Recovering Lost Oil Reserves in Sandy Wells Using a Resin Injection Approach: Mutiara and Pamaguan Field - Indonesia Implementation

Abstract

Gas and oil production play a significant role in maintaining company sustainability, directly impacting profitability. Amid a gradually increasing oil price trend, combined with a company production sharing contract, the economic benefits for oil sales are significantly higher than gas, demanding operations focus on lifting oil instead of gas. Many uncertain variables make it difficult to achieve the full potential of the reservoir's oil production, with sand production contributing a large part of this. It is a condition in which the sand matrix is produced together with reservoir fluids, leading to production system damage and an operational threat to safety. The sand issues are caused by poor cementation of the reservoir (widely known as an unconsolidated reservoir), combined with a rate of production fluid that exceeds a value (may vary for different reservoirs) known as the critical rate. The simplest solution to avoid sand issues is drawdown pressure management from the reservoir into the wellbore to maintain the production fluid rate below the critical rate. However, this solution is often ineffective due to the dynamic behavior of the reservoir and production system environment. From a production point of view, this solution also negatively impacts the oil production delivery commitment and reserves if the well cannot flow continuously below the critical rate. This results in mandatory sand production prevention measures being implemented. In the Mutiara and Pamaguan fields, sand issues are prevented using a mechanical solution by installing a sand screen in the wellbore. Although this method is the most economical one, due to the limitations of sand screen size and selection, sand can still pass by the screen or cause plugging around the screen. Since this method only filters the sand downhole, sand deposition below the sand screen is still very likely, leading to the eventual covering up of open perforation intervals. Recently, another method has been implemented to prevent sand production using resin injection into the reservoir, with the objective being to enhance sand consolidation. This method has proved an economical way to treat sand problems without harming either the production or clearance in the well. This paper will give a better understanding of the sand problem and the benefits of this type of resin injection for treating sand problems based on a campaign of four oil wells in a mature field with its associated complexity. This sand consolidation treatment successfully recovered lost oil reserves totaling 215 Mbbl of oil.