This issue features sand and water management; two important, and strikingly similar, processes. Both have been around for a long time. When I joined the industry, sand and water production were like the weather — everyone talked about it, but there wasn’t much that could be done about it. Fortunately, innovative technology and inspired techniques have brought order to the chaos, and both conditions can be managed.

Management is where the similarity between sand and water production exists. Taking a logical, systematic approach to both problems has paid off, mainly by dramatically reducing their undesirable effects. A four-step process has evolved — Prediction, Prevention, Monitoring and Mitigation — that applies to both issues.

Many operators have found that they can use log data to predict a formation’s potential to produce sand, water or both. Through prediction, one can develop a prevention plan. Most importantly, given reasonably accurate prediction data, companies can perform better risk analyses to deduce the economic implications of sand and/or water production in advance of its appearance and compare those numbers to the cost of proposed prevention techniques.

Different logs are required to predict sanding than to predict water encroachment. But it was not always thus. For years, conventional wisdom placed the blame for sanding and water ingress squarely on drawdown. People reasoned that if their well started producing sand or water, the problem could be cured by reducing the drawdown pressure. Today, studies have shown that a formation’s propensity to make sand is a function of the near-wellbore stress field that is responsible for holding the sand grains in place. Fortunately, geomechanical logs can measure both the local stress intensity and its orientation. In many cases, completions can be designed using stress log data to avoid sanding-prone zones altogether. If they cannot be avoided, Sand control media can be specified in the initial completion to prevent sand from entering the completion and tubulars.

Water production can be predicted using logs that can be interpreted to reveal a formation’s relative permeability to water. And seismic or ultra deep electromagnetic surveys can identify water banks in inter-well reservoir volumes. Used together, the measurements can predict a formation’s potential to produce water, and the time of water breakthrough can be roughly estimated. Time lapse methods can identify production streamlines that can be used to predict water breakthrough on a field-wide basis. And injector patterns can be altered to forestall premature watering.

Later in the water/sand production saga, operators can install sensors and devices that can detect accurately and measure precisely the onset of sand or water production and monitor any significant changes. These devices enable the operator to mobilize remediation services in time to mitigate the problem and prevent any collateral damage to the well or production hardware. Final solutions can range anywhere from matrix treatments to recompletions and are based on meticulously gathered and stored data, much like the so-called “black-box” found in commercial aircraft. With easily accessible history files, root cause analyses can be performed that enable engineers to design and implement the most efficient and cost-effective solutions.

Some recently announced solutions include the addition of inflow control devices to sand management media. These simple devices ensure that inflow fluids are evenly distributed across the entire gravel pack rather than focused on a small area where they can cause an erosion failure.

On the water side, new technology has been introduced that can process produced water or hydraulic fracturing flow-back fluids, and reclaim up to 90% of it for re-use. This saves producers a lot of money, and provides a bonus water supply for subsequent well treatments or other water requirements on the lease.

The ultimate solution would be a system that eliminates sanding altogether, and/or one that completely eliminates unwanted water production. Someday, maybe the industry may have these solutions. In the meantime, operators must still strive to balance the risks of unwanted sand or water production against the costs of mitigation.

To achieve the ultimate goal of optimized sand- and water-free production still eludes us. It’s a beach!