CSPG36SC Geomechanics for Effective Shale Gas Exploitation
Geomechanics plays a critical role in successfully optimizing shale gas exploitation. This course can help understand the essential aspects of geomechanics in shale gas enabling an engineer or geoscientist to make better field development decisions. A unique feature of this course is that it gives a unified geomechanics approach combining theoretical, laboratory (core testing) and field aspects to effective exploitation of unconventional reservoirs. This course covers the necessary fundamentals of geomechanics as applied to shales, heterogeneity and natural fractures in shale and their influence on stimulation, the process of Tight Rock Analysis (TRA) and heterogeneous mechanical earth model, critical elements in designing hydraulic stimulation and horizontal completions, and best completion practices. Throughout the course, case study examples from unconventional reservoirs will be shown to reinforce the geomechanical concepts.
Who Should Attend: This short course is intended for engineers, geoscientists, and technologists involved in exploration, drilling, completions and production in unconventional reservoirs.
Course Outline: Session 1: Why geomechanics is important in unconventional reservoirs, geomechanics fundamentals and applications - pore pressure prediction, wellbore stability and hydraulic fracturing. Session 2: Shale anisotropy – microscopic to core to field scale – variations from well-to-well, evaluation of shale heterogeneity - Tight Rock Analysis (TRA) and scratch testing. Session 3: Geomechanics data sources, estimating anisotropic parameters using acoustic azimuthal and building Heterogeneous Mechanical Earth Model. Session 4: Critical elements in designing an effective hydraulic stimulation and successful shale completion strategy and best completion practices.
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Dr. Safdar Khan (Schlumberger DCS – Calgary, Canada)
Safdar Khan holds a PhD in Geomechanics from University of Toronto. He is a senior geomechanics specialist with Data and Consulting Division of Schlumberger Canada and based in Calgary, Canada. He has over 13 years of extensive research and consulting experience in the oil and gas industry. His areas of expertise include numerical and analytical modeling of wellbore stability, pore pressure prediction, hydraulic fracturing, sand production and caprock integrity analysis. He is currently engaged on a number of unconventional reservoir geomechanics projects dealing with anisotropic stress, wellbore stability analysis and stimulation design for shale gas and tight gas, caprock integrity analysis, coupled thermal reservoir modeling, casing and well integrity analysis, reservoir compaction and subsidence prediction and monitoring. Safdar has been extensively involved in rock mechanical laboratory testing, geomechanical software development, and developed three major geomechanics software products for Saudi Aramco. He has authored/co-authored a number of technical papers, and given numerous technical presentations and short courses on geomechanics internationally. He is an SPE member.
Dr. David Handwerger (TerraTek, Salt Lake City, USA)
