Effects of fines migration on well productivity during steady state production

Abstract

Well clogging and productivity decline have been widely observed in oil, gas, and artesian wells producing reservoir fines. The phenomenon has been explained by the lifting, migration, and subsequent plugging of the pores by the fine particles, finally resulting in permeability decrease. This has been observed in numerous core flood tests and field cases. In this work, the new basic equations for the detachment of fine particles, their migration, and size exclusion, causing the rock permeability decline, have been derived. The analytical model, developed for the regime of steady-state production with the gradual accumulation of strained particles, exhibits the linear skin factor growth versus the amount of produced reservoir fines. The modeling data are in good agreement with the well production history. The model allows predicting well productivity decline due to fines production based on short-term production data.