4D Reservoir Geomechanics

Integrate all available data into a single full-field reservoir

model that helps reduce costs and improve oil recovery

Today, with operators working
in more complex areas, geo-
mechanics requirements are
more demanding and meeting
them is crucial to the success of
field development planning. The
removal of hydrocarbons from a
reservoir or the injection of fluids
or gas changes the rock stresses
and geomechanics environment,
potentially inducing compaction
and subsidence, affecting well
and completion integrity, altering
caprock and fault-seal integrity,
changing fracture behavior and
thermal recovery, and affecting
CO2 disposal and gas storage.
Proper geomechanical modeling
can be used to help prevent
these issues, which can be
costly to remedy.
The Schlumberger Reservoir
Geomechanics Center of Excel-
lence (RGCoE) uses an innovative
approach and pioneering technol-
ogy in the development of unique
earth modeling techniques to
help reduce costs and improve
oil recovery. The RGCoE uses an
advanced coupled reservoir model-
ing technique that relates stress
to reservoir properties, making
it possible to design, develop,
and operate entire fields in ways
that increase well longevity
and mitigate effects that could
detrimentally affect life-of-field
operations and economics.
BEYOND THE WELLBORE
Traditional geomechanics services
have focused on a single well to
identify, predict, and prevent costly
events and to optimally manage
that well. More and more, opera-
tors are considering the impact
of geomechanics in the reservoir,
beyond the single well model and
up to field development planning
and management.
Geomechanics and reservoir
behavior are tightly coupled:
Reservoir pressures and produc-
tion/injection affect the stresses
and displacements in the reservoir
and surrounding rocks. This in turn
alters the reservoir properties (po-
rosity, permeability, etc.) that affect
the performance of the reservoir
and individual wells. This complex
response can be modeled using
advanced numerical techniques,
and some of the computational
solutions—particularly within the
reservoir and overburden—can
be observed with monitoring
techniques, for example 4D seismic
and microseismic.
DRIVEN BY DATA
A successful geomechanics model
is based on knowing how to use
all oilfield data efficiently and
effectively. Data is taken from every
available source at every stage in
the reservoir development. Initially,
all available data is gathered and
combined in the construction of the
mechanical earth model (MEM).

Geomechanics in the reservoir

Casing points

Overpressure
Wellbore instability and/or stuck pipe

3D, 4D, and Lost circulation Subsidence

microseismic Stimulation
Compaction
Fault stability Fractured reservoirs Completion
integrity
Effects occur in the reservoir and the over- and under-burden, not only in weak compacting rocks. Geomechanics can affect depletion, hot/cold injection, disposal, CO2 ,
and underground storage.
4D Reservoir Geomechanics
Importing from ECLIPSE
or Petrel software or both
Data and results utilized
in engineering designs
and planning
4D coupled reservoir geomechanics modeling.
Proprietary modeling and
simulation software
n VISAGE* stress simulator
n MMRD* interactive software
applications enabling seismic
to simulator workflows
Sand Management Advisor
n
n Petrel* seismic-to-simulation
workflow
ECLIPSE* Geomechanics
n
reservoir simulation software
n Microseismic applications
Importing fault surfaces
Δp, ΔT
ECLIPSE
simulation
Δkij, ΔVpore
Initialization and coupled
simulation (parallelization)
Models are built from 3D
structural models plus all
available 1D models built from
extrapolated and interpreted
downhole measurements.
Far-field boundary conditions are
then imposed and matched with
stress and strain measurements
and other observations. The
computed effects of stress in wells
can also be calibrated against
observations such as fracturing
and breakout from FMI* Fullbore
Formation MicroImager data or
data from the Sonic Scanner*
acoustic scanning platform. Other
inputs for geomechanics studies
include seismic data, pressure,
and temperature measurements
as provided by Sensa* fiber-optic
monitoring systems and GPS
terrestrial surveys that locate
changes in elevation.
Embedding in overburden,
underburden, and sideburden
VISAGE
simulation
Population with properties
and assign behavioral models
A starting reservoir model is The resulting model can be used
expanded to include overburden, as a source of stress data for
sideburden, and underburden several key stages:
cells. The stress modeling follows
n wellplanning—wellbore
an iterative process and modeling
stability and optimum drilling
route—involving verification of all
n well
completions—sand
input data into a fully consistent
management
model and verification of the
engineering properties such n formation stimulation—
as logs, breakouts, and faults hydraulic fracture design
to define the initial stress state.
n field
management—pressure
By incorporating new information
maintenance and injection
in a feedback loop, these models
n well
evolve, reducing uncertainty in integrity—well design to
predictions and extracting maxi- accommodate formation strain
mum value from the new data. from, for instance, compaction
and subsidence, as the well
is produced.

VISAGE stress simulator model.
POWERED BY TEcHNOLOgY
The interaction between
geology, fluid movement, and
stress changes induced by drilling
operations or other production
scenarios is a complex 4D process.
This interaction continually evolves
over time, adding yet another
dimension of complexity. Over
the life of any productive field,
innumerable events alter the
initial geomechanical framework
between the reservoir and
the surface.
The Schlumberger Reservoir
Geomechanics Center of
Excellence (formerly V.I.P.S.,
a UK-based software and
schlumberger tools
for measurements
n sEIsMIc
● Q-Marine* single-sensor
marine seismic system
● Q-Borehole* integrated
borehole seismic system
n LOgs
● Sonic Scanner* acoustic
scanning platform
● Platform Express* integrated
wireline logging tool
● PressureXpress* reservoir
pressure-while-logging service
The VISAGE software couples rock Schlumberger is developing links ● MDT* Modular Formation
stresses to reservoir simulators between VISAGE and ECLIPSE Dynamics Tester
such as the ECLIPSE reservoir reservoir simulation software and ● FMI* Fullbore Formation
simulation software to provide other reservoir workflows such as MicroImager
permeability and porosity updating the Petrel seismic-to-simulation ● UBI* Ultrasonic Borehole Imager
in the fluid-flow calculations. The technology. This will enable
software is also used in 3D geologi- seamless mechanical earth n cOREs
cal geomechanical inversion and modeling from seismic, logs, ● TerraTek lab testing and
for analyzing structural integrity and laboratory tests to coupled core/log integration
of casing and well completions geomechanics and reservoir
in deforming rock masses. analyses and engineering designs.
Major
effective
stress σ1

consulting company) pioneered

the development of the world’s
first coupled geomechanics stress- Uniaxial compressive strength

dependent reservoir simulator. The Tensile strength Minor effective stress σ3

VISAGE geomechanical simulator

solves complex stress equations
and relates the rock stresses to
reservoir properties. The technol-
ogy is key to the development
of 3D and 4D MEMs that predict
the geomechanical behavior
of the reservoir during production
and injection.

Stress and pressure act upon every

reservoir, wellbore, and completion.
Drilling, production, and injection
processes modify these stresses and
pressures, sometimes to the operator’s
detriment. Advanced modeling can help
prevent undesired results.
4D Reservoir Geomechanics
Applications Features Advantages

Deep water Pore pressure prediction Reduced NPT

Dynamic stress analysis Improved well planning
Coupled reservoir modeling Risk mitigation
Casing string reduction
Well integrity
Longevity of completion

Unconventional gas Microseismic monitoring programs Optimized stimulation design

Stress modeling Field development planning
Ground substance movement
monitoring

Heavy oil Coupled reservoir modeling Reservoir optimization

Ground movement prediction Production optimization
Risk mitigation

CO2 storage Coupled reservoir modeling Site selection assessment

Fault and caprock integrity analysis Risk mitigation
Field optimization

Brownfields Reservoir integration analysis Risk mitigation

Compaction and substance modeling Performance optimization
Coupled reservoir modeling

Underground gas storage Coupled reservoir modeling Reduced cushion gas

Fault and caprock integrity analysis Well design optimization
Well integrity analysis Facility longevity optimization
Risk mitigation

Fractured reservoirs Coupled reservoir modeling Optimized well planning and placement
Permeability enhancement
Avoidance of water production and breakthrough

Compaction & subsidence Coupled reservoir modeling Risk mitigation

Reservoir and overburden
movement analysis
Well integrity analysis

4D seismic Forward modeling in geophysics Optimized timing of 4D seismic survey

response Improved 4D seismic interpretation

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