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Evaluation of Caprock Integrity in a Carbonate Field Undergoing Steamflood
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, 3rd EAGE International Conference on Fault and Top Seals, Oct 2012, cp-311-00010
- ISBN: 978-90-73834-35-4
Abstract
Injection projects usually include two significant field development uncertainties as goals of the operation: flood front conformance and maintenance of cap rock integrity. These become even more important during steam flood operations. Here, the contributions of geomechanics toward caprock integrity during steam flood development are outlined. Geomechanical simulation coupled with an understanding of the shear failure process has provided confidence that cap rock integrity should be preserved over the lifetime of the field. This was essential in the interpretation of microseismic surveillance data that at first glance might seem to indicate that the likelihood of caprock breach was increasing. A comparison of semi-analytical and finite-element simulators was also made to determine what the optimum usage of these tools is in a caprock integrity assessment workflow.