Abstract:

The conventional methods for applying geomechanics principles to the drilling process include issuing pre-drilling recommendations for the mud weight drilling window. These are often based on simplified linear elastic analytical solutions. More recently, the area of application is extended by updating and re-calibrating pre-drilling models using logging while drilling data. These methods fall short from considering the different aspects of the dynamic environment of the drilling process and in exploiting the variety of other forms of data readily available to drilling engineers. Replacing the simplified analytical solutions with a more reliable numerical model allows for more accurate prediction of wellbore rock failure. It also allows for the consideration of new forms of input data like the changes of the wellbore geometry, the dimensions of caving detected on the shale shakers, and the influence of pressure cycling events. The goal is to go beyond the conventional methods for geomechanics modeling by venturing into the digital world to introduce new solutions for rock failure surveillance and prediction.

The main takeaways from this lecture are: 1) wellbore rock failure limits can change in response to different and common drilling events that take place as drilling progresses and 2) we have the data and technology to deterministically quantify the change to these limits.

Speaker bio:

Hussain AlBahrani has worked in different upstream positions since 2011. These include drilling engineer, lab scientist, and reservoir engineer. Currently, he is leading the drilling geomechanics research area in the Saudi Aramco EXPEC Advanced Research Center, where he is developing tools for modeling the impact of dynamic events on wellbore rock failure. He has published multiple peer-reviewed articles, authored several granted patents, and received multiple awards including: the 2020 SPE Gulf Coast Region 1st place winner of the Ph.D. student paper contest, and finalist in the 2018 Abu-Dhabi International Petroleum Conference Young Engineer of the Year award.