Designing an efficient drilling program is a key step for the
development of an oil and/or gas field. Variations in reservoir
pressure, saturation and temperature, induced by reservoir
production or CO2 injection, involve various coupled physical and
chemical processes.
Geomechanics, which consider all thermohydromechanical
phenomena involved in rock behavior, play an important role in
every operation involved in the exploitation of hydrocarbons, from
drilling to production, and in CO2 geological storage operations as
well. Pressure changes in the reservoir modify the in situ stresses
and induce strains, not only within the reservoir itself, but also in
the entire sedimentary column. In turn, these stress variations and
associated strains modify the fluids flow in the reservoir and change
the wellbore stability parameters.
This book offers a large overview on applications of Geomechanics to
petroleum industry. It presents the fundamentals of rock mechanics,
describes the methods used to characterise rocks in the laboratory
and the modelling of their mechanical behaviour; it gives elements of
numerical geomechanical modelling at the site scale.
It also demonstrates the role of Geomechanics in the optimisation
of drilling and production: it encompasses drillability, wellbore
stability, sand production and hydraulic fracturing; it provides
the basic attainments to deal with the environmental aspects
of heave or subsidence of the surface layers, CO2 sequestration
and well abandonment; and it shows how seismic monitoring
and geomechanical modelling of reservoirs can help to optimise
production or check cap rock integrity.
This book will be of interest to all engineers involved in oil field
development and petroleum engineering students, whether drillers
or producers. It aims also at providing a large range of potential users
with a simple approach of a broad field of knowledge.