Productivity impairment of gas wells due to fines migration

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Well productivity decline have been widely observed for gas wells producing the 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. It has been observed in numerous core flood tests and field cases. The new basic equations for the detachment of fine particles, their migration and size exclusion, causing the rock permeability decline during gas production, have been derived. The analytical model, developed for the regime of steady state gas production with a gradual accumulation of strained particles, exhibits the linear skin factor growth vs the amount of produced reservoir fines. The modeling results are in a good agreement with the well production history. The model predicts well productivity decline due to fines production based on the short term production data.</jats:p>