Comprehensive Rock Mechanical Testing in a Middle Eastern Carbonate Reservoirs and Insights for Geomechanical Modeling

Summary The paper presents the results of an advanced rock mechanical characterization campaign for a giant Cretaceous carbonate field. Various geomechanical tests, such as triaxial, hydrostatic, pore volume compressibility, permeability, tensile, fracture toughness, thermal, and creep tests, were performed on core samples from different reservoir units and caprock. The results were integrated and correlated with petrophysical and acoustic properties, and how they were used to calibrate core-log data and to model the compaction behavior of the reservoir rocks under different stress conditions. The paper highlights the importance of understanding the geomechanical limits and response of the carbonate reservoirs and caprocks for optimizing the field development