great number of people contributed to the success of
well is a highly successful as demonstrated by the well this well. Thanks in particular are due to Bryan
performance (IPR vs. TPR) shown in Figure 5. Chambers & Mark Aston (fluids and shale stability),
Mike Levitan (pressure transient analysis), Graham
Compared to an notional industry average (mechanical) Watson & George Gillespie (sandface completion).
Finally, appreciation is shown to this project’s offshore
skin for an open hole gravel pack of between 5 - 8 for a
Drilling and Completions personnel for conducting a
shaly/sand environment, this well compares very well;
successful operation in the field.
industry preference is to typically apply OHGP only to
clean, massive sands.
Finally, the Management of BP Amoco Exploration are
thanked for their permission to publish this paper.
However, there is still room for improvement: the target
of zero impairment has not yet been achieved. For this
well (as is illustrated in Figure 5), the loss of production References
is around 1,000 bopd for this tubing size.
1
Hart Petroleum Engineer International (May 1996)
2
Sand Detection System SPE 39,437: New Criteria for Gravel and Screen
Selection for Sand Control; Tiffin, D.L. et al, SPE
To mitigate the risks associated with undetected sand International Symposium on Formation Damage
6 G McKay, CL Bennett, JM Gilchrist SPE 58731

Control, Lafayette, LA, 18-19 Feb., 1998

3
SPE 30,498: Formate Brines for Drilling and
Completion: State of the Art, Howard, Siv K. , SPE
Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition held in
Dallas, TX, U.S.A., 22-25 Oct., 1995
4
SPE 48,976: Advancing Horizontal Well Sand Control
Technology: An OHGP Using Synthetic OBM; Gilchrist,
J.M., Sutton, L.W. Jr. Elliott, F.J., Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition held in New Orleans,
Louisiana, 27-30 Sept. 1998
7 G McKay, C L Bennett, J M Gilchrist SPE 58731

Manageability / Confidence
Level
Area of Concern Low Medium High Action
Fluid Compatibility (drill-in, completion, crude) √ Lab study
Formation Damage (drill-in & completion √ Lab study
fluids)

Mud properties & Solids Control (high level of √ Use of formate WBM
shale/mudstone)
Shale Stability (in presence of formate or √ Lab study
saturated NaCl brine phase)
Filter Cake Production through GP (inc. √ Lab study
efficacy of enzyme breaker)
Screen Installation (in whole mud without √ Optimised running procedures; Screen QC;
plugging & mechanical damage) Use of 230 mesh shakers & offshore flow kit
WBM to Brine Displacement (after running √ Based on current procedure on Harding,
screens & prior to placing the pack) previous field experience, lab work/additives
optimisation
Achieving Complete GP Placement (i.e. √ Yard trial at StimLab; Field experience, this job
uniform pack w/shunt tubes) within experience envelope
Tool Operation (fluid losses when setting √ Detailed discussions with Service Company &
packer) Rig Crew Briefing
Massive Fluid Loss (e.g. with brine & screens √ Contingency plan & LCM design
in open hole) and Impact of LCM

Figure 1. Risks to Formate Drlll-In Fluid / Alternative OHGP - result of pre-job planning risk mitigation
8 G McKay, CL Bennett, JM Gilchrist SPE 58731

Cage Dispersion Test Results

100

95

90

85

80 no glycol
4% glycol
% recovery
75

70

65
Sodium Sodium / Sodium /
Chloride Potassium Potassium
Chloride Formate

Figure 2.0 WBM Cage Dispersion Test Data

9 G McKay, C L Bennett, J M Gilchrist

Figure 3.0 Sandface Completion

10 G McKay, CL Bennett, JM Gilchrist SPE 58731

6 2500

Pump Rate (bpm)

above circ press.) down to 2BPM

Surface Pressure (psia)

Initial annular screen-out (500psi

5
2000

Final screen-out, 2000psi above circ pressure

Surface Presure (psia)

4
Pump Rate (bpm)

1500

1000
2

500
1
Probable shunt tube action

0 0
00:20:04
00:20:16
00:20:28
00:20:40
00:20:52
00:21:04
00:21:16
00:21:28
00:21:40
00:21:52
00:22:04
00:22:16
00:22:28
00:22:40
00:22:52
00:23:04
00:23:16
00:23:28
00:23:40
00:23:52
00:24:04
00:24:16
00:24:29
00:24:41
00:24:53
00:25:05
00:25:17
00:25:29
Time

Figure 4: Treatment Response During Alternative Path Gravel Pack Placement

2,500
Tubing Performance Curve

2,450

2,400

2,350
Pressure (psia)

2,300

Theoretical Max.IPR (S=0)

2,250

2,200 Well outperforms

'average' OHGP by This Well IPR: S=2.7
~ 2 MBD
(+30% Qoil)
2,150

Industry Average IPR (S~8)

2,100
0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000
Liquid Rate (stb/day)

Figure 5: Impact of Improved Payzone Completion on Well Deliverability