Summary
Offshore completions in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) must typically address sand
control. Our industry has made significant progress with respect to sand
control equipment and implementation. However, all methods of sand control are
subject to mechanical failure, with the first indications often being the
production of solids into a common separation facility. In many offshore
completions, particularly subsea or multizone completions, it is often
difficult and expensive to determine which well or specific completion interval
has failed, most times requiring production to be shut in for diagnosis. Not
until that point can a remedy be evaluated.
One GOM producer engaged the services of a proppant supplier to determine
whether or not a suite of proppants/gravel can be developed that uniquely
identified and placed in each completion interval. In the event of proppant
production to surface (i.e., mechanical failure), the surface samples are
analyzed to directly determine which interval failed. The proppant needs to be
nonradioactive, yet identifiable with standard laboratory techniques.
The supplier subsequently developed a methodology whereby the proppant can
be "tagged" with more than 20 unique markers. This paper discusses how
the tagging agents are incorporated to become a permanent component of the
pellet. The results of laboratory testing are provided, verifying that the
taggant does not materially affect the performance of the proppant
In addition, the authors review two applications in which this new product
was placed in multizone frac-pack completions in several deepwater GOM
completions. The paper also describes basic laboratory techniques used to
successfully identify the source of proppant found in a surface choke
subsequent to the frac. The potential economic savings provided by this novel
approach are presented, as well as other potential applications for this new
product.
© 2009. Society of Petroleum Engineers
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History
- Original manuscript received:
19 November 2007
- Meeting paper published:
13 February 2008
- Revised manuscript received:
17 November 2008
- Manuscript approved:
1 December 2008
- Published online:
23 July 2009
- Version of record:
28 September 2009
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