--> A Geomechanically-Based Inverse Method for Interpolating the Three-Dimensional Stress Field in a Faulted Reservoir, by Eric A. Flodin, Frantz Maerten, and Laurent Maerten; #90041 (2005)
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Joint Meeting Pacific Section, AAPG & Cordilleran Section GSA April 29–May 1, 2005, San José, California

A Geomechanically-Based Inverse Method for Interpolating the Three-Dimensional Stress Field in a Faulted Reservoir

Eric A. Flodin1, Frantz Maerten2, and Laurent Maerten2
1 Geosciences, Indiana Univ-Purdue Univ Fort Wayne (IPFW), 2101 East Coliseum Blvd, Fort Wayne, IN 46805, [email protected]
2 Igeoss, Cap Omega, Montpellier Cedex2, 34960, France

Information concerning the nature of the stress field in a reservoir is necessary for many oilfield applications, such as pre-drill wellpath planning and fault seal analysis. Available data usually include stress orientation and magnitude estimates of various quality along a limited number of wellbores. Current methods to map the reservoir volume stress field from these point and/or line data range from simplistic averaging to more sophisticated interpolation and geostatistical techniques. We present a new method to interpolate stress throughout a reservoir volume using a geomechanically-based numerical boundary element code, Poly3D, coupled with a Previous HitweightedNext Hit damped Previous HitleastNext Hit-Previous HitsquaresNext Hit inverse solver. The primary advantage of this methodology over others is that the stress solution includes the effect of elastic interactions among faults. The code uses as input a 3D fault framework, with or without mapped displacements, and estimates of stress orientation and magnitude from wellbores, which can be Previous HitweightedTop to data quality. Output is in the form of a ‘best-fit' remote stress field, which is in turn used to forward model the volumetric stress field. Results illustrating the utility of our tool are presented for a number of faulted reservoir scenarios.

Posted with permission of The Geological Society of America; abstract also online (http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2005CD/finalprogram/abstract_84913.htm). © Copyright 2005 The Geological Society of America (GSA).