📘 Course Description:
This advanced course is designed for professionals involved in exploration and drilling who require in-depth understanding of applied geomechanics. It focuses on advanced geomechanical modeling, prediction, and mitigation of wellbore instability, drilling-induced fractures, fault reactivation, and subsurface stress impacts during complex drilling operations.
Participants will learn to use field data (logs, cores, image logs, seismic, drilling events) to construct and calibrate Mechanical Earth Models (MEMs), simulate rock failure, and optimize drilling and completion strategies in challenging environments such as HPHT reservoirs, fractured formations, and deepwater settings.
🎯 Learning Objectives:
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
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Build and calibrate advanced MEMs using real data
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Analyze wellbore stability in complex stress environments
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Optimize mud weight windows and casing points
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Predict and mitigate drilling hazards (losses, kicks, breakout, washouts)
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Interpret borehole image logs and seismic geomechanics
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Integrate geomechanics with exploration risk and drilling decision-making
✅ Day 1: Stress Regimes & Rock Mechanics in Exploration Settings
| Time | Topic |
|---|---|
| 08:30 – 09:00 | Course Introduction & Icebreaker |
| 09:00 – 10:30 | Advanced Stress Concepts & Tectonic Regimes |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | Coffee Break |
| 10:45 – 12:00 | Stress Perturbations Near Salt, Faults, and Fractures |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Lunch Break |
| 13:00 – 14:30 | Rock Mechanics Under HPHT and Anisotropic Conditions |
| 14:30 – 14:45 | Break |
| 14:45 – 16:30 | Data Sources: Cores, Logs, Seismic Attributes, Mud Logs |
✅ Day 2: MEM Construction and Calibration
| Time | Topic |
|---|---|
| 08:30 – 10:30 | MEM Framework: Structure, Input, and Data Hierarchy |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | Coffee Break |
| 10:45 – 12:00 | Vertical Stress, Pore Pressure, and Overburden Gradients |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Lunch Break |
| 13:00 – 14:30 | Estimating Horizontal Stress from Logs and Drilling Events |
| 14:30 – 14:45 | Break |
| 14:45 – 16:30 | Calibration with Image Logs, Borehole Breakouts, and Fracs |
✅ Day 3: Wellbore Stability & Drilling Challenges
| Time | Topic |
|---|---|
| 08:30 – 10:30 | Wellbore Failure Modeling in Vertical, Inclined, and Horizontal Wells |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | Coffee Break |
| 10:45 – 12:00 | Real-Time Geomechanics and Decision Support While Drilling |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Lunch Break |
| 13:00 – 14:30 | Designing Safe Mud Weight Windows and Casing Seats |
| 14:30 – 14:45 | Break |
| 14:45 – 16:30 | Kick Tolerance, Losses, Ballooning & Collapse Risks |
✅ Day 4: Seismic, Fault Reactivation & Fracture Prediction
| Time | Topic |
|---|---|
| 08:30 – 10:30 | Seismic Geomechanics: Stress Mapping from Seismic Attributes |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | Coffee Break |
| 10:45 – 12:00 | Fault Stability Analysis and Reactivation Risk (Mohr-Coulomb, Slip Tendency) |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Lunch Break |
| 13:00 – 14:30 | Fracture Prediction and Impact on Drilling and Completions |
| 14:30 – 14:45 | Break |
| 14:45 – 16:30 | Case Study: Faulted Reservoir with High Instability Risk |
✅ Day 5: Integrated Drilling Geomechanics Applications
| Time | Topic |
|---|---|
| 08:30 – 10:30 | MEM for Exploration Decision Support (Prospect Maturation) |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | Coffee Break |
| 10:45 – 12:00 | Geomechanics in Exploration Risk Ranking and Field Development |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Lunch Break |
| 13:00 – 14:30 | Team Exercise: MEM Construction for Exploration Well Planning |
| 14:30 – 14:45 | Break |
| 14:45 – 16:30 | Review, Q&A, and Certificate Distribution |
🧰 Course Materials Include:
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Editable MEM templates
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Stress profile and mud weight calculators (Excel)
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Borehole stability modeling tools (PDF + exercise sets)
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Image log interpretation guide
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Case study library from deepwater, HPHT, and unconventional settings
👥 Who Should Attend:
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Exploration & Drilling Geologists
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Drilling & Well Engineers
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Reservoir & Petroleum Engineers
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Geomechanics Specialists
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Seismic Interpreters working with stress and structure
