Prediction of Sand Production Using Well Logs from Oil Fields in Southwest of Iran

Sand production during extraction and exploitation from oil wells is one of the most important problems in delaying the exploiting operations. Different methods are presented to predict sand production in the field the reservoir rocks of which are sandstone or carbonates. This methods are typically comprised of rock mechanics tests (such as uniaxial compressive strength and triaxial tests), and mineralogical analyses or using of well logs. Rock mechanics tests and mineralogical analyses, as well as other tests used to analyze oil and gas wells, are very time consuming and costly in comparison with conventional well logs. Therefore, in this paper, well logs are used for the prediction of sand production in the southwest of Iran. For this purpose, by having traditional petrophysical logs such as sonic logs, the uniaxial compressive strength and elastic modulus in rocks are first calculated, and then the values of pore pressure are computed; these values are also calibrated with the real data. Since in situ stresses at deep depths are very necessary for the prediction of sand production, by using values obtained for elastic modulus, uniaxial compressive strength, and pore pressure, the vertical and horizontal stresses were obtained. Finally, Mohr-Columb criteria and caliper log data were used to obtain the optimum safe mud window for the prediction of local zones that have the potential of sand productions.