Production-Induced Compaction of a Sandstone Reservoir: The Strong Influence of Stress Path

Abstract

Summary The decrease of pore pressure during hydrocarbon production (depletion) leads to compaction of the reservoir, which in turn changes the stresses acting on the reservoir. The prediction of reservoir compaction and its consequences is usually based on laboratory experiments performed under uniaxial strain conditions, i.e., allowing no lateral strain during depletion. Field data of the Groningen gas field (The Netherlands) indicate that the stress development of the field deviates significantly from the stress path under uniaxial strain conditions. Laboratory experiments show that the applied stress path has a strong influence on the depletion-induced compaction behavior. We discuss the consequences of these results for the field compaction behavior by considering the responsible deformation mechanisms active in reservoir and experiment. The new Groningen field data, in combination with our experimental results, provide an explanation for the difference between the prediction of compaction and subsidence based on uniaxial experiments and the measurement of compaction and subsidence in the Groningen field. With the use of the new stress path, the predicted and measured compaction and subsidence are in agreement.