Permian Basin SPWLA February 25, 2025 Technical Lunch Talk

Advancements in Geomechanics for Unconventionals and Carbon Storage

Geomechanics is a multidisciplinary discipline that applies engineering mechanics principles to predict the deformation, change in properties, and failure of complex materials such as discontinuous, granular, porous, heterogeneous, and anisotropic formations. Understanding fracture behavior is paramount to increasing production in unconventional wells and containing the migration of fluids injected into carbon storage wells.

The mechanical earth model (MEM) is the primary input into any geomechanical simulation. It quantifies the formation’s intrinsic rock properties, considering in-situ loading, internal pore pressure, and external vertical and horizontal stresses. The geoscientist must quantify the fracture attributes for all scales within the MEM to account for the changes in fracture permeability with time owing to fluid injection or withdrawal.

This talk will highlight how dynamic geomechanical simulations can evaluate changes in flow rate due to stress-related changes in fracture behavior. This applies to reservoir stimulation in unconventional wells and fluid containment in long-term storage projects.

Biography
Tom Bratton is an oil and gas industry consultant with expertise in geoscience applications for engineering operations. He began his career as a wireline field engineer for Schlumberger. He helped develop wellbore imaging and multipole sonic tools, Schlumberger’s geomechanical software, and the concept of the mechanical earth model. After retiring from a career with Schlumberger, he was a Visiting Professor and Research Associate in the Petroleum Engineering Department at Colorado School of Mines (CSM). While at CSM, he enrolled as a graduate student, earned his Ph.D. in Geophysics, and built a successful consulting business.

Host or Publisher The Permian Basin Chapter of the Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts (SPWLA)