MBDCI

Geomechanics of Salt and

Petroleum Engineering

Maurice Dusseault
5-F Salt
 MBDCI

Straits of Hormuz

Salt-Cored
Domes
5-F Salt

Salt-Cored Anticlines (dry climate)

 MBDCI

Summary

Salt is a viscous, slowly flowing material

Creep rates are sensitive to T and (depth)

Borehole squeeze is the issue in salt drilling

Stresses around salt structures can be
extremely complex, rapid changes in hmin

Rubble zones, open fractures exist around salt

The salt / rock interface is a critical region for
drilling and also casing (casing collapse)
Salt behavior may affect reservoir response
5-F Salt

 MBDCI

Salt and HC Entrapment

sulphur

salt
Halokinesis over time periods of
dome 106 - 108 years helps create oil
gas and gas structural traps
oil

gas
oil

salt strata
mother salt
5-F Salt

Oil is found trapped against flanks of salt domes, above salt-

cored anticlinal structures, trapped under salt canopies or beds
 MBDCI

Characteristics of Salt

Salt is highly soluble in water

Salt is geochemically (ionically) active with
respect to drilling mud additives
Suppresses polymer behavior

Flocculates fresh water muds

Suppresses clay hydration & shrinks shale

and, salt is a viscoplastic substance

Creeps continuously under shear stress

Thermally activated creep rate

5-F Salt

= (T, )
 MBDCI

Drilling Problems in Salt Rock

Drill
pipe
Salt Large Ledges
pinch washout and
blocks

Salt

BHA Limestone
or
bit dolomite

Squeeze Washouts Ledges & Blocks

5-F Salt
 MBDCI

Problems in Drilling Salt

Salt deteriorates WBM functions (cake
quality, clay hydration, polymer action)

Salt squeezes rapidly into the hole
BHA stuck in hole during POOH

Cant get to TD during RIH

Salt is excessively dissolved

Poor mud velocity and hole cleaning

Mud rings, etc.

+ Casing and cementing problems

5-F Salt

+ Associated effects (LC, unusual , high T)

 MBDCI

Salt in the GoM

J. Couvillion,
Chevron
5-F Salt
 MBDCI

On the GoM Continental Slope

From 2000 m to 6000 m salt canopy

Water depth from 1500 to 3000 m
5-F Salt

J. Couvillion, Chevron
 MBDCI

Squeeze and Trip Problems

BHA or bit get stuck in squeezed zone
Back ream out of hole

Dissolve the salt by diluting the aqueous

phase

Squeezed section in RIH
Drill to bottom, re-examine mud strategy

Adjust mud properties accordingly

Raise the weight to counteract squeeze

Drill with slightly non-saturated aqueous

phase
5-F Salt
 MBDCI

TransOcean Cajun Express

Can drill to 11 km depth
in 3 km of water through
thick salt sequences
5-F Salt

J. Couvillion, Chevron
 MBDCI

Other Drilling Problems

Large washouts in salt can lead to poor hole
cleaning and excessive mud-rings

Hitting ledges associated with insolubles in the
salt sequence (bedded salts)
Particularly deviated wells

Blocks of rock break off, wedge BHA

Massive LC near salt dome flanks & top

Exceptionally high T
Salt is an excellent thermal conductor
5-F Salt
 MBDCI

Triaxial Tests on Rock

, MPa
1 3 Elastoplastic behavior
Stress Conditions
= 15.0 MPa
= - axial stress
3
1 a
80
= () =
Deviatoric stress

3 2 r
60 = 7.0 MPa
3

40
-
Strain
weakening
Triaxial Test
behavior Results
Brittle
20
behavior = 2.0 MPa
3 Failure Modes
UCS, = 0
3 - strain- % Brittle behavior: crystal
a
0 debonding and axial
10% extension fractures
= 2.0
Volume change

3
+ ve
= 7.0 MPa
- strain- % Strain-weakening: single
3
a
or several narrow shearing
-ve 10% surfaces
= 15.0 MPa
3 Elastoplastic: bulging with
5-F Salt

slip distortion along many

small shear planes
 MBDCI

M-C Yield Criterion for Salt

1 = a - axial stress

Shear stress - , MPa 3 = ( 2 ) = r

50

Y behavior
cohesive elastoplastic
-

vior
eha Mohr stress
eb circles at yield
e siv
h
co
al-
brittle n
tio
yield fric

3 1

50 MPa
To ~ UCS ~ Normal stress - , MPa
5-F Salt

-
2 MPa 25 MPa
 MBDCI

Salt Strength or Creep?

Salt strength is almost never the issue in
petroleum geomechanics (but it is in mines)

It is the salt creep rate that is important

Salt is highly soluble in H2O; + there is usually
0.5-2% brine-filled intercrystalline porosity

When a differential stress is applied, mass
transfer takes place in the brine phase, called

FADC Fluid-Assisted Diffusional Creep

Salt is not the only material that creeps, but the
5-F Salt

most important one for petroleum development

 MBDCI

Creep Testing of Salt

Axial strain a
L/L
Steady-state
r r
strain rate

Creep test
a
-apply confining stress r
-let stay for a day or two
-increase a suddenly
-measure instantaneous strain,
-primary (decelerating) creep,
-secondary creep steady-state
5-F Salt

Time
 MBDCI

Creep Strain () With Time

(Red lines are the classical More typical
model, blue lines represent salt) Rupture of ductile
Tertiary shales
-
Steadystate creep creep
(secondary or
stationary creep) (Actual salt
Transient or . Rupture behavior)
primary creep
T (> T )
2 1 T2
Strain -

T .
1
T1
Elastic strain recovery =-/E

Creep recovery

Instantaneous elastic Permanent (irrecoverable) strain

strain = +/E
Time - t
5-F Salt

*It is important to always be aware that creep of salt in situ is different than
creep of metals, plastics, and other materials that cannot display FADC
 MBDCI

Creep of Salt

Occurs under any deviatoric stress (1 - 3)

The higher the 1 - 3, the faster the creep

The higher the T, the faster the creep

Thus, deep salt (>4000 m) flows like butter

Creep occurs with no damage (i.e. micro-
fissures heal faster than they are formed)

Solution-precipitation processes FADC are
important in salt creep, and they also lead to
the healing (or annealing) process
5-F Salt
 MBDCI

Steady-State Creep Factors

We often use a simple Norton Creep Law

n Q
. 1 3
ss = A e RT
. o
 is the steady-state deformation rate (usually in s -1)
ss
 A is a laboratory parameter (fabric-dependent)
 1 - 3 is the plastic stress, o normalizes it, in MPa
 n is a mechanism-dependent exponent
 Q is activation energy, V activation volume, p mean stress

Stress and temperature both activate creep

If you double the depth (stress), the creep rate
5-F Salt

increases usually be a factor of 8

 MBDCI

Salt and Tectonic Stressing

stress
lithotype stiffness mud

UC sand 0.5E

shale 0.75E

salt is stresses are

salt
viscoplastic isotropic
loading
sandstone E

limestone 1.5E
unloading
assumed
depth initial h
5-F Salt

In the virgin condition at depth, salt stresses are all equal

Also, the effective stress concept does not apply - no po
 MBDCI

Characteristics of Salt Strata

Salt is low density 2.16 buoyancy = domes!

Stress state in situ is isotropic (1 = 2 = 3)

Generally, in the salt salt ~ v (vertical)

Exceptionally high thermal conductivity

Impermeable (k < 10-12 Darcy for pure salt)

Salt strata may have thick insoluble layers (e.g.
anhydrites, carbonates in bedded salts)

Structural complexity and major stress
alterations in strata near salt diapirism (stresses,
fracturing, )
5-F Salt
 MBDCI

5-F Salt Structural Complexity

 MBDCI

Creep Rates & T

ln ss
creep mechanisms
have different
constant stress activation energies
-Qa/R

-Qb/R

1/T

Creep is also thermally activated. Approximately, for pure

5-F Salt

halite (NaCl), the creep rate is doubled for each 15C

 MBDCI

Simple Rheological Models

E
viscoelastic, Maxwell

E2
E1 1
viscoelastic, Maxwell
2 plus Kelvin-Voight

E 1
K viscoelastic, Maxwell
plus viscoplastic
2
5-F Salt

Simple models help us to understand the behavior of salt

 MBDCI

Simple Creep Models

strain 1
2

1
E
2

time
5-F Salt

Here, we see a very simple instantaneous strain + steady-

state creep model (2), and a more realistic model (1)
 MBDCI

Simple Axi-symmetric Creep Model

Axisymmetric, homogeneous model

Assume constant T throughout

Allows instantaneous calculation of creep rate
as (MW, T, and stress )

Temperature - T Uniform far-field

stress /z

This simple model can be

calibrated in real cases and
Internal p = MW used to estimate the
5-F Salt

beneficial effects of more

MW or cooling the mud
 MBDCI

North Sea Salt Drilling

Zechstein Fmn. salts, offshore, oil below salt

Not much structure (flat-lying)

The halite (salt) creeps normally

Also, zones with carnallite + bischofite, which
creep faster than NaCl!

To simulate halite, we used published data for
GoM salt (well-tested)

We also simulated a fast and a slow salt
and studied closure rate vs. depth, T (cooling)
5-F Salt

 MBDCI

Case History, North Sea, 11000

Required Spreadsheet Inputs
Drilling Mudweight 14.6 lbs/gal
Borehole Radius 8.5 in
Depth of Interest 11,000 ft

Temperature Gradient
o
(Within Salt Unit) 1.5 F/100 ft
Temperature
o
(Top of Salt Unit) 195 F

Stratigraphy Depth (ft) Unit Thickness

Unit From To (ft) Density
3
Sea Water 0 60 60 1.979 slugs/ft
3
Soft Sediments 60 10,500 10,440 4.610 slugs/ft
3
Salt 10,500 11,500 1,000 4.280 slugs/ft
5-F Salt

3
N/A 11,500 12,000 500 5.000 slugs/ft
Salt and Drilling 3
N/A 0 0 0 0.000 slugs/ft
 MBDCI

Case History, North Sea, 11000

Borehole Closure Rate (at specified depth)

Mudweight 14.6 lbs/gal
Depth of Interest 11,000 ft
Overburden Stress 11,259 psi
Mud Stress 8,343 psi

Slow Creeping Salt Fast Creeping Salt

Borehole Closure 2.13 %/day Borehole Closure 21.34 %/day
Closure Rate 9.07E-02 in/day Closure Rate 9.07E-01 in/day
5-F Salt
 MBDCI

Case History, North Sea, 11000

Borehole Closure Rate (at specified depth)

Mudweight 16.7 lbs/gal
Depth of Interest 11,000 ft
Overburden Stress 11,259 psi
Mud Stress 9,543 psi

Slow Creeping Salt Fast Creeping Salt

Borehole Closure 0.44 %/day Borehole Closure 4.35 %/day
Closure Rate 1.85E-02 in/day Closure Rate 1.85E-01 in/day
5-F Salt
 MBDCI

MW vs. Closure Rate

25 Conditions:
11,000 depth
T @ 11000 ~ 95C
20 Stress in salt at 11000 = 19.7#/gal MW
Salt type: Fast-creeping salt (high
interstitial H2O content)
Hole size: 8.5
15
Closure rate, %/day

10

0
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
5-F Salt

-5
overburden
Mud Weight - #/gal
 MBDCI

MW vs. Closure Rate + Cooling

Conditions: 14
11,000 depth, MW is 16 #/gal
Base case (x = 0) is at 95C temp.
Stress in salt at 11000 = 19.7#/gal MW 12
Salt type: Fast-creeping salt (high
interstitial H2O content) 10
Closure Rate (%/day)

Hole size: 8.5

8

2
cooling heating
0
5-F Salt

-35 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10

Cooling Amount (deg C)
 MBDCI

Closure vs. Depth

Borehole Closure (%/day)

0.000 0.500 1.000 1.500 2.000 2.500 3.000
10,000

10,500
Depth (ft)

11,000

11,500

12,000
Slow Creeping Salt Fast Creeping Salt
5-F Salt

Case of MW of 2 #/gal less than overburden stress in the salt.

For fast salt, the closure rate approaches 2% per day
 MBDCI

Closure Rate vs. Depth

Borehole Closure (%/day)

0.000 0.100 0.200 0.300 0.400 0.500
10,000

10,500
Depth (ft)

11,000

11,500

12,000
Slow Creeping Salt Fast Creeping Salt
5-F Salt

Case of MW of 1 #/gal less than the overburden stress in the

salt. For the fast salt, the closure rate approaches 0.3%/day
 MBDCI

So, the Geomechanics of Salt

Creep effects in boreholes can be simulated

as can salt overburden response

Models can be calibrated through field data or

lab data may be used if feasible

Complications
 Saltmay be impure, bedded with shale, etc
 Other salts may be present

 Data may be lacking

Nevertheless, we can account for salts

5-F Salt

behavior and reduce unexpected risks

 MBDCI

Some Extra Slides on Stress Conditions

around Salt Domes and Drilling
5-F Salt
 MBDCI

Classical Salt Dome

overhang
Dome crest

v Neck or stock
syncline

Mother salt
5-F Salt
 MBDCI

Avery Island Dome Schematic

Normal faulting low h ,

gas present in shales

Anticlinal shapes

Dissolution residuum and

brecciated rocks, could be
a severe LC zone

Upturned bed traps, beds

inclined to well, sheared

Flanking synclines
5-F Salt

Mother salt
 MBDCI

Simple Regime Classification

Normal faults, low stresses,

gas in shales and sands
normal
Thrust conditions near the
dome shoulders
thrust thrust Brecciated residual zone,
often lost circulation

strike-slip strike-slip Sheared zone on flank of

domes, difficult drilling
5-F Salt
 MBDCI

Salt Tongues
sea level

10-35 km

salt tongue intrusion

somewhat deformed sediments

Zone of drag (reduced h)

500 to 2200 m thick

neck or stock zone of high r, low (zone of push)

deep-lying mother salt

5-F Salt
 MBDCI

Salt Tongues (Sheets)

v
sea level h

stress

v = 1
salt tongue intrusion

v h

neck or stock depth

deep-lying mother salt

5-F Salt
 MBDCI

Stresses Above Salt Domes

stress small v gain, h loss
h

v Section A-A
Section B-B stress

A hydrostat

extensional, v = 1
h

B B v
deformed
strata A
salt
dome
radial
stresses sheared zone
increased Salt intrusion Generally, low mud weights
leads to altered
are absolutely necessary to
5-F Salt

stresses in the
salt ridge bounding rocks drill through the sediments
Salt and Drilling above the top of the dome
deep-lying mother salt
 MBDCI

Stress Trajectory Deflection

traces of 3
direction
Regional stress field

Zone affected (6-8 D): the

D local salt dome stress field

Tangential stress () is 3 near

the dome, and radial stress (r)
hmin
is 1 (at depth near the flanks of
the dome)
HMAX
5-F Salt
 MBDCI

Fracturing Around Domes

Fractures reflect the local stress field,

sulphur
and tend to elongate asymmetrically.
salt dome
salt The arm pointing to the diapir stock
fracture dome develops more strongly than the
gas outward-directed fracture arm.
oil

Close
wells

A A
salt
5-F Salt

More distant wells

 MBDCI

Salt Dome Flank Stresses

borehole
trajectory Stresses along wellbore trajectory
norma
l
normal fault regime
thr HMAX
ust
thrust
salt
salt
salt dome v fault
dome regime
gas
oil hmin strike-
fracture slip
regime
lip
strike-s

po

mother salt at depth

5-F Salt
 MBDCI

Thick Salt Sheets

0 5000 10,000 15,000 psi
0
Sea water, ~ 1.04
v
5000
Depth in feet

Soft seds, ~ 1.7

10000 hmin Salt, ~ 2.16

15000 Mud weights 10 11 12 13 14 15

Sub-salt sediments
hmin
5-F Salt
 MBDCI

Where to Drill?
Which is the Best
Borehole Trajectory
Near a Salt Diapir?
normal

Borehole Trajectories
Through the salt
thrust
Through the flanks

From a distance

strike-slip

Critical exit point!

5-F Salt

Salt and Drilling

 MBDCI

Salt and Surrounding Stresses

Domes are usually found in extensional

regime, h < v (= 1)

Salt domes alter the local stresses (3 - 5 D)

Locally, around dome in the non-salt rocks,
r (HMAX ) is larger than (hmin)

Stress state is different for NaCl tongues

In tongue regime, v = 3, compressional

Less effect on local stress distributions
Less fracturing of rocks and folding
5-F Salt

 MBDCI

What Can We Do to Control?

Only three options are available:

Use a high mud weight so that the rate of creep
is reduced (i.e. lower 1 - 3)

Control the aqueous phase saturation to control
the dissolution rate of salt
 If OBM, MW = to avoid squeeze, no dissolving

Cool the mud aggressively to reduce creep rate
(has other benefits on upper shales)

Of course, we can drill quickly, watch out for
5-F Salt

sharp transitions, etc.