Abstract

The detection of geopressure very often eludes all precaution and detection measures because the phenomenon is related to a complex interaction of geologic (structural, stratigraphy, tectonic), geo-chemical, mechanical and petrophysical causes, most of them are poorly understood. It is known to occur in formations ranging in age from Cambrian to Pleistocene. Prediction of geopressure before drilling is critical at several stages in the exploration and development process. The detection methods exploit the fact that geopressured formation exhibits several of the following properties when compared with a normally pressured section at the same depth: (1) higher porosities, (2) lower bulk densities, (3) lower effective stresses, (4) higher temperatures, (5) lower interval velocities (6) high Poisson