Shale oil has been an important part of the unconventional energy resources thanks to its abundance. Shale oil presents significant development potential and continues to help meet the increasing global energy demand. The efficient and economic development of shale oil requires a sufficient understanding of reservoir geomechanics. Shale oil reservoirs are commonly characterized by rich bedding and natural fractures, strong inhomogeneity and anisotropy, and complex in-situ stress states.

These characteristics lead to significant challenges for drilling and production, such as frequently lost circulation, wellbore instability, stuck pipe, limited stimulated rock volume, low hydraulic fracture conductivity, and rapid decline of production rate. Tackling these challenges calls for further research in geomechanical theories, methodologies, experiments, and engineering practices. Current geomechanical studies of shale oil reservoirs include shale deformation and failure mechanisms, in-situ stress prediction, wellbore stability evaluation, well trajectory design, hydraulic fracturing optimization, coupled thermal-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) modeling, and experiments.

The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together original research and review articles discussing the research advances in the geomechanics of shale oil reservoirs. We welcome theoretical, numerical, experimental, and field studies at various scales that address the challenges of developing shale oil through improved geomechanical understanding.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Shale deformation characteristics in shale oil reservoirs
• Wellbore trajectory design in shale oil reservoirs
• Wellbore stability and well integrity in shale oil reservoirs
• In-situ stress prediction in shale oil reservoirs
• Hydraulic fracturing optimization in shale oil reservoirs
• Coupled thermal-hydrological-mechanical-chemical (THMC) modelling and experiments in shale oil reservoirs
• Geomechanical changes from fluid-rock interactions in shale oil reservoirs
• Geochemical reactions (experiments or modelling studies) in shale oil reservoirs