Geomechanics in Reservoir Simulation: Overview of Coupling Methods and Field Case Study

The paper addresses the modeling of geomechanical effects induced by reservoir production and their influence on fluid flow in the reservoir. Geomechanical effects induced by reservoir production can be particularly pronounced in stress sensitive reservoirs, such as poorly compacted reservoirs and f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oil & gas science and technology 2002-09, Vol.57 (5), p.471-483
Main Authors: Longuemare, P., Mainguy, M., Lemonnier, P., Onaisi, A., Gérard, C., Koutsabeloulis, N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products
Drilling methods and equipments. Rocks mechanics. Directional and horizontal drilling
Drilling. Casing. Preparing wells for production
Energy
Exact sciences and technology
Fuels
Physics
Prospecting and production of crude oil, natural gas, oil shales and tar sands
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Summary:The paper addresses the modeling of geomechanical effects induced by reservoir production and their influence on fluid flow in the reservoir. Geomechanical effects induced by reservoir production can be particularly pronounced in stress sensitive reservoirs, such as poorly compacted reservoirs and fractured reservoirs. The authors review the main coupled mechanisms associated with the production of these reservoirs, and describe the different approaches that can be used to solve the coupling between fluid flow and geomechanical problems. A field case study is then presented. A stress dependent reservoir simulator-ATH2VIS-was used to quantify effects associated with the production of a highly heterogeneous and compartmentalized limestone reservoir. This simulator relies on a partial coupling approach with different time steps for reservoir and geomechanical simulations and manages data exchanges at given time intervals between the ATHOSTM reservoir simulator developed at IFP and the VISAGETM geomechanical simulator (VIPS Ltd. , 2001). The results of the coupled reservoir geomechanical simulations indicate that perturbation of the reservoir mechanical equilibrium specifically leads to progressive strain localization on a limited number of faults. Only specific parts of these faults are critically stressed, depending on pore pressure variations in their vicinity, temperature variations, and fault strikes compared with stress orientation. The normal strains resulting from geomechanical computations are interpreted in terms of permeability variations using a fracture and fault permeability model to improve the dynamic description of fluid flow and history matching. Cette publication traite de la modélisation des effets géomécaniques induits par l'exploitation des réservoirs et de leur influence sur les écoulements de fluide dans les réservoirs. Ces effets géomécaniques peuvent être relativement conséquents dans le cas des réservoirs faiblement consolidés et des réservoirs fracturés. Les principaux mécanismes couplés intervenant lors de laproduction de ces réservoirs, ainsi que les méthodes permettant de les modéliser, sont présentés. Le comportement géomécanique d'un cas réel est ensuite étudié. Un simulateur couplé - ATH2VIS - est utilisé afin de quantifier les effets géomécaniques induits par l'exploitation d'un réservoir carbonaté fortement hétérogène et compartimenté. Ce simulateur met en Suvre un couplage explicite et gère les échanges de données entre le
ISSN:1294-4475
1953-8189
DOI:10.2516/ogst:2002031