Maintaining Wellbore Stability during Production

Abstract

Example computer-implemented methods and systems for maintaining wellbore stability during production are disclosed. One example computer-implemented method includes obtaining in-situ stress data, pore pressure data, and formation property data associated with a wellbore. One or more production rates for the wellbore are determined based on the obtained in-situ stress data, pore pressure data, and formation property data, where the wellbore maintains stability when performing a respective production operation at each of the one or more production rates. The determined one or more production rates are provided to control a production rate of the wellbore at a well head of the wellbore, where the production rate of the wellbore at the well head of the wellbore is within a range determined by the one or more production rates.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 obtaining in-situ stress data, pore pressure data, and formation property data associated with a wellbore;   determining, based on the obtained in-situ stress data, pore pressure data, and formation property data, one or more production rates for the wellbore, wherein the wellbore maintains stability when performing a respective production operation at each of the one or more production rates; and   providing the determined one or more production rates to control a production rate of the wellbore at a well head of the wellbore, wherein the production rate of the wellbore at the well head of the wellbore is within a range determined by the one or more production rates.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the formation property data comprises at least one of Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, rock strength, Biot's coefficient, Skempton's coefficient, or permeability associated with the wellbore. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein obtaining the in-situ stress data, the pore pressure data, and the formation property data comprises obtaining the in-situ stress data, the pore pressure data, and the formation property data from offset wells data, well tests, laboratory measurements, or well log analysis associated with the wellbore. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the one or more production rates comprises determining, at the production rate of the wellbore, a shear failure potential around the wellbore based on a shear failure criterion. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein the shear failure criterion comprises a Mohr Coulomb criterion. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein determining the one or more production rates comprises:
 determining, at the production rate of the wellbore, a failure zone having the highest shear failure potential among a plurality of zones around the wellbore; and   determining the one or more production rates for the determined failure zone.   
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the one or more production rates for the determined failure zone comprises determining the one or more production rates for the determined failure zone based on constitutive equations for a poroelastic porous medium. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein providing the determined one or more production rates to control the production rate of the wellbore comprises:
 determine the largest production rate among the determined one or more production rates; and   providing the largest production rate to control the production rate of the wellbore.   
     
     
         9 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more instructions executable by a computer system to perform operations comprising:
 obtaining in-situ stress data, pore pressure data, and formation property data associated with a wellbore;   determining, based on the obtained in-situ stress data, pore pressure data, and formation property data, one or more production rates for the wellbore, wherein the wellbore maintains stability when performing a respective production operation at each of the one or more production rates; and   providing the determined one or more production rates to control a production rate of the wellbore at a well head of the wellbore, wherein the production rate of the wellbore at the well head of the wellbore is within a range determined by the one or more production rates.   
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the formation property data comprises at least one of Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, rock strength, Biot's coefficient, Skempton's coefficient, or permeability associated with the wellbore. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein obtaining the in-situ stress data, the pore pressure data, and the formation property data comprises obtaining the in-situ stress data, the pore pressure data, and the formation property data from offset wells data, well tests, laboratory measurements, or well log analysis associated with the wellbore. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein determining the one or more production rates comprises determining, at the production rate of the wellbore, a shear failure potential around the wellbore based on a shear failure criterion. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein determining the one or more production rates comprises:
 determining, at the production rate of the wellbore, a failure zone having the highest shear failure potential among a plurality of zones around the wellbore; and   determining the one or more production rates for the determined failure zone.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein determining the one or more production rates for the determined failure zone comprises determining the one or more production rates for the determined failure zone based on constitutive equations for a poroelastic porous medium. 
     
     
         15 . A computer-implemented system, comprising:
 one or more computers; and   one or more computer memory devices interoperably coupled with the one or more computers and having tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable media storing one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more computers, cause the computer-implemented system to perform one or more operations comprising:
 obtaining in-situ stress data, pore pressure data, and formation property data associated with a wellbore; 
 determining, based on the obtained in-situ stress data, pore pressure data, and formation property data, one or more production rates for the wellbore, wherein the wellbore maintains stability when performing a respective production operation at each of the one or more production rates; and 
 providing the determined one or more production rates to control a production rate of the wellbore at a well head of the wellbore, wherein the production rate of the wellbore at the well head of the wellbore is within a range determined by the one or more production rates. 
   
     
     
         16 . The computer-implemented system of  claim 15 , wherein the formation property data comprises at least one of Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, rock strength, Biot's coefficient, Skempton's coefficient, or permeability associated with the wellbore. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-implemented system of  claim 15 , wherein obtaining the in-situ stress data, the pore pressure data, and the formation property data comprises obtaining the in-situ stress data, the pore pressure data, and the formation property data from offset wells data, well tests, laboratory measurements, or well log analysis associated with the wellbore. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-implemented system of  claim 15 , wherein determining the one or more production rates comprises determining, at the production rate of the wellbore, a shear failure potential around the wellbore based on a shear failure criterion. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-implemented system of  claim 18 , wherein determining the one or more production rates comprises:
 determining, at the production rate of the wellbore, a failure zone having the highest shear failure potential among a plurality of zones around the wellbore; and   determining the one or more production rates for the determined failure zone.   
     
     
         20 . The computer-implemented system of  claim 15 , wherein determining the one or more production rates for the determined failure zone comprises determining the one or more production rates for the determined failure zone based on constitutive equations for a poroclastic porous medium.