Injection of surface fluids (sea water, CO 2 , steam) into hydrocarbon reservoirs induces thermal stresses in the wellbore structures and in the near-well area. These stresses may endanger the integrity of the casing, the cement and the surrounding formation. Therefore, an accurate assessment of injection-induced thermal stresses and the associated risk of failure are of utmost importance for a safe and environmentally secure oil production. A coupled finite-element model has been developed and

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... tested as a tool for assessing the probability and extent of failure caused by thermal-induced stresses around a cased wellbore. A feature of the model is an option for an automatic mesh refinement using Nikishkov elements and a quad-tree data structure. The refinement is automatically provided in the regions of rapid change of the nodal variables (displacements, temperature).