ABSTRACT
Faults are sometimes the key factor in drilling and production. They cause local re-orientation of stresses and serve as a primary control on fluid flow. In this study, the impact of faults on stresses states related to safe mud weight drilling and production has been studied in a real case with two different major fault trends governing in the field.
To do so, seismic data was used for structural interpretation and reservoir characterization. Two major faults and elastic properties were obtained by structural interpretation and prestack inversion, respectively. Results were then used for building two different 3D models with and without faults and then compared with each other and with 1D MEM (mechanical earth model).
Results showed as one of the initial wells drilled in the field was near a major fault trend, 1D and 3D MEM were deviating from each other. While 1D showed safe mud weight window, 3D MEM results in no safe mud weight window in some areas which shows the necessity of 3D MEM study rather 1D MEM. Moreover, the impact of faults on the production of the wells was discussed. Such challenges lead to an integrated study of reservoir for future well placement.
