Events

Dr. Ahmad Ghassemi, Professor at The University of Oklahoma at Norman, will give a talk entitled "Some Geomechanics Aspects of Unconventional Reservoir Stimulation" as part of the Claude R. Hocott Graduate Seminar Series.

Abstract:

Unconventional petroleum and geothermal reservoirs tend to have geomechanical characteristics that pose challenges to economic energy production. Development of these low permeability reservoirs relies on designing a fracture network through stimulation by hydraulic fracturing. Stimulation results often are poorly predictable, in part because of the complex fracture geometry that arises from intact rock and rock mass fabric and textural characteristic and in-situ stress. Hydraulic fracturing of shale and geothermal reservoirs will be discussed with reference to rock failure, fracture propagation, permeability change, and induced seismicity resulting from injection induced stresses and pore pressures. Numerical modeling strategies will be presented, and modeling results will be discussed to illustrate important controls on stimulated rock volume and its dynamics.

Bio:

Ahmad Ghassemi is the McCasland Chair Professor in the Mewbourne School of Petroleum & Geological Engineering, The University of Oklahoma. His research interests include geomechanics applied to petroleum and geothermal reservoir development, boundary element modeling of hydraulic fracturing and faulting, reactive fluid flow in fractures, and constitutive modeling for chemically-active rocks.  He has been working on high-temperature reservoir rock mechanics and hydraulic fracturing research for the past 20 years with emphasis on thermo-poroelastic effects, induced seismicity, and the impact of rock heterogeneity on stimulated volume. Currently, he is involved on experimental analysis and numerical modeling of fracture network generation in  shale and geothermal reservoirs by hydraulic stimulation.