Dean S. Oneal

Identifying the Root Cause of a Deepwater GoM Infant Sand Control Failure

When sand control failures are associated with high-cost deepwater completions, the need to understand the mode of failure is of paramount importance. This paper illustrates how Shell attained this understanding by adapting the Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) approach, commonly used in Shell’s downstream chemical business, to the sand control failure of a Gulf of Mexico sub sea well. Using the RCFA process in the upstream petroleum industry has rarely been conducted in the past. With reference to the failed well - Well A, this paper incorporates details of the RCFA phases namely; Data Collection, Problem Identification, Problem Description and Causal Analysis that led to determining the most likely sand control failure mechanism. In the process of identifying the root cause failure, the detail required for the RCFA explores the underpinning assumptions for commonly accepted processes and techniques. In the case of this failed well, the detailed analysis of the RCFA led to additional learnings that will not only reduce the incidence of failures in the future but also improve completion design generally. This paper provides a summary of these findings. In conclusion, based on this RCFA, guidelines are provided to identify when this technique should be applied, how this approach could be improved in the future and the necessary factors (staff, data, and management sponsorship) required for this process to be of maximum value to the corporation.