A Mechanical Modelling of the Primary Migration

F. Schneider (1) , O. Coussy (2) , L. Dormieux (3)

1 IFPEN - IFP Energies nouvelles
2 LCPC Paris
3 CERCSO - Centre d'Enseignement et de Recherche en Calcul des Structures et des Ouvrages

In order to address the question of oil-induced microfracturing, we propose under specific assumptions (plane circular kerogen flake surrounded by an homogeneous microfractured porous medium) an analytical method for the determination of the oil pressure increase. It is based on a mechanical modelling of the kerogen-oil-rock interaction at the microscopicscale of a kerogen particle. It is shown that the oil pressure tends towards an asymptotic value when the chemical transformation of kerogen is completed. The effect of the macroscopic stress variation during oil formation process proves to be negligible. However, this effect must be taken into account for describing the evolution of oil pressure at earlier stages of oil formation process. The increase in burial depth induces an increase of oil pressure as well as a variation of the macroscopic stress which both determine the microscopic stress field. The possibility of microfracturing depends on the position of the microscopic stress state with respect to the fracture criterion. If the duration of the oil formation process is short enough, so that the macroscopic stress change associated with the corresponding (small) burial depth increase can be neglected, it is found that microfracturing is likely for the usual values of rock tensile strength. However, in the general case, neglecting the macroscopic stress change can significantly overestimate the possibility of fracture initiation due to oil-pressure increase. Considering now the macroscopicscale of the source bed, the evolution equation of the oil pressure are derived within the framework of Biot's poroelasticity theory. The oil pressure rate proves to be the sum of a diffusion term which accounts for oil migration within the source bed, and of two source terms respectively associated with the volume expansion tendency of the kerogen - oil transformation and the overburden pressure increase.

Domaines: Physique [physics]

F. Schneider, O. Coussy, L. Dormieux. A Mechanical Modelling of the Primary Migration. Revue de l'Institut Français du Pétrole, 1998, 53 (2), pp.151-161. ⟨10.2516/ogst:1998015⟩. ⟨hal-02078964⟩