Schlumberger has acquired V.I.P.S., a UK-based leading reservoir geomechanics software and consulting company.


The company’s office in Bracknell, UK, now becomes the Schlumberger Reservoir Geomechanics Center of Excellence under the direction of V.I.P.S. founder Nick Koutsabeloulis. The center will undertake high-tier projects and develop the reservoir-centric aspects of the geomechanics-related activities of Schlumberger. The company’s team of eight mathematicians, scientists and engineers remain at the center.


“This acquisition significantly strengthens our offering in 3-D and 4-D reservoir geomechanics, which is one of our key strategic initiatives,” said Chris Hopkins, president, Schlumberger Data & Consulting Services. “V.I.P.S. technology enables our petrotechnical experts to better translate the measurements, which our acquisition segments make, into answers that our customers are demanding.”


V.I.P.S. developed the world’s first coupled geomechanics stress-dependent reservoir simulation capability, which integrates the disciplines of geomechanics and rock mechanics with those of reservoir engineering and simulation.


“We look forward to integrating our geomechanics modeling expertise into the Schlumberger portfolio to advance the value of the mechanical earth model, which is a critical component in the life of a reservoir,” said Koutsabeloulis.


The V.I.P.S Visage software is widely acknowledged as the most advanced and comprehensive Finite Element Method systems available in the field. By solving complex stress equations and relating the rock stresses to reservoir properties, the technology is key to the development of 3-D and 4-D mechanical earth models that predict the geomechanical behavior of the reservoir during production and injection. The removal of hydrocarbons from a reservoir or the injection of fluids changes the rock stresses and geomechanics environment, potentially affecting compaction and subsidence, well and completion integrity, cap-rock and fault-seal integrity, fracture behavior, thermal recovery, CO2 disposal, and 4-D seismic.


Schlumberger Information Solutions and the V.I.P.S. team will work to develop a link between Visage and ECLIPSE reservoir simulation software and other reservoir workflows such as our Petrel seismic-to-simulation technology. This will enable seamless mechanical earth modeling from logs, lab tests and seismic through to coupled geomechanics, reservoir analyses and engineering designs.

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