oa Rock Mechanical Knowledge Building in Complex Carbonate and Diagenetic Environments

In many operational applications, an upfront expectation of the mechanical behaviour of the rocks we will drill in is of importance. This is especially valid in an unconventional setting. In many clastic environments correlations with depth, porosity and shale content, mainly based on compaction models, work reasonably well. In mixed carbonate and clastic environments, like found within Oman’s concession area, such correlations are quite often not applicable, due to the varying structural nature of carbonate rocks, mixed compositional nature, early diagenesis, etc. Appropriate QA / QC review of rock property values will then be an essential step in building a representative description of the rock and decomposing the elements that determine the behaviour as observed. This paper presents a process for Q’cing Strength and hardness values measured from lab combined with a practical approach to infer these values from log data, opening a possibility for seismic characterization of rock mechanical parameters in a quantitative manner. Such knowledge will be invaluable for any operational design related to rock mechanical behavior.