Fracturing, Frac Packing, and Formation Failure Control: Can Screenless Completions Prevent Sand Production?

Abstract

Summary Some successful results have been reported for screenless frac-packing methods1–3; however, no scientific guidelines were given regarding the conditions under which a screen can be eliminated from a well. In this paper, we report field data from sand-producing wells and review the onset and the rate of sand production for those wells with and without hydraulic fractures. From these field observations and numerical modeling analysis, we give guidelines for when a screen must be run and when a screen can be eliminated.