Patent Document ID: 8457940
Application ID: 12846149
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for modeling a subterranean formation of a field, comprising: receiving a structural model of the subterranean formation, the structural model comprising a plurality of geological layers and material properties and geomechanical properties thereof; restoring, using a processor, each of the plurality of geological layers from the structural model to create a plurality of boundary conditions each associated with corresponding one of the plurality of geological layers; and iteratively modeling, using the processor, the each of the plurality of geological layers by: applying a petroleum system model (PSM) to a first layer of the plurality of geological layers based on the material properties thereof and a first boundary condition of the plurality of boundary conditions corresponding to the first layer, the PSM generating a first set of output data comprising a change in the material properties pertaining to the first layer; communicating the first set of output data to a geomechanical model (GMM); applying the GMM to the first layer based on the geomechanical properties thereof, the first set of output data, and the first boundary condition, the GMM generating a second set of output data comprising a change in the geomechanical properties pertaining to the first layer; adjusting the plurality of boundary conditions based on a pre-determined criterion in response to the change in the material properties and the change in the geomechanical properties pertaining to the first layer exceeding a pre-determined tolerance; and iteratively applying the PSM and GMM to the first layer and iteratively adjusting the plurality of boundary conditions for the change in the material properties and the change in the geomechanical properties pertaining to the first layer to be within the pre-determined tolerance prior to applying the PSM and the GMM to a second layer of the plurality of geological layers.