Numerical Study on the Influence of Fault on the Seepage and Stress Field of Formation

Abstract

In the process of water injection in oil field, the fault will affect the seepage field and stress field of the formation, which leads to the deformation and destruction of the formation. Therefore, more casing damage wells are found around the fault. In order to study the influence of fault on the formation in the process of water injection, a reservoir model including one closed fault was established based on the fluid-solid coupling method and the characteristics of seepage field and stress field near the fault were studied. The results show that the closed fault will obstruct the flow path of the fluid in the formation, resulting in the independence of the seepage and stress characteristics on both sides of the fault. The pore pressure and formation stress of injection side of fault are higher than that of production side and bigger shear stress is observed at the junction between the fault and the permeable stratum.