Geomechanics for Petroleum Engineers (GEO75)
Description
Various subsurface project risks can be reduced significantly by proper geomechanical understanding and associated pressure – and sometimes also temperature - management during operations. At well scale, these risks include borehole instability and stuck-pipe incidents, sand failure and solids production, as well as fracturing and seal integrity issues. Field-scale geomechanical assessments also provide important input to safe operating envelopes for the reservoir pressure as well as production and injection wells. Reservoir compaction (and pore collapse) may cause a reduction of reservoir permeability, mechanical well failure and unacceptable (seabed) subsidence. Fault reactivation may create permeable pathways and loss of containments (e.g., in waterflood operations and Carbon Capture Storage projects) and possibly induced seismicity. Proper geomechanical understanding of the subsurface response to planned operations is essential, both at well scale and on field scale.
This course covers data acquisition and interpretation, geomechanical modelling, and interpretation focussed on managing the aforementioned project risks. Data acquisition includes field data, such as (X)LOT, and petrophysical log data to estimate formation properties using correlation functions. Also, attention is paid to rock mechanical experiments and interpretation. Geomechanical modelling is considered at material point level (covering elastic and thermal deformation as well as shear and tensile failure), at wellbore scale (covering stress around the bore hole) and at field scale using Finite-element modelling techniques.
Course Level: Foundation
Duration: 5 days
Instructor: Peter van den Bogert
This course covers data acquisition and interpretation, geomechanical modelling, and interpretation focussed on managing the aforementioned project risks. Data acquisition includes field data, such as (X)LOT, and petrophysical log data to estimate formation properties using correlation functions. Also, attention is paid to rock mechanical experiments and interpretation. Geomechanical modelling is considered at material point level (covering elastic and thermal deformation as well as shear and tensile failure), at wellbore scale (covering stress around the bore hole) and at field scale using Finite-element modelling techniques.
Course Level: Foundation
Duration: 5 days
Instructor: Peter van den Bogert
Designed for you, if you are...
- Involved in field development and responsible for or doing hands-on geomechanical hazard and risk assessments. This could be well engineers, production staff, geologists, reservoir engineers or petrophysicists. Subsurface team leads, or staff/managers that oversee externally conducted geomechanical studies should also join to challenge results and provide technical and risk assurance to their development projects.
Participants should have practical MS Excel skills for optimal learning benefits.
How we build your confidence
- This course provides several quizzes which are done individually, and exercises that are done either in small groups or individually, as appropriate.
- Exercises will involve some calculations with calculators or simple Excel spreadsheets.
- The course provides a venue for discussion, raising questions and sharing of experience.
- Participants are encouraged to bring their own work issues and challenges and seek advice from the expert course leader and other participants.
The benefits from attending
By the end of the course you will be able to:- Identify potential project risks that may need a geomechanical evaluation, and develop a work plan to assess them
- Construct a pressure-depth plot with the in-situ stress & pore pressure condition based on available field data
- Construct and interpret a Mohr-circle for shear and tensile failure
- Describe the pros and cons of using log-based correlation function to estimate mechanical properties
- Identify potential lab experiments to measure required formation properties
- Predict the mud weight that leads to shear and tensile failure (fracturing conditions)
- Understand the impact of well orientation on the recommended mud weight / bore hole instability
- Explain the workflow and data to develop a field-wide fit-for-purpose geomechanical model
- Estimate reservoir compaction and (seabed) subsidence using simplified analytical approaches
- Discuss how to develop a simplified, but appropriate geometrical (layered, upscaled) model that honours contrasts in initial stress, formation properties and loading conditions
- Outline the qualitative impact of pressure and temperature change on the risk related to compaction, well failure, top-seal integrity and fault reactivation
Topics
Risks & Initial Stress- Overview of project risks at well and field scale
- Workflow & subsurface characterisation
- Stress in the Earth & structural styles
- Pore pressure: Basic concepts & measurements
- Vertical & horizontal (principal) stress, (X)LOT, etc.
- In-situ stress scenarios & pressure-depth plot
Fundamentals
- (Principal) stress, Mohr’s circle
- Equilibrium and linear elasticity in 1D, 2D & 3D
- Strain, uniaxial and irreversible deformation
- Material failure, Mohr-Coulomb
- Elastic and failure properties from rock mechanical tests
- Properties from petrophysical logs
- Dealing with uncertainties
Bore Hole Stability
- Stuck-pipe mechanisms & prevention
- Stress distribution around the bore hole
- The role of mud weight, examples
- Bore hole failure: instability & lost circulation
- Polar plots: impact of dip angle and azimuth
Building a 3D Mechanical Earth Model
- Geological considerations
- Geometrical modelling
- Operational pressure scenarios
- Modelling strategy & risk assessment workflow
- Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis
Compaction & Subsidence
- Change of in-situ stress due to reservoir depletion
- Stress-path coefficient
- Compaction experiments
- Modelling and risk assessment (documentation)
- Calibration & uncertainties
Well Failure Risk
- Strain along the well path
- Well trajectory planning
- Drilling in depleted reservoirs
Seal Integrity
- Capillary entry pressure
- Shear & tensile failure
Fault Reactivation
- Screening faults for risk evaluation
- Fault properties
- Mohr circle analysis for faults
- Fault stability evaluation
- Reservoir offset, fault throw
- Modelling considerations
Induced Seismicity
- Basic concepts: Moment magnitude, stress
- Monitoring & historical events
- Risk assessment and traffic light systems
- How to screen for geomechanical risks
- Developing the work plan
- Assessment of Geomechanical Risks
- Developing the work plan
- Documentation of evidence
Customer Feedback
"Substantial material with lot of fundamental background.” - Wellsite Geologist at ETAP“I learned so much about Geomechanics and how to integrate it with Petrophysics especially. So I am extremely satisfied!” - Petrophysicist at ETAP
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HOT Engineering GmbH Tel: +43 3842 43 0 53-0 Fax +43 3842 43 0 53-1 hot@hoteng.com
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