SAND CONTROL IN HORIZONTAL WELLS IN HEAVY-OIL RESERVOIRS

Recent advances in horizontal-well technology has greatly improved the potential for heavy-oil recovery. Such recovery may be hampered, however, by sanding problems associated with most heavy-oil reservoirs. These reservoir sands are mostly unconsolidated and may lead to severe productivity-loss problems if produced freely. This paper offers recommendations for sand control in three Canadian heavy-oil reservoirs. Experimental evidence has shown that minimizing the annular space between the casing and the open hole is important, especially in the case of smaller wire space, lower oil viscosity, and thinner pay zone. Several types of wire-wrapped screens and flexible liners were tested for sand control. Only flexible liners reduced sand production to a negligible amount.