Geomechanical Study of Fracturing in Depleted Reservoirs

Some geomechanical changes may be occurred due to the production and gradual depletion of the reservoir. Fracturing in depleted reservoirs is studied in this article. In depleted reservoirs, there are three kinds of scenarios for fracturing. A fault may be created as a result of production. Drilling a depleted reservoir is sometimes necessary to reach to deeper targets. Pore pressure variation changes safe mud window. Hence, some fractures can be generated in drilling with previous mud weight, and then mud lose is occurred. In addition, the third kind is hydraulic fracturing in depleting reservoirs. Decrease of pore pressure is a willing factor, and a hydraulic fracture can be generated with less pump pressure. In this article, the possibility of the horizontal stresse rotation is studied. Stress rotation can help fractures to reach to new parts of reservoirs which remain undrained. At last with usage of geomechanical parameters of one of the reservoirs of south Pars field, the possibility of faulting and stress rotation is predicted.