Reservoir compaction environment
Production of hydrocarbons will, in time, lead to a reduction in reservoir pore pressure if pressure is not maintained by a drive mechanism. The resulting increase in effective stress leads to reservoir compaction and deformation of the overburden.
The vertical strain caused by this compaction of the producing interval is transferred to a certain extent to the casing string(s) set across that interval. This casing will thus undergo axial deformation and, in the case of deviated wells, lateral deformation, such as bending, ovalisation or crushing. These lateral loads are comparable in type to . . .