Advances in Fault Zone Structure and Property Prediction: Applications to Reservoir Geomechanics

Faults at many scales impact fluid flow in producing hydrocarbon fields, and focus deformation due to fluid pressure changes, potentially causing overburden leakage and induced seismicity in the reservoir, overburden, or underlying basement. This seminar firstly reviews how the petrophysical and mechanical properties of fault zones control their response to reservoir pressure changes during production (depletion, injection), and consequently their geomechanical behaviour in terms of fault stability. Advances in our understanding of fault zone structure and properties in the last decade are then discussed and shown to have led to more consistent fault zone property estimates. Applications to different case studies of field development are then presented, specifically for analysing the stability of overpressured trap-bounding faults during depletion, leakage and fault stability in the overburden during reservoir injection, and conduit behaviour conducting injected fluids from reservoir to basement and consequent induced seismicity. Finally, future ways forward for predicting fault-related leakage are considered, in terms of the present tectonic context and past geological history of the faulted reservoir and overburden.

Faults at many scales impact fluid flow in producing hydrocarbon fields, and focus deformation due to fluid pressure changes, potentially causing overburden leakage and induced seismicity in the reservoir, overburden, or underlying basement. This seminar firstly reviews how the petrophysical and mechanical properties of fault zones control their response to reservoir pressure changes during production (depletion, injection), and consequently their geomechanical behaviour in terms of fault stability. Advances in our understanding of fault zone structure and properties in the last decade are then discussed and shown to have led to more consistent fault zone property estimates. Applications to different case studies of field development are then presented, specifically for analysing the stability of overpressured trap-bounding faults during depletion, leakage and fault stability in the overburden during reservoir injection, and conduit behaviour conducting injected fluids from reservoir to basement and consequent induced seismicity. Finally, future ways forward for predicting fault-related leakage are considered, in terms of the present tectonic context and past geological history of the faulted reservoir and overburden.

Faults at many scales impact fluid flow in producing hydrocarbon fields, and focus deformation due to fluid pressure changes, potentially causing overburden leakage and induced seismicity in the reservoir, overburden, or underlying basement. This seminar firstly reviews how the petrophysical and mechanical properties of fault zones control their response to reservoir pressure changes during production (depletion, injection), and consequently their geomechanical behaviour in terms of fault stability. Advances in our understanding of fault zone structure and properties in the last decade are then discussed and shown to have led to more consistent fault zone property estimates. Applications to different case studies of field development are then presented, specifically for analysing the stability of overpressured trap-bounding faults during depletion, leakage and fault stability in the overburden during reservoir injection, and conduit behaviour conducting injected fluids from reservoir to basement and consequent induced seismicity. Finally, future ways forward for predicting fault-related leakage are considered, in terms of the present tectonic context and past geological history of the faulted reservoir and overburden.

Faults at many scales impact fluid flow in producing hydrocarbon fields, and focus deformation due to fluid pressure changes, potentially causing overburden leakage and induced seismicity in the reservoir, overburden, or underlying basement. This seminar firstly reviews how the petrophysical and mechanical properties of fault zones control their response to reservoir pressure changes during production (depletion, injection), and consequently their geomechanical behaviour in terms of fault stability. Advances in our understanding of fault zone structure and properties in the last decade are then discussed and shown to have led to more consistent fault zone property estimates. Applications to different case studies of field development are then presented, specifically for analysing the stability of overpressured trap-bounding faults during depletion, leakage and fault stability in the overburden during reservoir injection, and conduit behaviour conducting injected fluids from reservoir to basement and consequent induced seismicity. Finally, future ways forward for predicting fault-related leakage are considered, in terms of the present tectonic context and past geological history of the faulted reservoir and overburden.

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