the coupling of geomechanics to reservoir simulation is essential for many practical situations in the exploitation of hydrocarbons . such coupling requires cross - mapping block - centered data in reservoir model to nodal data in geomechanical finite element model . if different grid geometries and grid densities between two models are used , this data mapping will become considerably challenging . in this invention , an innovative method is proposed to achieve remarkable accuracy of data mapping from reservoir model to the geomechanical model with ease and quite efficiently using least squares finite element method . the achievement of accurate data mapping will enable efficient simulation coupling between reservoir simulation and geomechanical simulation to investigate some engineering problems in the exploitation of hydrocarbons .