# Simulation for Oil & Gas

Reduce subsurface uncertainty and optimize performance with SIMULIA Oil & Gas solutions, enabling safer, faster, and more reliable decisions.

(Intro text media overview) Engineering Predictive Subsurface Performance

Oil & gas operations are moving into deeper, harsher, and more complex environments, where uncertainty impacts safety, cost, and timelines. Conventional approaches and disconnected tools limit visibility into real-world behavior, making it difficult to anticipate failure, optimize designs, or make confident decisions.

SIMULIA enables teams to move beyond **reactive decision-making** with integrated, physics-based simulation. On a unified platform, engineers can model wells, reservoirs, and surface systems under real-world conditions, capture complex interactions, and leverage **high-fidelity virtual twins** to test scenarios, optimize performance, and predict failures early, reducing risk, improving reliability, and accelerating efficient, sustainable operations across the asset lifecycle.

[Oil and Gas Overview](/media/23995)

Key Benefits of SIMULIA Oil & Gas Solutions

Accelerated Insights

 ![](https://www.3ds.com/assets/invest/2022-08/icon-008-accelerate.png)

Unified Visibility

 ![](https://www.3ds.com/assets/invest/2022-06/icon-076-holistic.png)

Regulatory Assurance

 ![](https://www.3ds.com/assets/invest/2021-01/icon-426-quality-control.png)

Risk Reduction

 ![](https://www.3ds.com/assets/invest/2021-01/icon-419-risk-focus.png)

Accelerate CCUS Evaluation and Hydrocarbon Production Forecasting

**SIMULIA DigitalROCK – Virtual Porous Media Lab** strengthens CCUS workflows by delivering fast, physics-based simulations for CO₂ injection, plume migration, and long-term storage integrity. Its automated setup, scalable HPC performance, and consistent data handling help teams quickly assess storage capacity, containment risks, and regulatory compliance with minimal manual effort. For hydrocarbon assets, the solution improves forecasting accuracy through streamlined reservoir workflows, automated relative permeability analysis, and efficient scenario evaluation. Integrated history matching and repeatable model workflows enable faster insights, helping teams optimize recovery, reduce uncertainty, and accelerate field development decisions.

[Digital Rock](/media/24395)

[Learn more about Digitalrock](/products/simulia/digitalrock)

(SIMULIA Engineering for Energy Production Highlight)High-Fidelity, Fully Coupled Geomechanics for Critical Subsurface Decisions

Our geomechanics simulation capabilities deliver high-fidelity analysis of complex subsurface behavior. Powered by [Abaqus](/products/simulia/abaqus "Abaqus"), the workflow captures advanced fracture mechanics, fully coupled thermal–hydro–mechanical processes, and highly nonlinear rock and boundary behavior, including plasticity, contact, and large deformations. This enables operators to evaluate fracture propagation, reservoir compaction, fault reactivation, well integrity, and other critical geomechanical risks with greater confidence. By integrating the dominant physical processes into a single robust solver framework, the solution delivers reliable predictions for safer, more efficient subsurface operations.

[Geomechanics](/media/24002)

Operations and Maintenance for Downstream Oil and Gas

For downstream refineries, petrochemical plants, and processing facilities, SIMULIA helps ensure **safe, efficient operations** by predicting how critical assets behave under real operating conditions throughout their lifecycles. Equipment such as pumps, compressors, reactors, furnaces, piping systems, and storage tanks is continuously exposed to pressure fluctuations, thermal transients, corrosion, vibration, and creep that can degrade performance or lead to failure.

SIMULIA enables operators to evaluate structural integrity, fitness-for-service, remaining useful life, and potential failure mechanisms using **high-fidelity simulation** **integrated with inspection and monitoring data**. With these predictive insights, maintenance teams can prioritize repairs, optimize turnaround planning, assess equipment modifications, and maintain compliance with industry standards. The result is improved reliability, reduced maintenance costs, extended asset life, and safer, uninterrupted production.

[Operations and Maintainence](/media/24442)

Equipment Design for Upstream Oil and Gas

For upstream oil and gas applications, SIMULIA enables engineers to design equipment that performs reliably in extreme subsurface and offshore environments. Wellheads, downhole tools, completion systems, pressure vessels, and subsea hardware must withstand high pressures, high temperatures, corrosive fluids, and complex installation loads over decades of service.

Using advanced multiphysics simulation powered by Abaqus and the [**3D**EXPERIENCE platform](/3dexperience "The 3DEXPERIENCE platform"), engineers can virtually validate designs before fabrication by combining structural mechanics, thermal effects, fatigue, fracture, and nonlinear contact. Teams can evaluate seals and threaded connections, predict fatigue life under cyclic production, and assess the stability of offshore structures. By replacing conservative assumptions with physics-based virtual testing, SIMULIA helps reduce overdesign and physical prototyping, accelerate equipment qualification, and deliver safer, more cost-effective solutions to the field.

[Equipment design for upstream oil and gas ](/media/23997)

Simulation for Oil and Gas Workflows

DigitalROCK

Capillary Pressure

Our capillary pressure workflow provides high-fidelity evaluation of fluid displacement behavior, informing reservoir wettability, saturation trends, and flow performance.

- Automated generation of capillary pressure curves from digital pore-scale simulations
- Accurate assessment of entry pressure, saturation profiles, and wettability effects
- Supports integration with MICP, SCAL, and reservoir modeling workflows
- Enables prediction of multiphase flow behavior for hydrocarbon and CO₂ storage scenarios

[Capillary Pressure](/media/24151)

Relative Permeability

Our relative permeability workflow generates high-quality multiphase flow curves essential for forecasting fluid behavior in reservoir and CO₂ injection scenarios.

- Automated digital steady-state and unsteady-state displacement tests
- Quantification of trapped/residual oil saturation
- Reliable saturation–mobility curve generation
- Direct use in dynamic simulation and history matching

[Relative Permeability](/media/23990)

Absolute Permeability

Our absolute permeability module computes directional permeability and anisotropy with reliable single-phase flow simulations.

- Multi-directional (X/Y/Z) permeability evaluation
- Automated porosity–permeability trend generation
- Boundary-condition automation for consistent modeling
- Validated permeability outputs for reservoir and CCUS simulation

[Absolute Permeability ](/media/23989)

Pore Space & MICP Characterization

Our pore space and digital MICP workflow provides high-fidelity evaluation of pore size distribution, pore throat geometry, and connectivity to support accurate reservoir and SCAL analysis.

- Automated extraction of porosity, connected porosity, pore size distribution, and pore throat statistics
- Digital reproduction of MICP curves to derive entry pressure and capillary pressure profiles
- Quantifies pore connectivity and flow pathways for reservoir quality and storage assessment
- Seamless integration with absolute permeability, relative permeability, and capillary pressure workflows

[Pore Space](/media/23988)

Geomechanics Simulations

Compaction and Subsidence

Our compaction and subsidence workflow provides accurate, coupled geomechanical predictions of ground movement driven by reservoir pressure changes.

- Quantifies vertical and lateral deformation from depletion or injection using fully coupled simulation.
- Identifies risks to wells, pipelines, facilities, and seafloor or surface infrastructure.
- Enables mitigation planning and supports regulatory compliance for long-term reservoir management.

[Compaction and subsidence ](/media/23994)

Wellbore Stability

Our wellbore stability workflow provides accurate, physics-based predictions of wellbore behavior under complex drilling and reservoir conditions.

- Simulates breakout, collapse, shear failure, and mud-weight windows using a robust geomechanical model.
- Evaluates how in-situ stresses, pore pressure, and rock properties interact to drive wellbore deformation.
- Supports safer drilling by optimizing mud programs, guiding trajectory selection, and reducing non-productive time.

[Wellbore stability](/media/23993)

Stimulation - Hydraulic Fracturing

Our hydraulic fracturing workflow delivers high-fidelity, fully coupled simulations to design, analyze, and optimize stimulation treatments.

- Captures fracture initiation, propagation, proppant transport, leakoff, and nonlinear rock behavior within a unified geomechanics framework.
- Predicts fracture geometry and treatment effectiveness with high accuracy.
- Helps optimize stage design, maximize stimulated reservoir volume, and reduce operational uncertainty.

[Stimulation - Hydraulic Fracturing](/media/23992)

Fault Stability

Our fault stability workflow provides rapid, physics-based evaluation of fault reactivation risks under evolving subsurface conditions.

- Simulates how injection or depletion affects stress states along fault planes.
- Identifies slip-prone zones and quantifies reactivation safety margins.
- Supports safer operations by guiding injection strategy and mitigating induced seismicity risks.

[Fault Stability](/media/23991)

Equipment Design

Offshore and Subsea

Leverage simulation to assess the performance and behaviors of products to guide and validate design decisions

- Perform routine fluid flow and thermal calculations to guide design modifications and explore innovative design concepts
- Conduct structural linear and nonlinear static, frequency, buckling, modal dynamic response, and structural thermal simulation of parts and assemblies.
- Performs aerodynamic, aeroacoustic and thermohydraulic management simulations
- Leverage parameters studies to understand effects on their design by varying inputs

[Offshore and subsea](/media/23999)

HPHT Equipment

The High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) Equipment Engineering workflow enables engineers to:

- Improve product life and evaluate performance of equipment when subjected to high pressure & high temperature (HPHT) operating conditions with proven, predictive, multi-physics simulation solutions.
- Provide power and fluid equipment manufacturers a collaborative environment to reduce product design cycle time with simulation-driven design.
- Eliminate late-phase re-design and reduce the number of costly physical prototypes.

[HPHT equipment](/media/24000)

Operations and maintenance

Fitness for Service

Fitness for Service workflow enables plant engineers to address asset integrity issues at plant level itself, ultimately allowing:

- creation of a safe operating environment
- efficient control of operational expenditures by faster and better decision making
- efficient scheduling of maintenance activities by predict equipment remnant life
- reduction of capital expenditures by rerating the assets for new operating conditions
- ensuring of data safety and transparency by having better collaboration among internal teams and third party consultants

[Fitness for service](/media/24001)

## (SIMULIA Engineering for Energy Production Marketing Asset WOC) SIMULIA Oil & Gas Resources

Explore the technological advancements, innovative methodologies, and evolving industry demands that are reshaping the Oil & Gas industry. Stay a step ahead with SIMULIA.

## SIMULIA Industry Processes for Oil & Gas

FAQs about Simulation for Oil & Gas

How does DigitalROCK accelerate subsurface evaluation workflows?

DigitalROCK speeds up the entire subsurface analysis process by automating pore-scale characterization, permeability estimation, and multiphase flow modeling. Engineers can rapidly generate SCAL-quality properties from high-resolution images, eliminate manual data handling steps, and iterate through scenarios much faster than with traditional physical testing. This enables quicker screening, improved model readiness, and faster technical decision-making for both CCUS and hydrocarbon projects.

What advantages does DigitalROCK offer compared to traditional laboratory SCAL workflows?

DigitalROCK enables high-resolution digital rock characterization without the limitations of physical core testing. It delivers rapid pore structure quantification, capillary pressure curves, relative permeability results, and permeability anisotropy analysis—all from a single digital dataset. These virtual tests significantly shorten turnaround time, maintain repeatability, and allow evaluation of multiple scenarios without damaging core samples, improving both efficiency and data quality.

How does DigitalROCK support uncertainty reduction in reservoir and CCUS models?

DigitalROCK provides consistent, physics based inputs, such as absolute/relative permeability, pore connectivity, and capillary pressure behavior—that directly strengthen dynamic simulation reliability. Its automated workflows reduce human error and enable engineers to generate repeatable datasets across multiple rock types and scenarios. By improving the quality of foundational inputs, DigitalROCK decreases uncertainty in forecasting CO₂ plume migration, storage integrity, and hydrocarbon recovery performance.

What makes SIMULIA’s subsurface simulation capabilities different from other tools?

SIMULIA is the only platform offering atomistic, pore-scale, and full-field geomechanical solvers within one integrated environment, enabling seamless multi-scale analysis without losing fidelity.

How does your workflow handle complex multiphysics couplings?

Our solutions support fully coupled thermal–hydro–mechanical (THM) analysis, incorporating nonlinear rock behavior, fracture mechanics, fluid flow, and contact interactions within a single robust solver.

Do these simulations require high-performance computing?

Large 3D field-scale geomechanics models benefit from HPC, but our unified licensing and cloud-based access options make scaling simulation cores easy and cost-efficient.

(SIMULIA Engineering for Energy Production Panel of content) Also Discover

[SIMULIA Infrastructure, Energy & Materials Solutions](/products/simulia/infrastructure-energy-materials)

Classic Landscape

(Contact Us - SIMULIA footer)Learn What SIMULIA Can Do for You

Speak with a SIMULIA expert to learn how our solutions enable seamless collaboration and sustainable innovation at organizations of every size.

[Contact us](/how-to-buy)

[Visit a user community](/products/simulia/user-communities)

(SIMULIA footer)Get Started

Courses and classes are available for students, academia, professionals and companies. Find the right SIMULIA training for you.

[Find training](/products/simulia/training)

(SIMULIA footer)Get Help

Find information on software & hardware certification, software downloads, user documentation, support contact and services offering

[Get support ](/support)

[Get services](/products/simulia/services-offering)

 ![Oil & Gas > Dassault Systemes](https://www.3ds.com/assets/invest/2026-03/digitalrock-1902x600.jpg)

[  Contact us     ](/how-to-buy)

[   Visit a SIMULIA user community     ](/products/simulia/user-communities)

Solutions by Industry

Oil & Gas