3D and 4D geomechanical models : Case studies around the world

3D and 4D geomechanical models : Case studies around the world

Over the last 10 years, 3D and 4D geomechanical models slow changed from being a research tool to a standard application in the petroleum industry for field development planning and management. In this presentation, I am sharing examples of 3D and 4D geomechanical projects from several continents and widely different geological environments. In each project a finite element geomechanical model was built and applied to one or more key field development challenges. These challenges included (i) optimization of borehole trajectories, (ii) diagnosis of wellbore failure, (iii) assessment of fault stability during production, (iv) assessment of fracture containment and orientation during hydraulic stimulation, and (v) investigation of the contribution of fault re-activation to creating hydraulic active pathways. The cases studies range from a deepwater carbonate field offshore Brazil, a compacting chalk field in the North Sea, and a deepwater clastic turbidite field. The case studies are augmented with examples from further projects. All case studies have been previously published, and this keynote presentation gives a summary and overview of these projects