Estimate overburden stress and minimum and maximum horizontal stress from log and regional data.
Oil, Gas & Energy
Geomechanical Modelling for Wellbore Stability and Mud Weight Window Design
Builds the geomechanical modelling skills needed to construct a mechanical earth model, analyse wellbore failure and design a safe mud weight window for drilling engineering decisions.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
A mud weight window calculated from a generic overburden gradient rather than a calibrated mechanical earth model tends to be discovered wrong at the worst possible moment, in the form of a stuck pipe or a lost-circulation event. This course builds geomechanical modelling from the ground up for drilling and subsurface engineers who need to defend a mud weight recommendation, not just read one from a report. Participants estimate overburden and horizontal stress from density and log data, apply Eaton and effective stress methods to predict pore pressure, and derive rock mechanical properties such as unconfined compressive strength, friction angle and cohesion from logs and core. These inputs are combined into a mechanical earth model, calibrated against leak-off tests, image logs and observed drilling events. Sessions on wellbore failure apply Mohr-Coulomb and Mogi-Coulomb criteria to interpret breakouts and drilling-induced fractures on image logs, before the course closes on calculating collapse and fracture gradients, building the resulting mud weight window, and testing its sensitivity to trajectory and real-time monitoring data as a well is drilled.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Predict pore pressure using Eaton and effective stress methods calibrated to offset well data.
Derive rock mechanical properties, including strength and elastic parameters, from logs and core.
Build a mechanical earth model calibrated against leak-off and image log data.
Apply Mohr-Coulomb and Mogi-Coulomb criteria to interpret wellbore breakouts and induced fractures.
Calculate collapse and fracture gradients to define a safe mud weight window.
Test mud weight window sensitivity to well trajectory and real-time monitoring data.
Who Should Attend
Drilling engineers who plan mud weight programmes and casing setting depths.
Geomechanics and subsurface engineers building or reviewing mechanical earth models.
Wellsite engineers and drilling supervisors who respond to real-time stability indicators.
Geologists and petrophysicists supplying log and pore pressure data to drilling teams.
Completion engineers assessing sand production and perforation stability risk.
Petroleum engineering graduates specialising in drilling engineering or geomechanics.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01In-Situ Stress and Pore Pressure Characterisation
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Estimating the In-Situ Stress State
- Calculate overburden stress by integrating bulk density logs from surface to target depth.
- Estimate minimum horizontal stress from leak-off tests and extended leak-off test data.
- Estimate maximum horizontal stress using wellbore failure observations and stress polygon methods.
- Identify the stress regime, normal, strike-slip or reverse faulting, implied by the stress data.
Session 2Pore Pressure Prediction Methods
- Apply Eaton's method to predict pore pressure from sonic or resistivity log trends.
- Apply an effective stress approach to relate pore pressure to overburden and rock compaction.
- Calibrate a pore pressure model against measured pressure from offset wells.
- Recognise unloading and fluid-expansion mechanisms that a compaction trend alone will miss.
02Building the One-Dimensional Mechanical Earth Model
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Rock Mechanical Properties from Logs and Core
- Derive dynamic elastic properties from sonic and density logs using standard rock physics relationships.
- Convert dynamic to static rock properties using core-calibrated correlations.
- Estimate unconfined compressive strength and friction angle from log-derived properties.
- Identify weak bedding planes and natural fractures that modify rock strength.
Session 2Calibrating the Model to Field Observations
- Calibrate stress and pressure profiles against leak-off and formation integrity test results.
- Use borehole image logs to identify breakouts and drilling-induced fractures for calibration.
- Reconcile the mechanical earth model against observed drilling events such as losses or tight hole.
- Document mechanical earth model assumptions and uncertainty for use by the drilling team.
03Wellbore Failure Analysis
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Failure Criteria and Breakout Analysis
- Apply the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion to predict the onset of wellbore breakout.
- Apply the Mogi-Coulomb criterion where intermediate stress affects predicted rock strength.
- Interpret breakout width and orientation on an image log relative to the stress field.
- Relate breakout severity to the risk of hole enlargement and stuck pipe.
Session 2Drilling-Induced Fracture Interpretation
- Distinguish drilling-induced tensile fractures from natural fractures on an image log.
- Relate the orientation of induced fractures to the direction of maximum horizontal stress.
- Use induced fracture onset to constrain the upper bound of the mud weight window.
- Assess the risk of losses where induced fractures intersect a permeable zone.
04Mud Weight Window Design and Trajectory Optimisation
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Calculating Collapse and Fracture Gradients
- Calculate the collapse gradient at which shear failure of the wellbore wall begins.
- Calculate the fracture gradient at which the wellbore will accept tensile fracturing.
- Combine collapse and fracture gradients into a mud weight window across the well path.
- Identify sections where the mud weight window narrows enough to require special design.
Session 2Trajectory Sensitivity and Real-Time Monitoring
- Test how changes in well inclination and azimuth widen or narrow the mud weight window.
- Recommend a trajectory adjustment where the planned path crosses an unacceptably narrow window.
- Interpret real-time drilling parameters and image data against the predicted mud weight window.
- Update the mechanical earth model while drilling as new log and event data become available.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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