Control of sand production in the underground storage of natural gas

Many of the natural gas storage fields which are developed in depleted oil or gas fields and in natural- occurring, water-bearing formations experience problems with sand production. Because of the high gas velocities resulting from high production rates of natural gas from these storage reservoirs, a small volume of sand will result in extensive operational difficulties. Some of the problems created are reservoir damage, loss of deliverability, and damage to subsurface tubular goods and surface equipment. A field case study is presented of a successful sand consolidation program designed to eliminate sand production from an aquifer utilized in 2 separate fields for the storage of natural gas. The consolidation program has proven successful and is being expanded to include all wells completed in this formation in both fields to restrict the future development of sand production problems.