Welcome to the Geomechanics Initiative – a new industry initiative fostering collaboration, best practice and knowledge sharing on the application of geomechanics in oil & gas.

The prevailing conditions of the market – the low oil price, the end of easy oil, the growth in alternatives and the zero risk tolerance culture – are forcing a drive for risk-free efficiency and cost-effectiveness. A growing focus on reservoir optimisation, as part of this drive, has revealed the need for cross-disciplinary expertise and geomechanics has emerged as the defining discipline.

In late 2016 OTM Networks, a leading oil & gas technology advisory company, surveyed the oil & gas industry to evaluate the appetite for a network such as this, focused on geomechanics. The survey generated over 80 responses from a range of companies and these were fairly evenly split between operators and service companies:

• 82% of operators and 72% of service companies believe geomechanics is a priority area
• 79% of operators and 88% of service companies stated that they had inhouse geomechanics capability
• More than 80% thought that the number of geomechanics studies would increase in the next five years

As a result, OTM Networks is in the process of launching the Geomechanics Initiative, which aims to:

• Understand capabilities of current software, modelling and simulation which will support decision making
• Share knowledge across the industry to help define and improve best practices
• Promote collaboration on cost-effective solutions
• Increase awareness of geomechanics as an enabler within organisations

Click here to download the full results of our survey.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Geomechanics Initiative or want to learn more about the network, please contact Dawn Dukes (Network Administrator).