An Interactive 5-Day Training Course
Geomechanics for Appraisal & Early Development Planning
Geomechanics in Appraisal and Early Planning
Secure your spot now!
Duration
5 Days
Price
$ 3,500
Starting From
15 Feb 2027
Home Geology and Geoscience Geomechanics for Appraisal & Early Development Planning
Geomechanics for Appraisal & Early Development Planning
Have Questions ?
Geomechanics for Appraisal & Early Development Planning - GG-GAPP-PEA27
| Code | Date | Time | Duration | Location | Currency | Early Bird Fee Per Person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GG-GAPP-PEA27 | 15 - 19 Feb 2027 | 10 AM CST | 4 Hours Per Day |
Online |
USD |
3500 |
Need this for a group? We deliver the same course in-house — face-to-face at your location or online — tailored to your assets and team level. Contact info@peassociations.com
Boost your team's skills and your budget! Enjoy group discounts for collaborative learning. Send an inquiry to info@peassociations.com.
Geomechanics for Appraisal & Early Development Planning
This training covers geomechanics in appraisal and early development planning. It works through the geomechanical questions that matter early, data acquisition planning in appraisal wells, building a model from sparse data, analogue and regional constraints, geomechanical input to development concept selection, well design and trajectory implications, facility and integrity consequences, risk screening and the staging of geomechanical work through the project.
Description
Geomechanical problems are cheapest to address before the development concept is fixed. Once the well count, the trajectory philosophy, the completion type, the injection scheme and the facility design are set, the cost of discovering that the reservoir compacts, that the overburden is unstable, that sand control is required or that injection is limited by fault stability is very high. The data required to anticipate these is acquired in appraisal wells, and the opportunity to acquire it passes quickly.
This training addresses geomechanics at the appraisal and early development stage. The geomechanical questions that matter early are established first, covering which issues affect concept selection and which can wait. Data acquisition planning follows in detail, covering the measurements to request in appraisal wells, their cost, their timing and the consequences of omitting each. Building a model from sparse data is then developed, covering what can be constrained from one or two wells and how to be explicit about what cannot. Analogue and regional constraints follow, covering the use of basin stress data and field analogues. Geomechanical input to concept selection is then addressed as the main application. Well design and trajectory implications follow. Facility and integrity consequences are then developed. Risk screening follows. The training closes with staging geomechanical work through the project.
An extended leak-off test in an appraisal well costs a few hours of rig time and constrains the whole stress model. The minimum horizontal stress is the one stress magnitude that can be measured, it is required for every subsequent geomechanical calculation, and the measurement opportunity exists only while a well is being drilled. A development project that reaches concept select without a single reliable closure pressure measurement is working from an estimated stress field, and every geomechanical conclusion it draws carries that estimate's uncertainty. The decision to run the test belongs to the well programme, which means it must be requested during planning.
Core for rock mechanics has to be requested specifically. A standard core programme is specified for porosity, permeability and sedimentology, and the samples it preserves may be unsuitable for mechanical testing: not preserved against drying, not oriented, and not distributed across the mechanical layers of interest including the seal and the overburden. Rock mechanics requires samples from the caprock and the layers above and below the reservoir, not just the pay, which is a request no other discipline will make.
Compaction risk changes the development concept, not just the well design. A reservoir that will compact significantly affects the platform or subsea design through subsidence, the well design through casing loads, the well count through integrity failures over time, the recovery forecast through compaction drive and possibly the whole development philosophy through the need for pressure maintenance. This is a concept-level issue and it is identified from rock strength and compressibility measurement on core, which is why that measurement belongs in appraisal rather than in early development.
Finally, a geomechanical model from one well is still worth building. The common objection is that there is not enough data, and there usually is not enough for a confident model. But a model built from one well, regional stress data and analogue properties, with its uncertainties stated as ranges, identifies which issues could matter and which data would reduce the uncertainty most. That is exactly what is needed to specify the next appraisal well. Waiting for enough data produces a good model after the decisions have been made.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Identify the geomechanical questions that affect concept selection
- Specify geomechanical data acquisition for appraisal wells
- Justify stress tests and core requirements in well programmes
- Build a geomechanical model from one or two wells
- Apply regional stress and analogue property data
- State model uncertainty as ranges and identify its drivers
- Assess compaction, stability and sanding risk early
- Provide geomechanical input to development concept selection
- Assess well design, trajectory and integrity implications
- Stage geomechanical work appropriately through project phases
The training works on appraisal stage data sets with the eventual development outcomes available. Participants specify data acquisition programmes for appraisal wells and are shown what the omitted measurements would have revealed. Geomechanical models are built from sparse data and used to screen concept options. Risk screening outputs are presented as recommendations to a concept selection panel.
Organisations sending participants to this training will:
- Acquire the geomechanical data appraisal wells can provide
- Identify compaction and stability risk before concept selection
- Avoid late and expensive geomechanical surprises
- Include geomechanics in concept screening
- Specify appraisal programmes that reduce the dominant uncertainties
- Improve well and facility design decisions
Participants will:
- Specify geomechanical data acquisition
- Build models from sparse data honestly
- Use regional and analogue constraints
- Screen geomechanical risk early
- Contribute to concept selection
- Stage geomechanical work through a project
- Geomechanics staff supporting appraisal projects
- Appraisal and development geoscientists
- Well planners and drilling engineers
- Reservoir engineers in development planning
- Project and concept engineers
- Subsurface team leaders
- Technical staff specifying appraisal programmes
Module 1 - Early Geomechanical Questions
- Issues that affect concept selection
- Compaction and subsidence risk
- Wellbore stability and drillability
- Sand production likelihood
- Injection and containment limits
- Fault reactivation and seismicity risk
- Fracture gradient and casing design
- Stimulation requirement assessment
- Issues that can wait for later phases
- Framing questions for decision relevance
- Screening before detailed study
Module 2 - Appraisal Data Acquisition
- Stress test options and their cost
- Extended leak-off test specification
- DFIT and minifrac in appraisal wells
- Image log requirements
- Sonic log requirements including shear
- Cross-dipole and anisotropy acquisition
- Core requirements for rock mechanics
- Core preservation specification
- Overburden and caprock sampling
- Pressure measurement programme
- Writing geomechanical requirements into well programmes
- Cost and benefit of each measurement
Module 3 - Modelling from Sparse Data
- What one well constrains
- Vertical stress from density
- Minimum stress from a single test
- Maximum stress constraint from failures
- Property profiles from logs
- Strength estimation without core
- Pore pressure from limited data
- Extrapolation away from the well
- Stating what is unconstrained
- Range based model outputs
- Sensitivity to the unknown parameters
- Documenting assumptions clearly
Module 4 - Regional and Analogue Constraints
- Regional stress orientation data
- World stress map and its use
- Basin stress regime identification
- Earthquake and focal mechanism data
- Regional pressure trends
- Analogue field geomechanical behaviour
- Analogue selection criteria
- Property analogues by lithology
- Compaction analogues
- Stability experience in the basin
- Published data sources
- Combining analogue with well data
Module 5 - Concept Selection Input
- Concept options and their geomechanical sensitivity
- Depletion against pressure maintenance
- Water injection and its geomechanical consequences
- Gas injection considerations
- Well count and integrity over field life
- Completion type selection
- Stimulation requirement and its cost
- Subsea against platform implications
- Compaction effects on facility design
- Screening concepts geomechanically
- Presenting geomechanical input to concept select
- Issues that should stop a concept
Module 6 - Well Design Implications
- Mud weight window prediction
- Casing scheme design
- Trajectory selection for stability
- Horizontal well orientation and stress
- Drilling hazard identification
- Overburden instability
- Depleted zone drilling in later wells
- Managed pressure drilling considerations
- Casing design for compaction loads
- Cement design considerations
- Well design philosophy for the field
- Drilling programme risk register input
Module 7 - Risk Screening
- Geomechanical risk register construction
- Risk identification by application
- Likelihood and consequence assessment
- Screening calculations for each risk
- Risks that require more data
- Risks that can be managed operationally
- Risks that change the concept
- Value of information for geomechanical data
- Prioritising further study
- Communicating risk to the project
- Updating the register through appraisal
Module 8 - Staging Through the Project
- Geomechanical work by project phase
- Screening level studies
- Concept select level studies
- Define phase studies
- Execution phase support
- Model updating with each well
- Handover to operations
- Resourcing geomechanical work
- Specifying external studies
- Reviewing contractor deliverables
- Building in-house capability
- Capturing lessons for the next project
Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.
Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
All course bookings made through PEA are strictly non-refundable. By registering for a course, you acknowledge and accept that all fees are payable in full and are not subject to refund under any circumstances, including changes in personal or professional commitments or partial attendance.
PEA reserves the right to make reasonable adjustments to course content, trainers, or schedules where necessary, without entitling delegates to a refund. Comprehensive details of each course — including objectives, target audience, and content — are clearly outlined before enrolment, and it is the responsibility of the delegate to ensure the course's suitability prior to booking.
For any inquiries related to cancellations or bookings, please contact our support team, who will be happy to assist you.
