Rock Mechanics in the petroleum industry is concerned with the deformation

and failure of rock -from the borehole wall scale to the reservoir scale- due to
the re-distribution of the in-situ stress state in response to some external factors.

Stable Case Unstable Case

Reservoir Induced or
Rock Re-distributed
Strength Stresses

Wellbore and Reservoir Stability Balance

Professor Musaed N. J. Al-Awad
¾ The virgin in-situ stress state of the reservoir rock may altered
due to several factors occur during Drilling, Workover and
Production phases:
¾ Insufficient or excessive mud weight .
¾ Change in reservoir pore fluid pressure.
¾ Change in reservoir temperature.
¾ Chemical and physical alteration due to drilling fluids.
¾ Fluids production activities.

¾ The consequences of the imbalance between the induced stresses

and reservoir rock strength are:
¾ Borehole instability.
¾ Induced fractures.
¾ Sand control problems.
¾ Permeability mechanical damage.
¾ Others.
Professor Musaed N. J. Al-Awad
¾ Research on Borehole Instability:
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad : Ph.D. Thesis : “Physico-Chemical Analysis of Shale-Drilling Fluid
Interaction and Its Application in Borehole Stability Studies”, Heriot-Watt University,
Edinburgh, U.K., 1994.
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad : “Prediction of Critical Pipe Running Speed During Tripping in Drilling
Operations.”, Journal of King Saud University, Engineering Sciences, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 131-
149, 1999.
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad and B.G.D. Smart : “The Influence of Mud Weight and Orientation on
the Stability of Inclined Boreholes.”, Al-Azhar Engineering Fourth International Conference,
Cairo, Egypt, pp. 190-202, December 16-19, 1995.
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad and B.G.D. Smart : “Modified Failure Criteria for Shales.", The
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, ASJE 21:4A, pp. 77-94, October 1996.
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad : “Potential Utilization of Saudi Barite Deposits As A Drilling Fluid
Weighting Material.”, The Third Jordanian International Mining Conference, Amman, Jordan,
pp. 3-18, April 25-28, 2000.
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad : “Effect of Mud Filter Cake Efficiency on Wellbore Stability During
Drilling Operations.”, Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Faulty of Engineering,
Cairo University, Vol. 43, No. 5, pp. 1065-1076, October, 1996.
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad : “Investigation of Factors Affecting The Stability of Horizontal Oil and
Gas Wells.”, 1997 SPE Technical Symposium, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, pp. 79-90, June 8-10,
1997.
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad and Mohammed M. Amro: “Prediction of Pressure Drop Required for Safe
Underbalanced Drilling.”, Journal of Engineering, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 111-118, 2000.

Professor Musaed N. J. Al-Awad

¾ Research on Sand Control:
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad: “Effect of Production Induced Stresses on Reservoir Productivity.”, The
Engineering Journal of the University of Qatar, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp.23-43, 2001.
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad, and Saad El-Din M. Desouky : “Prediction of Sand Production from A
Saudi Sandstone Reservoir.”, Revue De L’ Institute Francias Du Petrole, Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 1-8,
July-August, 1997.
¾ Adel M. H. and Musaed N. J. Al-Awad: “Using Gravel Packing to Control Sand Production in a
Saudi Oil Field.”, Journal of Engineering and Applied Science, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo
University, Vol. 48, No. 5, pp. 1009-1020, 2001.
¾ Abdel-Alim H. El-Sayed, Musaed N. J. Al-Awad and Emad Al-Homadi: “Two New Components
for Sand Consolidation Techniques.", SPE Paper No. 68225 Presented at the 2001 SPE Middle
East Oil Show Held in Bahrain, 17-20 March 2001.
¾ Musaed N.J. Al-Awad : "Simple Correlation to Evaluate Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criterion
using Uniaxial Compressive Strength.", (Poster paper) Les Rencontres Scientifiques de l'IFP -
Géomécanique en simulation de reservoir Workshop International, 5 - 7 décembre 2001, IFP,
Rueil-Malmaison, France.
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad : “Controlling Sand Production in Heavy Oil Formations Using
Downhole Emulsification Process.”, Journal of Engineering, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 171-179, 1997.
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad : “The Investigation of The Source of Sand Produced from Competent
Sandstone Reservoirs.”, The Second Jordanian Mining Conference, Jordanian University,
Amman, Jordan, pp. 393-405, April 26-29, 1997.
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad: “The Mechanism of Sand Production Caused by Pore Pressure
Fluctuation.” Oil & Gas Science and Technology – Revue de l’IFP, pp. 339-345 , Vol. 56, No. 4,
2001. Professor Musaed N. J. Al-Awad
¾ Research on Permeability mechanical damage :
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad, and Nabih A. Alsayed : “Effect of Drilling Induced Stresses on
Formation Productivity.”, The Fifth International Conference on Mining, Petroleum and
Metallurgical Engineering, Suez Canal University, Suez, Egypt, pp. 71-84, Feb. 24-26, 1997.
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad : “Rock Mechanics Applications In Petroleum Engineering Practices.”,
Oil and Gas European Magazine (International Edition of ERDOIL ERDGAS KOHIL),
Germany, Vol. 4, No.1 , pp. 18-20, December 1998.
¾ Abdel-Alim H. El-Sayed, Musaed N. J. Al-Awad, Al-Saddique M. A. and Al-Blehed, M. S. :
“Effect of Drilling Fluids Contamination on Saudi Reservoir Rocks Wttability.”, Engineering
Journal of Qatar University, Vol. 11, pp. 49-64, 1999.
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad : “Prediction of Critical Pipe Running Speed During Tripping in
Drilling Operations.”, Journal of King Saud University, Engineering Sciences, Vol. 11, No. 1,
pp. 131-149, 1999.
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad: “Effect of Production Induced Stresses on Reservoir Productivity.”,
The Engineering Journal of the University of Qatar, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp.23-43, 2001.
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad: “Relationship Between Reservoir Productivity and Pore Pressure
Drop.”, Journal of King Saud University, Engineering Sciences, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 137-152,
2001.
¾ Musaed N. J. Al-Awad : “Rock Mechanics Applications In Petroleum Engineering Practices.”,
Oil and Gas European Magazine (International Edition of ERDOIL ERDGAS KOHIL),
Germany, Vol. 4, No.1 , pp. 18-20, December 1998.

Professor Musaed N. J. Al-Awad

Sand Production Prediction
Using Rock Mechanics

Soft Rock

Hard Rock

Professor Musaed N. J. Al-Awad

Professor Musaed N. J. Al-Awad