Petroleum Related Rock Mechanics: Volume 53

Engineers and geologists in the petroleum industry will find Petroleum Related Rock Mechanics, 2e, a powerful resource in providing a basis of rock mechanical knowledge – a knowledge which can greatly assist in the understanding of field behavior, design of test programs and the design of field operations. Not only does this text give an introduction to applications of rock mechanics within the petroleum industry, it has a strong focus on basics, drilling, production and reservoir engineering. Assessment of rock mechanical parameters is covered in depth, as is acoustic wave propagation in rocks, with possible link to 4D seismics as well as log interpretation.

Author Biography

Erling Fjær has been working at SINTEF Petroleum (formerly IKU Petroleum Research) since 1985, on topics related to rock mechanics and rock acoustics, with applications including borehole stability, sand production, seismic monitoring and logging of mechanical properties. His current position is Chief Scientist. He also holds a part time position as Adjunct Professor in geoscience and petroleum at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He has a PhD in physics from the same university. Rune Martin Holt is Professor at NTNU (Department of Geoscience and Petroleum) and Special Advisor to SINTEF, both in Trondheim, Norway. He holds a PhD in solid state physics from NTNU in 1980. His main area of competence is rock mechanics and rock physics applied to petroleum geoscience and engineering. The work is based on experimental, analytical, and numerical modelling. Focused areas have been shale studies related to overburden characterization for improved interpretation of time-lapse seismic as well as to aspects of borehole stability for drilling and well completion. Further work has been devoted to quantification of coring induced rock damage, both through laboratory experiments with synthetic rocks formed under stress and discrete particle numerical modelling. Per Horsrud is currently Specialist in Drilling & Well Technology (Rock Mechanics) for Equinor ASA (previously Statoil ASA), located in Trondheim, Norway. He has been with Equinor since 1998. He holds an MS degree in Physics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim (1977). He has previously held various positions with Rogaland Research Institute, Continental Shelf Institute (IKU), RockMech AS, and SINTEF Petroleum Research. Arne Marius Raaen has a Ph.D. (1983) in solid state physics, specializing in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. He worked at SINTEF from 1984, mainly with rock acoustics and rock mechanics. From 1991 to 2016 he held positions at various offices in Statoil. In Statoil, the main activity was in rock mechanics and related fields, including water injection, and prediction and stress measurements. He has offshore experience from a period as a production engineer, and from offshore supervision of several stress measurement tests. He is presently with SINTEF, in Trondheim, Norway.