Geomechanics and Fault Leakage Analysis
The leakage potential of faults can impact exploration success in areas with fault-bounded reservoirs. It becomes critical to understand a fault’s leakage potential when making decisions about optimal well placement and design, reservoir compartmentalization and drainage patterns, and enhanced recovery techniques. GMI has demonstrated that faults with high ratios of shear-to-normal stress resolved on their surfaces are critically stressed and likely to be active in the current stress field. As a result, these fault planes tend to have increased permeability and are likely to be hydraulically conductive. Faults with low ratios of shear to normal stress are less likely to leak, provided they also have the appropriate structural or compositional sealing potential. Furthermore, reactivation of faults as a result of drilling and production activities may breach the fault seal and create significant risks of sheared wellbores, damage to surface facilities, and environmental threats from hydrocarbon eruptions and earthquakes.
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