Description

Designing an efficient drilling program is a key step for thedevelopment of an oil and/or gas field. Variations in reservoirpressure, saturation and temperature, induced by reservoirproduction or CO2 injection, involve various coupled physical andchemical processes.Geomechanics, which consider all thermohydromechanicalphenomena involved in rock behavior, play an important role inevery operation involved in the exploitation of hydrocarbons, fromdrilling to production, and in CO2 geological storage operations aswell. Pressure changes in the reservoir modify the in situ stressesand induce strains, not only within the reservoir itself, but also inthe entire sedimentary column. In turn, these stress variations andassociated strains modify the fluids flow in the reservoir and changethe wellbore stability parameters.This book offers a large overview on applications of Geomechanics topetroleum industry. It presents the fundamentals of rock mechanics,describes the methods used to characterise rocks in the laboratoryand the modelling of their mechanical behaviour; it gives elements ofnumerical geomechanical modelling at the site scale.It also demonstrates the role of Geomechanics in the optimisationof drilling and production: it encompasses drillability, wellborestability, sand production and hydraulic fracturing; it providesthe basic attainments to deal with the environmental aspectsof heave or subsidence of the surface layers, CO2 sequestrationand well abandonment; and it shows how seismic monitoringand geomechanical modelling of reservoirs can help to optimiseproduction or check cap rock integrity.This book will be of interest to all engineers involved in oil fielddevelopment and petroleum engineering students, whether drillersor producers. It aims also at providing a large range of potential userswith a simple approach of a broad field of knowledge.