The impact of geomechanical units (GMUs) classification on reducing the uncertainty of wellbore stability analysis and safe mud window design

The current study proposed an improved approach for application of Geomechanical Units (GMUs) classification in reducing the uncertainty of wellbore stability models. For this purpose, the optimal drilling direction and safe mud window were modeled in the Iranian Offshore oilfield, Persian Gulf basin. Two main normal faults created a graben with three geomechanical sectors in the study area including northern, middle and southern sectors. The middle sector, which is under high compression, is the main target of this study. A set of well logs and Fullbore Formation Micro Imager (FMI) data associated with the rock mechanical tests including Uniaxial Compressive Strength (UCS), Triaxial Compressive Strength (TCS) and ultrasonic results were used to establish and tune the geomechanical models. The dynamic rock elastic moduli including UCS, Poisson's ratio, Young's modulus, shear modulus and bulk modulus were estimated from well logs data. Through appropriate correlations between well logs and laboratory results, the dynamic modules were converted to static data. Five geomechanical units were obtained based on the classification of rock elastic moduli by using multi-resolution graph-based clustering. The interpretation of FMI logs and their incorporation in the geomechanical models showed that most safe drilling direction is in the 120 degrees azimuth which is parallel to the direction of minimum horizontal stress, sigma h (NWSE direction). Higher mud weight is expected at N030E azimuth to overcome collapse pressure, which is the worst drilling direction, sigma(H) (NE-SW direction). Wellbore inclination more than 60 degrees angle is not recommended for formations comprising of GMU E and partially GMU D (mainly shales and clayey limestones). The results of this study showed that GMUs classification is an effective way of updating the wellbore stability models and reducing the uncertainty of safe mud window design.