Geomechanics: Figure 1 Geomechanics in Oil & Gas Industry (Source: Geomechanics Engineering)

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Geomechanics
Geomechanics is a branch of engineering that applies solid mechanics,
mathematics and physics to quantify how rocks and fractures respond to
excavation during drilling, changes in stress, fluid pressures in the rock
often caused by fluid flow, and changes in temperature, which cause
expansion and contraction of the rock and hence changes in stress. The
knowledge of the stresses and deformations a reservoir can withstand
under certain conditions allows us to evaluate its mechanical behaviour
and approaching the design engineering works. The relationship between
Figure 1 Geomechanics in Oil & Gas Industry
both parameters describes the behaviour of different types of rocks, which (Source: Geomechanics Engineering)
depend on the physical properties and mechanics of materials and the
conditions to which they are subjected in nature.
Geomechanics in Petroleum Industry
Geomechanics is defined as a quantitative discipline. Like other disciplines derived from mechanics, geomechanics
consists on measuring and quantify the magnitude of stresses and analyse how materials responds to that stresses.
Nonetheless, unlike other mechanical sciences, the material of study can be selected by this branch of science.
Production engineers and drillers have to cope with different materials encountered into the reservoir during these
operations, solids are not the only issue in continuous formations, engineers have to predict the behaviour of fractured
rocks which is not the case of a mechanical engineers working with entire material not fractured.
The interest on knowing about reservoir geomechanics was originated while evaluating hydraulic fracturing projects, when
the engineer responsible of the analysis of feasibility of the fracturing process wanted to know the wellbore pressure
required to overcome in-situ stresses, generating fractures into the reservoir and extending its length. Later geomechanics
has been applied to sand production because stresses have a direct impact on a wellbore, in some cases having problems
during drilling due to sand production and reservoir pressure changes generated due to stresses.
To comprehend the effect of geomechanics on either perforations, wellbores or entire reservoirs, it is important to build a
coherent view of the earth stresses, their magnitudes and directions, the mechanical properties of the rock such as the
elastic properties and rock strength, and the fluid pressure inside the rock. These parameters are organized in a
Mechanical Earth Model, which provides a rational source of information for geomechanical planning of well construction
and reservoir management.
Normal and Shear Stresses
The stresses influencing reservoir rock can be either normal or shear, in
most cases both efforts act over the surface of the reservoir block as
illustrated in figure 2. Have a sight on the cube on fig. 2, this cube
represents a fraction of rock of the reservoir which is under stresses of
two different nature. The efforts perpendicular to each cube’s faces
represented by a white arrow is called normal stress, whilst the effort
represented by the orange arrow represents de shear stress. The values
of the 6 perpendicular components will change, although the stress state
itself does not. This is equivalent to changing the orientation of the plane;
Figure 2 Normal and Shear Stresses (Source: SLB the loading on the system does not change, but the normal and shear
Glossary stresses on the plane do. The normal stresses in this geometry are called
the principal stresses. In petroleum geomechanics, as in most other
branches of mechanics, specifying the magnitudes and orientations of the principal stresses is the most common way of
describing a stress state.
Fracture Gradients
1
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When a liner is seated, as a normal practice a leak off test is developed, which consists of applying pressure to the
wellbore to determine the moment in which the formation begins its fracturing without reaching deep fractures, this
pressure will reveal how deep it is. Then, you can safely drill the next section at a sprayed mud weight. The resistance of
the formation to fracture comes from the pore pressure of the formation and the tensile strength of the rock.
Every well plan demands knowledge of the pressures required to prompt the fracturing of the formations, such fracture
gradient estimation are crucial to minimize or eliminate the problems that degenerate into circulation losses, in addition to
selecting the appropriate casing settlement depth. .
Different theoretical equations have been used to establish the fracture gradients of the formations, while some are of
immediate application in a given area, others require to be based on the electrical density records (or others) that are
taken after drilling the well. A common assumption in these determinations is that the geological area observed is a
tectonically relaxed basin containing plastic shales with sand-shale sequence intercalations.
Pore pressure
If a material is porous, as are most rocks encountered in oil and gas reservoirs, its mechanical
response is influenced not solely by the stresses applied to it but also by the pressure of the
fluid within its pores. The pore pressure is defined as the pressure that a fluid exerts in the
pore spaces of the rock. It is also called formation pressure or poral pressure, it is a function
of the formation fluids and the loads they are supporting.
The effective stress for a process, such as elastic deformation or failure, is the combination
of stress and pore pressure that controls the process. The formula for effective stress is:
Figure 3 Pore Pressure in
σ′ = σ - α Pp Grains Pore Space (Source:
SLB Glossary).
where σ′ = effective stress, σ = total stress, α= Biot’s constant and Pp is pore pressure
Elasticity
Elasticity is a property of materials characterised by being reversible with no permanent deformation. For isotropic
materials, the rock can be described by Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio. Elasticity is influenced by the pore pressure
in the rock; poro-elastic behaviour. Biot’s constant, can be seen to be a function of the bulk modulus of the rock frame
and same material with no porosity (solid). Hence Biot’s constant takes values between 0 and 1. In reservoir rocks and
overburdens, α, is typically closer to one unless the material is particularly stiff.
Strain
Strain, ε, is a measure of the change in shape of a material in response to stress. Normal strains result in lengthening or
shortening; shear strains result in changes in the angles between pairs of lines in the material. Strain has no units. Strain
is a tensor quantity like stress, and can be referred to different axis orientations, and diagonalized, just like stress.
Geomechanics methods rarely need to calculate strains explicitly (because geomechanical failure criteria are expressed
in terms of stresses).
Reference
▪ Fjar, E., Holt, R. M., Raaen, A. M., & Horsrud, P. (2008). Petroleum related rock mechanics. Elsevier.
▪ Zoback, M. D. (2010). Reservoir geomechanics. Cambridge University Press.
▪ Sayers, C. M., & Schutjens, P. M. (2007). An introduction to reservoir geomechanics. The Leading Edge, 26(5),
597-601.
▪ Zoback, M. D., & Kohli, A. H. (2019). Unconventional reservoir geomechanics. Cambridge University Press.
▪ Nauroy, J. F. (2011). Geomechanics applied to the petroleum industry. Editions Technip.

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