DRILLING MANAGEMENT
3D Geomechanical Modeling Optimizes Drilling
in the Llanos Orientales Basin, Colombia
Drilling in tectonically active areas
involves nonproductive time (NPT)
related to wellbore-stability problems
that are very difficult to predict with-
out a clear understanding of the local-
and regional-stress magnitude and
orientation and their effect on well-
bore trajectory. To optimize drilling
by eliminating the wellbore-instability
NPT, a 3D geomechanical model was
built that integrates the geological
structural model with relevant well
information such as wireline-logging
data and drilling reports. A new drill-
ing campaign used the 3D model for
wellbore-stability analysis, and the
results showed that the associated
geomechanical risks to drill the wells
have been addressed properly, with a
much better drilling experience.
Introduction
The Llanos Orientales basin, in the
northern Andes of Colombia, is affect-
ed by light but complex deformation.
Wellbore stability is a concern in the
area, and it is part of well planning.
Ecopetrol S.A. has dealt with this prob-
lem for the last 20 years in the Apiay-
This article, written by Senior Technology
Editor Dennis Denney, contains high-
lights of paper SPE 138752, Drilling
Optimization Using 3D Geomechanical
Modeling in the Llanos Orientales Basin,
Colombia, by Ewerton Araujo, SPE,
and Rene Alcalde, GeoMechanics
International; Darwin Mateus, SPE,
Instituto Colombiano del Petroleo; Fermn
Fernandez-Ibaez, Judith Sheridan,
Chris Ward, SPE, Martin Brudy, and
Jose Alvarellos, SPE, GeoMechanics
International; and Luz Yamile Ordonez
and Felipe Cardona, Ecopetrol S.A.,
prepared for the 2010 SPE Latin American
& Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Con-
ference, Lima, Peru, 13 December. The
paper has not been peer reviewed.
For a limited time, the full-length paper is available free to SPE members at www.jptonline.org.
86
Suria fields in that every well has shown
clear evidence of wellbore instability,
as modest-to-severe hole enlargement
and related problems such as tight hole
and stuck pipe. In extreme situations,
some wells with high inclinations had
to be sidetracked to reach target depth,
not allowing wireline-logging tools to
be run.
To understand such a challenging
drilling scenario and to make appropri-
ate changes in drilling practice to reduce
the NPT, a 3D geomechanical model
was built by use of structural geologi-
cal description and information from
more than 40 wells drilled in the area.
Wireline-logging and borehole-image
data and daily drilling reports were
sources of information to constrain the
orientation and magnitude of local in-
situ stresses and pore pressure. The rock
mechanical properties were calculated
by use of logging-based equations cali-
brated with laboratory-test results.
1D Geomechanical Models
Individual 1D models for wells in the
project were very useful in understand-
ing lateral variation across the area of
interest and in confirming features that
might exist in one formation but not in
another. Because the area has many geo-
logical faults, an important aspect was
selecting and analyzing wells close to
and far away from the main geological
faults. This work verified whether the
current stress state contributed to reac-
tivation of the faults, which can affect
wellbore stability when drilling nearby
or when crossing them. An extensive
analysis of available image data was
performed to identify drilling-induced
failures (i.e., breakouts and fractures) at
the borehole wall, which was very useful
information to constrain the orientation
and magnitude of in-situ stresses. A
drilling-induced fracture that was gen-
erated in a near-vertical well drilled
with a mud weight lower than the
fracture gradient was a clear indication
that the stress regime in the field has
a maximum horizontal stress that is
higher than the vertical (overburden)
stress. Also, significant horizontal-stress
anisotropy must be present.
A comprehensive analysis of all image
data available for the project resulted in
very good information to constrain the
direction and magnitude of horizontal
stresses. The first step in building the
geomechanical model was to compute
the vertical stress SV. The main sources
of data used were density and sonic
logs. Because the wells have an over-
gauged condition, the best combination
of density and pseudodensity was used
to calculate the overburden. One of the
most critical, and most important, steps
was to constrain the pore-pressure pro-
file. It is not uncommon to determine
pore-pressure profiles in uplifted areas,
such as the Andes foothills, by use of
trend-line methods. The main mistake
with these methods is misunderstand-
ing applicability (reliable results are
generated only when the overpressure-
generating mechanism is subcompac-
tion). Manipulating the fitting expo-
nents only forces a value for overpres-
sure that seems to be the main cause of
instability problems; however, it can be
extremely dangerous if the rock is not
overpressured, as is the case with the
Leon formation in the area studied in
this project.
Throughout the Leon formation, the
sonic and resistivity logs deviate from
the normal-compaction trend, but the
density log does not. The reason is that
the sonic and resistivity logs measure
conductivity properties and these logs
are affected by natural fractures that
exist in the rock before drilling or even
by microfractures generated by shearing
(borehole collapse). Density, however,
is an index property of the rock and is
JPT SEPTEMBER 2011
 Density Overburden Sv

Lithology

Pore pressure
Structural
model

Stress model
Mechanical
properties
Water tight SHmax azimuth SHmax azimuth
model
Sonic
Image data SHmax
Stratigraphic ESR
model SHmin

QC

Grid Populating

Wellbore
Well data Seismic Fault seal stability

Fig. 13D-Geomechanical-model workflow. QC=quality control, ESR=effective-stress ratio.

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JPT SEPTEMBER 2011 87

not affected much by the presence of
fractures. To constrain the minimum-
horizontal-stress SHmin magnitude, all
fracturing tests were analyzed including
leakoff tests, formation-integrity tests,
minifracs, and hydraulic-fracturing tests.
This method provided a lower bound,
given by the closure-pressure values in
the hydraulic-fracturing tests, that was
used as a safety margin when preventing
lost circulation. The rock mechanical
properties were calculated by calibrating
published log-based strength-parameter
correlations with laboratory-test values.
The last step of building the 1D geo-
mechanical model was estimating of
maximum-horizontal-stress SHmax mag-
nitude. The Brazilian tests carried out by
the Instituto Colombiano del Petroleo
were available and used to constrain the
tensile strength of the rocks. By combin-
ing those data with the stress-polygon
theory and tensile fractures observed in
the image data, it was possible to obtain
a range for SHmax magnitude.
3D Geomechanical Model
After individual 1D geomechanical
models were ready for each of the cor-
relation wells, the workflow shown in
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88
Fig. 1 was followed to build the 3D
geomechanical model. A combination
of the geological-structural model and
well data was the basic source used to
build the model. For wellbore-stability
analysis, the most-troubling forma-
tions (e.g., Leon formation) received a
higher level of discretization (number
of elements) in the grid to capture criti-
cal variations in the unconfined com-
pressive strength (UCS), for example.
Thereafter, the wireline-log data from
each offset well were imported honor-
ing individual geological formations,
which ensure that well data are popu-
lated properly into the 3D model, tak-
ing into account formation-depth and
-thickness variation across the field.
After log data from all the wells were
imported, a geostatistical approach was
used to populate the grid and obtain a
3D description of data, such as sonic
and density. It was possible to use
seismic data as cokriging data to help
populate the grid and capture lateral
variations, mainly in regions where well
information was not abundant. To qual-
ity control the 3D-grid population with
log data, a comparison was made of
synthetic density and sonic information
with real data from two wells that were
not used to populate the grid. Results
showed that the geostatistical approach
used to populate the 3D grid achieved
a very high reliability to reproduce real
data expected at any new well location
across the studied area. Following the
same geostatistical approach, the rock
mechanical and elastic properties were
populated into the 3D volume along
with properties such as maximum-stress
orientation from the image analysis.
Then, the vertical stress (overburden)
was calculated by integrating the 3D
density cube with depth. Because sub-
compaction was not the driving mecha-
nism of overpressure generation in the
area, the 3D pore pressure also was cal-
culated by use of geostatistical methods
for the individual pore-pressure pro-
files from the correlation wells, always
honoring the different formations in
the lithological column. Eventually, the
horizontal stresses were calculated by
use of effective-stress ratios. In this man-
ner, a 3D distribution of every prop-
erty of the geomechanical model was
obtained (e.g., the rock UCS).
Wellbore-Stability Analysis
The 3D geomechanical model will be
used to plan future well trajectories, and
the wellbore stability can be addressed
by loading the well survey into the 3D
cubes and then extracting the input
data along the well path that are needed
for the analysis. The analysis enables
determining safe mud-weight windows
to drill the well, and it pinpoints criti-
cal depths that are prone to instabil-
ity. One of the main outcomes of the
wellbore-stability analysis was that the
mud weight that was recommended by
the model was in very good agreement
with the actual mud weight used to drill
a new well in the area. The mud weight
was selected with no advice from the
3D geomechanical model because the
project was just beginning. However,
the well was drilled in less than half the
average time required to drill previous
wells in the area. Comparing the results
of the project with the drilling experi-
ence of that well verified that the mud
weight used was in very good agree-
ment with that recommended by the
3D geomechanical model and wellbore-
stability analysis, confirming that most
of the NPT experienced in the past was
related mostly to geomechanics.
Conclusions
The 3D geomechanical model applied
to wellbore-stability analysis in the
Apiay-Suria area showed the following.
The stress regime is strike-slip with
the maximum horizontal stress much
higher than the overburden.
The main wellbore instability
mechanism in the area is the high stress
contrast rather than pore pressure,
which showed signs of overpressure at
some depths.
Because of the complex geological
history of the basin, pore-pressure esti-
mation by use of normal compaction-
trend lines was not straightforward.
The mud weight used in past wells
was too low, leading to severe hole
instability, mainly when drilling the
weak shales in the lithological column.
Wells drilled in the direction of the
minimum horizontal stress required
the highest mud weights to maintain
borehole stability.
The mud weight recommended by
the 3D geomechanical model and the
wellbore-stability analysis was in very
good agreement with the actual mud
weight used to drill a recent well in
half of the time required for other wells
drilled in the area, which is the best indi-
cation that most of NPT was associated
with borehole-instability problems. JPT
JPT SEPTEMBER 2011