Enhanced recovery

Approach Interprets Fracture Growth Through Microseismic Quiescent Zones

In this work, microseismic observations are integrated with strain and other observations to investigate the microseismic response in relation to the underlying hydraulic fracture geometry for different rock types.

Fig. 1—Example of microseismic response on UB (top) and UW (bottom). Gun-barrel depth views are shown as contoured moment densities relative to treatment wells (star) and main stratigraphic tops.
Fig. 1—Example of microseismic response on UB (top) and UW (bottom). Gun-barrel depth views are shown as contoured moment densities relative to treatment wells (star) and main stratigraphic tops.
Source: SPE 223533.

Microseismicity levels tend to vary from one lithological unit to the next, with some layers being predominantly quiet and lacking any microseismicity. Because shear-activated deformation associated with microseismicity will depend on the geomechanical properties and natural fabric of the formation, the lack of microseisms in certain layers may or may not be indicative of a change in the hydraulic fracture geometry. In this work, microseismic observations are integrated with strain and other observations to investigate the microseismic response in relation to the underlying hydraulic fracture geometry for different rock types.

Introduction

In this paper, microseismicity from different settings is integrated with independent strain and pressure data to investigate the geomechanical nature of microseismically quiet layers. In the complete paper, a comprehensive case study is first described in the Wasatch and Green River formations of the Uinta Basin in Utah that integrated microseismic monitoring, low-frequency distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), and pressure observations for a complete investigation into hydraulic fracture growth.

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