Prediction of sand production from a Saudi sandstone reservoir

Abstract

Sand production is encountered in some Saudi oil fields. Six sand samples produced from different wells in a Saudi oil reservoir were obtained. Sandstone samples obtained from the same reservoir were subjected to uniaxial and triaxial failure tests. The debris produced from the sandstone samples and the six sand samples were characterized for their mineralogy using X-ray diffractometer and grain size distribution using standard sieves. Statistical analyses were employed to check whether a statistical difference between the sand samples produced from oil wells and debris collected from the failed sandstone specimens is significant or not. The critical oil rates of the Saudi oil reservoir were also calculated for different well inclination angles. Results show that, no significant statistical difference between the sand samples and debris exists at a confidence level of 95%. Two obvious failure mechanisms, splitting and shear failure, are responsible for sand production from the studied Saudi oil reservoir. The maximum sand-free production for the studied oil reservoir range from 960 to 4080 barrels per day.