Abstract
This chapter presents recent advances in shale technology and results that show quantitative relationships between shale mechanical properties and drill-cuttings index properties. It also presents case histories to highlight the applications of wellbore stability predictions to solve expensive drilling problems in high-risk shale formations. Advances in shale technology provide the key to practical wellbore stability predictions for deep oil and gas wells. Databases on several types of shales, ranging from an illitic siltstone to a smectitic mudstone, can be developed using new triaxial test methods to measure rock strengths. The strength and elastic properties of shales are controlled by their mean effective stress or downhole conditions. A common operational approach to wellbore stability problems is the driller's method of trial and error based on field observations and experience. Predictions based on elasticity theory provide limited descriptions of wellbore behavior and often yield results that are too conservative. Critical-state shale mechanics in conjunction with numerical analysis such as the finite element method can lead to greatly improved wellbore stability predictive capabilities.
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