Training Courses - Dr. Alireza Nouri

Over the past few years, I have presented training courses in the areas of wellbore and reservoir geomechanics.  I design the course content in consultation with the entity who has requested my involvement in relation to the aims of the training course and the audience background and expectation.

Some of the topics that can be included in the training course are as follow.
- Stress tensor, strain tensor, principal stresses and strains, Mohr circle for stress and strain, pore pressure, effective stress, Equilibrium equation, stress-strain relationship, Hooke’s law, tensile and shear strength
- Stress distribution with constant and variable pore pressure around boreholes
-  Mechanical properties from laboratory testing
  . Core representativeness and influence of sample size, sand and shale core disturbance, core handling, shale    disturbance, sample preparation
  . Tensile tests, UCS, triaxial tests, hydrostatic tests, direct shear test, odometer Tests, TWC tests, shale tests, acoustic tests
  . Strength profiling
- Geological aspects of petroleum geomechanics
  . In-situ stress regimes
  . Overburden stress, min and max horizontal stress, and pore pressure
  . Directions of in-situ stresses
  . Stress limits at depth                          
- Mechanical Earth Model
  . 1D MEM
  . 3D MEM
- Rock mechanical properties from wireline logs
- Hydraulic fracturing
  . Fracture initiation and formation breakdown, Lost circulation pressure
  . Fracture orientation, growth and confinement
  . Thermal effects on fracturing pressure
  . PKN and KGD models
  . Numerical modeling of hydraulic fracturing
  . Discrete fracture and smeared fracture modeling approach
  . Governing equations, leak-off models, fracture propagation criterion
- In situ stress assessment
- Wellbore stability during drilling  
- Borehole failure criteria
  . Borehole breakouts
  . Stability of vertical and slanted wells
  . Lost circulation
  . Mud window
  . Interaction between shale and drilling fluid
- Sand production
  . Forces on sand grains
  . Sandstone failure
  . Critical drawdown for onset of sanding
  . Sand transport
- Geomechanical impact on reservoir porosity and permeability during the production
- Surface deformation
  . Land subsidence due to production
  . Surface heave due to injection
- Caprock integrity
  . Caprock definition
  . ERCB regulations
  . Caprock failure mechanisms
  . Modeling tools and approaches
  . Safety factor calculations
- SAGD geomechanics
  . Change in horizontal and vertical stresses due to increased pressure and temperature
  . Shear dilation and the associated porosity and permeability enhancements
  . Modeling tools and approaches