Paper: Marc Durkee, ConocoPhillips Zeke T. Peak, Matthew B. Montes and Phillip D. Nguyen, Halliburton

Flowback of proppant and formation sand often become nuisance for operators as these solids cause equipment damage, costly cleanup treatments, and potential loss of production. These flowback problems are often compounded in severity in wells with high temperature and high pressure. Operators seek reliable solutions to (1) eliminate the need for frequent remedial cleanouts and surface equipment replacement, and (2) to maximize revenues by increasing and maintaining production rates. This paper presents a field case-study that discusses the remedial treatments and lessons learned in more than 20 wells in south Texas that the operator has encountered with proppant and formation sand flowback problems. It also discusses the development and treatment processes using low viscosity consolidating agents to be applied in the treatments. Examples show how these problems were successfully overcome in these high temperature wells. Field cases histories are presented with detailed descriptions of the treatments, challenges, and recommendations during the course of the treatments. Field results indicate that over 90% of these consolidation treatments have effectively stopped the flowback of proppant and formation sand while allowing the production rates of the wells to be increased. These treatments have drastically decreased the number of workovers as compared to the period before their treatments, or compared to the offset wells in the same field that consolidation treatments were not performed. This study has demonstrated that an effective coating of a curable resin on the proppant and formation sand close to the wellbore is necessary to help maximize the consolidation bonding between grains within the pack while minimizing any reduction of its permeability. Additives included in the liquid resin system permit good consolidation properties in the proppant pack, allowing it to effectively handle the shear forces of high production rates and the effect of stress cycling as the well undergoes producing and being shut in. This new remedial treatment process greatly enhances the effectiveness of fluid placement into the propped fractures, regardless of the number of perforation intervals and their lengths, without mechanical isolation between the intervals. The simplicity of treatment helps make remediation economically feasible, especially in wells with marginal reserves.