Patent ID: 8190369

Claim:
A method of developing an earth formation, the method comprising: inducing a stress in the earth formation proximate a borehole to form a feature in the earth formation related to the induced stress; making measurements indicative of a geometry of the borehole using a bottomhole assembly (BHA) rotating in the borehole, wherein the geometry of the borehole is indicative of the feature formed in the earth formation; providing an image of the borehole from the measurements of the borehole geometry; estimating an azimuthal variation with borehole depth of the induced stress in the earth formation from the image; and altering a drilling parameter using the estimated azimuthal variation with depth of the induced stress in the earth formation; wherein making measurements indicative of the geometry of the borehole further comprises measuring a travel time for an acoustic signal from the BHA to a wall of the borehole at a plurality of azimuthal orientations of the BHA, and wherein estimating the azimuthal variation with borehole depth of the induced stress further comprises using the travel time at the plurality of azimuthal orientations of the BHA to estimate the geometry of the borehole and a position of the BHA inside the borehole.