Some Considerations in the Selection and Installation of Gravel Pack for Oil Wells

SAND produced with the oil in many fields is one of the major causes of wear and down time on pumps, tubing, gas anchors and other equipment. Arresting this production of sand a t its source would materially increase the life of such equipment and reduce production costs. I t is possible to materially reduce or eliminate sand trouble in some fields by the judicious selection of the openings in perforated liners. However, in other fields this is impossible because of fineness of the sand, poor compaction of the formation, low bottom-hole pressures, or other conditions. In such cases, gravel packing seems to offer a practical and relatively simple solution of the problem. Gravel packing of wells, especially water wells, is not new. However, the selection and placing of the gravel have heretofore not been given sufficient study, and for that reason the results often have been unsatisfactory. An analysis of the problem is presented herein, with the hope of showing that gravel packing can be put on a rational basis and made a practical method of correcting a condition that has been a constant source of trouble to the oil industry. Three problems are considered: (1) selection of the proper mesh "gravel" to hold the formation in question, (2) proper placing of the gravel, (3) selection of a properly perforated liner to hold the gravel.