Many oil and gas fields produce sand and solids. Sanding or solids production has multiple adverse effects on well productivity and integrity and can pose a high HSE risk. The source of solids or sands within the produced fluids is often the disintegrated formation grains resulted from downhole mechanical failure of formation rocks under the production conditions. Sanding has a geomechanical root and it can be managed: “avoided/ mitigated/ controlled/ handled”. Effective sand management calls for “multidisciplinary action” and starts with a robust understanding of field geomechanical conditions. Advanced analytical and numerical geomechanical analysis can identify the likelihood of sanding over well life, the likely sand-producing zones, the timing (or formation pressure condition), and the severity of sanding or sand qualification (e.g. transient, massive or catastrophic) and transport to the surface. Such analysis will provide inputs and insights to completion engineers for fit-for-purpose sand management decisions and field development strategies.

This short course on “Geomechanics for Sanding Evaluation” is designed to provide geoscientists and engineers with the basics of petroleum rock mechanics and the use of well logs, core measurements, drilling and production information for geomechanical modelling with a particular focus on the application of reservoir geomechanics in sand production prediction and sand management decisions.

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