China Rock 2022 Keynote｜Dr. GANG HAN, President of American Rock Mechanics Association （2021 - 2023）

Lecturer: Dr. Gang Han 
Dr. Gang Han is the President of American Rock Mechanics Association （2021 - 2023）, leading the organization into a more technological, innovative, diverse, and transparent society contributing to net-zero and energy transition. Collaborating with other professional societies such as DGS, SEG, AAPG, SPWLA, EAGE, and SPE, he has been leading the International Geomechanics Symposium into a global summit in petroleum, mining, civil, geothermal, and interdisciplinary.  As the founder of ARMA Hydraulic Fracturing Community, he grew the society with over 1000 members representing 340 international organizations.  Along with other chairs at the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference since 2013, he has championed geomechanics into one of the largest themes.

With 25+ years of experience in rock mechanics and geomechanics, he works at the Upstream of Aramco Americas, focusing on the technologies related to hydraulic fracturing, reservoir performance, well productivity, well planning and constructions, and stress and rock characterizations. Prior to joining Aramco, Dr. Han worked offshore, continental, and unconventional oil and gas fields in Middle East, Gulf of Mexico, continental USA, North Sea, Southeast and East Asia, Australia, North and West Africa, and South America. With over 55 publications, he is regularly invited to give keynotes at professional societies. He is a leading author of a multi-industry book, Drilling in Extreme Environments - Penetration and Sampling on Earth and Other Planets. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, Canada.

Report Summary
Starting from "Geo" （geoscience） and ending at "Mechanics" （engineering）, the beauty of geomechanics lies in its interdisciplinary nature. This talk will demonstrate the value of geomechanics through case studies of hydraulic fracturing and wellbore integrity. 

The efficiency and success of hydraulic fracturing require solid understanding of fundamental physics involved with injection. Geomechanics studies help identify critical controls for fracture initiation and propagation, quantify breakdown pressures with varying rock characteristics and perforations, and help optimize engineering designs.

Meanwhile to reduce the risk of casing damages during and after stimulations, the geomechanics models are showcased at different scales. These studies with varying casing properties, pipe eccentricities, cement channels, borehole conditions, pumping operations, as well as different loading mechanics help identify key contributors and mitigators.