SINTEF Petroleum Research

Contact us
Switchboard: +47 73 59 11 00
Fax: +47 73 59 11 02
Postal address:
P.O. Box 4763 Sluppen,
NO-7465 Trondheim, Norway
Visiting address:
S. P. Andersens vei 15 B,
NO-7031 Trondheim, Norway
E-mail: petroleum@sintef.no
Location: on-line mapPlease find our contact
information here
 Formation Physics and Well Integrity

Our research covers a variety of areas within petroleum related rock

mechanics and wellbore integrity. The activity includes a combination of
theoretical understanding and modeling, experimental investigations in
our advanced rock mechanical laboratory, as well as specialized numerical
simulations, and optimization of well productivity through R & D and
expert services related to well diagnostics and treatment.
 Formation Physics
Our research covers a number of areas
within petroleum related rock
mechanics. The activity embraces a
combination of theoretical
understanding and modeling,
experimental investigations in our
advanced rock mechanical laboratory,
as well as specialized numerical
simulations. Throughout our work we
benefit from a close cooperation with
NTNU.
Main Research Topics
•Stability problems in shales
during drilling
•Sand production and sand
prediction
•Reservoir geomechanics
•Geomechanical data
•Rock physics for seismic and log
interpretation
Services
•Borehole stability in shale
•Sand production risk analysis
•Laboratory tests
§ Standard triaxial tests with
acoustics
and/or permeability
measurement as
a function of stress state
§ Hollow cylinder tests
§ Sand production tests
§ Shale fluid interaction tests
§ Small sample testing on fine
grained
material
- Triaxial tests, typical size:
15 mm diameter, 30 mm
length
- UCS tests, typical size:
10 mm diameter, 25 mm
length
- Shale fluid interaction tests,
typical size:
10 mm diameter, 5 mm length
- CWT on cuttings/cavings
 Projects
The Formation Physics department performs R&D, advanced technical and laboratory services within
petroleum related rock mechanics. The project portfolio includes both single client projects and joint
industry projects. More details of our ongoing projects are listed below.
Active Projects Year Contacts Client log-in area
Geomechanical and Petrophysical testing of Sele Shale 2009 - Olav-Magnar Nes

Ultrasonic measurements Snøhvit field 2009 - Jørn Stenebråten

Feasibility study: Chalk consolidation using techniques for 2009 - Rune Martin Holt
manufacturing of synthetic rock
Electrical anisotropy in Barents sea 2008 -
PreCake 2008 - Pierre Cerasi
Solids production in destructured chalk 2007 - Euripides Papamichos
Near-well mechnics in carbonate reservoirs 2006 - Alexandre Vadimovich
Lavrov
Petrophysics under stress - core applications (PETЯUSCA) 2006 - Idar Larsen PETЯUSCA
Mech2Seis 2006 - Erling Fjær
Volumetric sand production in mature and gas reservoirs Finished Pierre Cerasi
Improved drilling efficiency (IDE Phase II) Finished Olav-Magnar Nes IDE II
Thermal stress testing of reservoir samples 2004 - Jørn Stenebråten
Rock physics for exploration & reservoir monitoring Finished Audun Bakk Rock Physics
Development of coupled geomechanical reservoir models 2003 - Alexandre Vadimovich
Lavrov
Finite-element modelling of tool-earth interaction in Badger Finished Alexandre Vadimovich
drilling device Lavrov
Well planning Finished Erling Fjær
Seismic core quality (SCQ) Finished Olav-Magnar Nes
Improved drilling efficiency (IDE Phase I) Finished Olav-Magnar Nes IDE I
Ongoing service projects Contacts
Rock mechanical testing (shale) Jørn Stenebråten
Rock mechanical testing (sandstone) Jørn Stenebråten
XRD/SEM mineralogy analysis Reidar Bøe
Spectrophotometer Reidar Bøe
 Application software
Several specialised software packages have been developed for PC applications through JIP’s.

In-house developed softwares at Formation Physics include:

Sand predictor PSI - Preventing Shale Instability

FEM models Mud loss

FD full waveform modelling FORMEL - FORmation MEchanics Logging

PSI
The semi-analytical model PSI (Preventing
Shale Instability) analysis time dependent
borehole stability in shale and sandstone
formations.

The model incorporates through approximate

expressions:
•linear elasticity w/ tensile and brittle shear
failure + plasticity + strength anisotropy
•shale-fluid interaction through osmosis + ionic
exchange
•time evolution of stability limits due to
chemical and thermal effects plus pore
pressure diffusion

Contact: Erling Fjær

FORmation MEchanics Logging -
FORMEL
The software uses input from wireline
logs (acoustic velocities, density,
porosity ++) to simulate standard rock
mechanical strength tests on cores.
The output is full stress-strain curves
for a single depth or logs of rock
strength parameters and stiffness
versus depth.

The figure shows as a function of depth

•Left part: Relative amount of clay (green),
sandstone (yellow), oil (black) and water
(grey).
•Middle part: P- and S-wave slowness
•Right part: Calculated strength for
different confining pressures
Sand Production Prediction
SandPredictor is a user-friendly analytical volumetric sand production
tool for field prediction.

The user can check the influence of planned oil production strategies on the
amount of expected sand, and thus tailor both draw-down and depletion
scenarios so as to minimise sand production during the whole expected life
of the reservoir.

SandPredictor uses a semi-empirical sand production model developed in

the Sand Production JIP. The model is a combination of analytical borehole
stress calculation together with correlations developed from extensive
hollow-cylinder sand production laboratory tests; these correlation factors
predict the stress for onset of sand and the mass of produced sand as a
function of stress state and fluid flow rate.

SINTEF SandPredictor:
•User-friendly interface
•Calculates sand production based on intended draw-down and assumed
depletion field history
•Allows reservoir properties’ input parameters from log
•Suggests default sand onset stress from SINTEF correlations, or user
defined ones
•Calculation for either open-hole or perforated well
•Any well inclination allowed
•Wealth of possible data in plotting options

Contact: Pierre Cerasi

 Employees
• Count:19 people
• NameTitleDepartmentPhoneE-mail
1. Alassi, Haitham TayseerResearch ScientistFormation Physics73591184HaithamTayseer.Alassi@sintef.no
2. Bakk, AudunSenior Project ManagerFormation Physics73591387Audun.Bakk@sintef.no
3. Berntsen, Andreas NicolasResearch ScientistFormation Physics73591169Andreas.Berntsen@sintef.no
4. Bøe, ReidarResearch ScientistFormation Physics73591119Reidar.Boe@sintef.no
5. Cerasi, PierreSenior ScientistFormation Physics73597884Pierre.Cerasi@sintef.no
6. Fjær, ErlingChief ScientistFormation Physics73591189Erling.Fjaer@sintef.no
7. Holt, Rune MartinSenior ScientistFormation Physics73591187Rune.Holt@sintef.no
8. Larsen, IdarSenior Project ManagerFormation Physics73591104Idar.Larsen@sintef.no
9. Lavrov, Alexandre VadimovichSenior ScientistFormation Physics73591181Alexandre.Lavrov@sintef.no
10. Li, LimingResearch ScientistFormation Physics73591245Liming.Li@sintef.no
11. Lund, Hans KarlSenior EngineerFormation Physics73591160Hans.Lund@sintef.no
12. Mårdalen, JosteinResearch DirectorFormation Physics73591301Jostein.Mardalen@sintef.no
13. Nes, Olav-MagnarSenior ScientistFormation Physics73591185Olav-Magnar.Nes@sintef.no
14. Papamichos, EuripidesSenior ScientistFormation Physics73591166Euripides.Papamichos@sintef.no
15. Pradhan, SrutarshiResearch ScientistFormation Physics73591159Srutarshi.Pradhan@sintef.no
16. Stavrum, JohannesSenior EngineerFormation Physics73591183Johannes.Stavrum@sintef.no
17. Stenebråten, JørnSenior ScientistFormation Physics73591263Jorn.Stenebraten@sintef.no
18. Sønstebø, Eyvind FrodeResearch ScientistFormation Physics73591182Eyvind.Sonstebo@sintef.no
19. Tiller, IngunnDepartment Coordinator Formation Physics73591170Ingunn.Tiller@sintef.no1