A New, Robust and Extremely Versatile

Sand Control Screen

SPE Technical Lunch3 November, 2011Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Thane G. Russell, P.Eng,, Vice President TechnologyAbsolute Completion Technologies

Functions of a Sand Control Screen

1. Prevent harmful formation sand from entering the wellbore.

2. Minimize restriction of oil production

Well Construction Trends1. More wells per pad

2. Tighter trajectories

3. Larger diameters

4. Longer laterals

Can your sand screen survive this?

Desirable Sand Screen Properties

1. High mechanical strength

2. Longevity

3. Insensitive to PSD variations

4. High plugging resistance

5. Adequate open flow area (OFA)

6. Low cost

Is there a screen that meets these criteria?

Conventional Sand Screens

FACSFlush Absolute Cartridge System

FACS Sand Control Screen

1. Premium Sintered Mesh discs flush-mounted and tightly secured into the base pipe

2. Wide range of micron ratings available (60-800)

3. 2D square or 3D triangular weaves

4. Two disc sizes (1” dia x 0.25”; 3/4” dia x 0.17”)

5. Available in 316L or Inconel (A20, A625)

6. Variable open flow area (0–23% OFA) via # discs

FACS Features

1. Open Flow Area (hence cost) can be tailored to well productivity

2. Same sand retention media as used worldwide in Premium screens (but 3 times thicker)

3. Sand retention media is corrosion resistant

4. Cost competitive to Slotted Liner for same OFA but 2-4 x stronger in some load modes

5. Discs can be plugged with dissolvable material to circulate/float screen to TD.

6. Robust—can be handled like casing.

FACS Advantages

Mechanical Strength Evaluations

Slotted Liner (2007) FACS (2008)

SPE 117486 (FEA)WHOC 2009-373

(Testing)

World Oil June 2007

Third-Party (C-FER) Studies

Common Failure Modes

Compression: Collapse:

Caliper Log

Torsion:

Torsion Strength

Torsion + Compression + Bending

Collapse Strength

Disc Pop-out Pressure (“Burst”)

Full-Scale Thermal-Mechanical Test

Worst-case operational scenario from FEA analysis:

1. Screen is heated up to 275 °C in wellbore and expands freely.

2. Formation packs around screen thereby confining it from expanding/contracting freely.

3. Steaming is interrupted and wellbore cools to ambient conditions thereby generated large tensile forces.

Full-Scale Thermal-Mechanical Test

C-FER Test Procedure:

1.Heat 7” FACS joint to 275 °C unconstrained.

2.Clamp joint at both ends.

3.Allow to cool to 50 °C while monitoring stress/strain and surface deformation (optically).

Conclusions:

1.FACS can handle the worst-case operational scenario for SAGD.

See WHOC 2009-373

Sand Retention Mechanisms

Gap is sized to the larger particles, and sand retention relies on arching across the gap.

Methods of Choosing Gap SizeMethod Pros Cons

1) Published correlations based on PSD parameters (e.g., D10, D50, D40/D90)

● Low cost● Fast

● Not always reliable

2) Lab Testing on core sands

● Reliable

● Slow and expensive● Reliable for sand(s)

tested

3) Master Curves (based on lab testing)

● Reliable for most PSDs

● Cost effective

● Some uncertainties

Lab testcoupons:

PSDs from One Well (SAGD field)

Which PSD(s) to choose for the lab tests?

FACS Sand Retention Tests

PSDs of Sands Tested

New 3D Weaves for New 3D Weaves for FacsRiteFacsRite

Conventional Conventional Premium WeavesPremium Weaves

3D Name Micron Rating

Air Perm for 3D Weave

Air Perm for Conventional

Weave

Fine 125 1310 600

Medium 220 1472 750

Coarse 485 1950 1200

FACS 3D Weave Results

FACS 3D Weave Results

FACS Field Experience

FACS

650 °C

THAI

FACS THAI Experience

1. First Installed Q3, 2009

2. FACS experienced temperatures 650+ °C

3. Still producing without failure

4. Client has since ordered for 12+ more THAI wells

5. Performance data is confidential

FACS SAGD Experience

1. First SAGD installation: 2010 in a producer well.

2. Client very pleased with low pressure drop.

3. Client has since ordered for 9+ more wells.

4. Four SAGD clients have ordered over 25 wells, 4 of which will be plugged with dissolvable material to circulate to TD.

Advantages of FACS

1)Robust in all SAGD installation/operation modes

2)Variable open flow area to 23 %

3)Premium sand retention (2D or 3D)

4)Corrosion Resistant Alloy (CRA) discs

5)Discs easily pluggable to circulate/float to TD

6)Field proven in THAI (650 C) and SAGD (275 C)

Thank You! Questions?