Energy consumption in the world is increasing and is expected to be strongly driven by China, India and other non-OECD countries. Most of this consumption will be related to oil and gas resources, mainly for transportation and electricity.
Oil and gas are also the primary raw materials for a wide range of products including plastics and chemicals, and their usage is increasing fast. This increase in the demand for oil and gas needs to be satisfied reliably and sustainably. How can we ensure that this happens?
Today, leading oil and gas producers are answering the global energy demands by leveraging reservoir geomechanics simulations to tap into underground oil and gas reserves previously thought inaccessible.
Extraction of oil and gas is a capital intensive activity; wells need to be drilled, offshore structures need to be erected, both well in advance of the actual oil and gas extraction. The oil and gas producer needs to plan out the expenditure and revenue well in advance to ensure profitability. Without a good profit, the producers will not produce, which would result in insufficient supply to meet the demand.
Role of Reservoir Geomechanics
Oil and gas extraction leads to modifications in the existing stresses in the ground. These modifications may result in undesirable safety implications such as induced earthquakes, cap rock failure, etc. Additionally, these modifications affect the oil and gas production, and hence need to be understood and taken into account for obtaining reliable estimates of oil and gas supply.
There are also other criteria involving health, safety, and environment issues that the producers and society need to think about. Safety, reliability, and profitability, thus, form the three important facets of the oil and gas industry. Geomechanics, which is the science that helps in estimating the modifications of stresses in the ground, hence becomes critically important as it has a bearing on all of these facets.
The following are some of the operations and applications in the oil and gas industry wherein reservoir geomechanics plays an important role:
- Fault stability analyses to understand and avoid any triggered seismicity.
- Cap rock integrity or equipment integrity analyses to avoid related environmental issues.
- Lost returns and wellbore stability analyses to ensure reliable and efficient drilling processes.
- Water injection and stimulation analyses for ensuring optimal oil and gas production.
- Water disposal and drill cuttings re-injection analyses for efficient waste management.
Reservoir geomechanics is not new for SIMULIA. The initial development of Abaqus was driven in part by the requirements from the oil and gas industry. Our efforts started in the 1980’s, with an initial relationship with ExxonMobil. Subsequently, our capabilities and features have been enhanced by the input from different partnerships and projects undertaken in the subsequent years. These include collaborations with Eni, Baker Hughes and now again with ExxonMobil.
As reservoir geomechanics plays a very important role in ensuring the safety, reliability, and profitability of oil and gas extraction, let us look into how we can help understand and include the finer aspects into the decision-making processes in the oil and gas extraction industry.
Access the full whitepaper, “How Reservoir Geomechanics is Being Addressed by SIMULIA,” to learn how we’re strongly engaged to have a digital continuity for reservoir geomechanics simulations.
Read the whitepaper, “How Reservoir Geomechanics is Being Addressed by SIMULIA.”
