An Approximate Rock Stress Field for Steady Flow Into Production Casing

Abstract

An uncoupled poroelasticity analysis of steady flow into a fixed cylindrical cavity in a porous medium gives an approximate solution for the stress field around a production casing. As compared to the open well bore case, the order of the principal stresses is inverted and larger values of the well pressure drawdown are required to initiate yielding of the porous rock. The solution quantifies the maximum formation support available from a production liner.