Investigation of necessity of providing fully coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical models for fractured reservoirs

In this paper, the behavior of fractured carbonate reservoirs is investigated and compared with non-fractured reservoirs. The results of studies of different researchers have shown that fractured carbonate reservoirs are more sensitive to changes in stress compared with conventional sandstone reservoirs. This illustrates the importance of considering the Geomechanical phenomena in fractured reservoirs. Also, due to the presence of multiphase flow including oil, gas, and water in these reservoirs and dependency of equations of state of the different phases on temperature changes within the reservoir (PVT-Pressure Volume Temperature), it is necessary to consider the interaction between the reservoir and the changes in temperature in it. In the following sections the importance and necessity of a fully coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical approach for fractured carbonate reservoirs is investigated based on the main characteristics of naturally fractured oil reservoirs. Especially, In order to optimize the extraction methods and correct prediction of reservoir performance during operation, The accurate behavior prediction of such reservoirs in the view of thermal and Geomechanical aspects is of great economic and scientific value

Keywords:

Petroleum Geomechanics , naturally fractured carbonate reservoirs , fully coupled approach , Thermo-Hydro-Mechanics