Reservoir subsidence and fault reactivation prediction and investigation of their effects on reservoir quality and productivity by 4-D geomechanical simulation

Reservoir subsidence and fault reactivation prediction and investigation of their effects on reservoir quality and productivity by 4-D geomechanical simulation

The possibility of fault reactivation, reservoir compaction and subsidence at reservoir and surface levels due to the reservoir depletion are considered as the main threatening factors for wells, reservoir quality and production management. Application of integrated geomechanical modeling will lead to identification of main challenges raised due to fault reactivation and establishing risk mitigation plans to increase safety and economical value of sustainable production operation. In this study, in order to find compacted and displaced zones, a fully 2-Way coupled geomechanical simulation has been executed to generate different stress and strain 3-D models for specific production-years steps. Finally, by analyzing the stress and strain maps, it is concluded that the applied production strategy will be unsafe for well equipment and surface facilities, especially after 8 years of production. The results also show that fault reactivation due to production and injection is highly unlikely