Case Study: a Powder River Basin operating company reduces sand production and boosts productivity with SLB AvantGuard advanced flowback services

Maintaining the Secure Operating Envelope During Flowback and Completion Ends High Sand Production

SLB worked with a Powder River Basin based operating company that was struggling with excessive sand production during flowback after completion. Their aggressive choke strategy was reducing fracture conductivity and driving very high proppant flowback, in some cases up to 80,000 lbm, which led to costly cleanouts, sand disposal, and equipment erosion.

SLB applied AvantGuard advanced flowback services to identify the root cause of the proppant flowback and define a secure operating envelope for reservoir, completion, and stimulation conditions. By using the SOE-guided flowback strategy, the operator cut proppant flowback to less than 30 lbm per well, improved early production, and reduced costs tied to workovers, disposal, and equipment failures.