Formation Damage Due to Fines Migration and its Remedial Methods

This article delves into the issue of well productivity decline in gas wells, often due to reservoir fines – small particles that can clog up pores and decrease permeability. The focus of the paper is on a super gas field in the North-western margin of the Nile Delta, which has been experiencing significant productivity losses over recent years due to this phenomenon of fines migration.

To detect formation damage, the researchers conducted well testing and performance analysis, and used laboratory core flood tests to determine the causes, extent, and degree of damage. Additionally, they used Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to analyze rock samples before and after the core flood tests. They also explored the effects of acid on improving and curing damaged cores and evaluated matrix acid stimulation using a case study from the field under study.