A modified method for predicting the stresses around producing boreholes in an isotropic in-situ stress field

Rock formations are always under in situ stresses due to overburden or tectonic stresses. Drilling a well will lead to stress redistribution around the well. Understanding such a stress redistribution, and adopting a proper failure criterion, play a vital role in predicting any potential wellbore failure. However, most of the published analytical models are based on assumptions that do not satisfy the boundary conditions during production, that is, when the well pressure is less than the pore pressure. This paper is aimed at the modeling of the stress regime around the wellbore through combining the poroelastic model with proper boundary conditions under different flow regimes. As a result, a new model is presented to calculate the stresses around the well under Darcy and non-Darcy flow conditions. Covering the non-Darcy regime makes the new model applicable to gas reservoirs with non-Darcy flow. The results of this new model have been compared with the results of other models previously published in the literature. The results show that the new model convergence at the boundary condition is superior to other models used in the oil and gas industry.