Stress effects on reservoir flow: — Numerical modelling used to reproduce field data

Abstract

Abstract Empirical field data show a strong correlation between the preferred directionality in many normal IOR floods and the local modern-day state of earth stress. The conjecture that this correlation is due to the activation of natural fractures by changes in the stress state induced by the flood has been tested with coupled modelling of fluid flow and geomechanical deformaton. The results of initial generic modelling incoroporating thermal stresses from cold water injection showed good agreement with the details of the field data, lending strong support to the conjecture. The modelling indicated that directionality trends increasingly towards the major horizontal stress axis as a flood progresses. The new coupled modelling capability provides an improved tool for planning well patterns, infill drilling and flood management.