Gravel packing a 2,400-ft openhole horizontal interval

Journal Article · Tue Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998 · JPT, Journal of Petroleum Technology

OSTI ID:653436

Duhon, P; Holley, A; Gardiner, N; Grigsby, T ^[1]

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1. Halliburton Energy Services (United States)

A typical economic requirement of most high-cost deepwater development projects is high-initial-rate (> 15,000-B/D oil wells or > 70-MMcf/D gas wells) completions. To achieve these rates from pay sands in this field, 2,000--2,500-ft horizontal completions are used. Conventional openhole horizontal completions have been used in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) since the early 1990`s. However, the number of failures experienced by some operators has raised questions about the reliability of this type of completion. In deepwater projects, high-rate production and completion reliability present major challenges to operators, and traditional methods of sand control often have not been able to satisfy the changing conditions. The full-length paper presents a solution that combines gravel packing, enhanced downhole-tool capability, and advanced fluid technology to solve sand-control problems. The successful application of the first extended, horizontal openhole gravel packs in the northern GOM proved that gravel packing can be applied successfully to extended horizontal boreholes.

• OSTI ID: 653436
• Journal Information: JPT, Journal of Petroleum Technology, Journal Name: JPT, Journal of Petroleum Technology Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 50; ISSN 0149-2136; ISSN JPTJAM
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
03 NATURAL GAS
DIRECTIONAL DRILLING
NATURAL GAS WELLS
OIL WELLS
PACKINGS
SAND CONSOLIDATION
WELL COMPLETION