Rock physics and geomechanics in the study of reservoirs and repositories

Abstract

Reservoir management for hydrocarbon extraction and repositories design for radioactive waste storage are two different areas in which rock physics and geomechanics provide valuable information. Although the targets and objectives are different, similar approaches and common attributes exist in both fields: safety assessment, short-to long-term prediction, integration of various scales of investigation, and remote monitoring, among others. Nevertheless, there are also important differences: reservoirs at depth are investigated through remote geophysical studies, well-logging and/or core samples retrieval, whereas direct access to repositories is possible through excavation in the host formation in which underground research laboratories can be constructed. We review a number of studies focusing on geomechanics and rock physics applied to the characterization of reservoirs and repositories, including laboratory experiments and predictive models, at different scales.Reservoir management and assessment of repository performance require the integration of different fields in Earth sciences, including geochemistry, geophysics, structural geology, and, in the case of interest here, rock physics and geomechanics. We present recent advances in the studies of reservoirs and repositories with the aim of emphasizing how rock physics and geomechanics help to obtain a better insight into important issues linked to reservoir management for exploitation of natural resources, and to repository safety assessment for hazardous waste storage in the geological environment.In the area of reservoir management, the importance of geomechanics in problems such as wellbore stability, hydraulic fracturing and subsidence is well known. Recently, there has been a growing interest in the development of a link between fluid flow simulators and geomechanical models. Several approaches have been proposed to incorporate the correct physics and to account for physical phenomena usually neglected in reservoir simulation. New techniques developed in laboratory studies provide relevant data for this integration. The approaches differ in the degree of coupling. The stronger the coupling, the more computationally demanding the simulation. Numerical experiments showed that coupling is of interest for poorly consolidated reservoirs such as chalk reservoirs. In other cases, one may wonder whether a more accurate modelling of production processes justifies the required computation cost. Complementary sensitivity studies have to be performed to better estimate the conditions in which the coupling is worthwhile.In the area of underground waste storage, the key issue is to design a repository as safe as possible for human activity and for the environment at the near surface, on time scales of the order of hundreds of years. This challenging task requires us to identify favourable geological targets for the storage, and to develop extensive scientific research in different fields, so as to obtain eventually a predictive model of the repository evolu...

Regularities of rocks zonal disintegration and methane emissions periodicity in mine roadways

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