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Appendix I
Hydraulic Fracture Microseismic Monitoring
During a hydraulic fracture operation, very small earthquakes (M -4 to 0) (microseismic
events) are induced from the high pressure injection of fluids into the subsurface. These
“microearthquakes” are thought to be caused from the increase in pore pressure leaking off into
rock the surrounding the hydraulic fracture. The increased pore pressure causes small natural
fractures in the formation to slip, causing microearthquakes. These microearthquakes are
thousands of times smaller than a typical earthquake that can be felt by humans. Recording and
location analysis of microseismicity requires specialized seismic sensing equipment and
processing algorithms. The location and size of the microseismicity is used by oil and gas
operators to help determine the geometry of hydraulic fractures in the formation. Microseismic
mapping is a very useful tool in planning field wide well development programs, such as
horizontal well direction and the spacing between wells, as well as aiding the design of hydraulic
fracturing procedures, such as injection rate and fluid volume. Microseismic data is acquired
with either an array of seismic instruments (geophones or accelerometers) in one or multiple
wellbores, or with a large number (100 to more than 1000) geophones near or on the surface
(Figure I.1). Specialized data processing techniques are used to precisely locate the microseismic
events in time and space and to compute source parameters such as seismic moment, magnitude
and moment tensors, if the data is adequate.
Figure I.1 Diagram demonstrating microseismic monitoring of a hydraulic fracture. The hydraulic
fracture induces microearthquakes that are recorded with seismometers in a nearby wellbore (left) or a
large number of seismometers instruments placed on or near the surface (right). SOURCE: Left, courtesy
MEQ Geo Inc.; right, courtesy of MicroSeismic, Inc.
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210 APPENDIX I
The hydraulic fractures typically propagate parallel to the maximum stress direction in
the reservoir. In areas of low stress differences, the hydraulic fracture pattern can be quite
complex, as there is no preferential direction for the fracture to grow, in contrast with areas of
high stresses, where the hydraulic fracture grows parallel to the maximum stress direction.
Figure I.2 shows two examples of microseismic mapping results following hydraulic fracturing
procedures in Texas: an example from the Barnett shale gas horizontal well showing a complex
fracture geometry (right), and the other from tight gas sands in a vertical well in the Cotton
Valley formation, which shows a simple fracture geometry (left).
(a) (b)
Figure I.2 Examples of microseismic borehole monitoring results following hydraulic fracturing
procedure. (a) On the left is a map (top) and cross section (bottom) view in the Barnett Shale after a
multi-stage hydraulic fracture treatment in a horizontal well (red line, triangles indicate perforation in
wellbore where fluid is injected); the small blue dots show the location of microseismic events mapped
from two borehole observation wells shown by red squares; seismic instruments indicated by green
circles. (b) On the right is a map (top) and two cross section (bottom) views of two vertical hydraulic
fractured wells (white circles) drilled in the tight gas sands of the Cotton Valley Formation. The small
gray dots show microseismic locations during a gel-based and water based hydraulic fracturing fluid
injection. SOURCE: Left, Warpinski et al. (2005); Right, Maxwell, et al., (2010).
Microseismic mapping with borehole or surface sensors can be used to distinguish
between re-activated natural faulting and hydraulic fracture events, through b value analysis (see
appendix d). Hydraulic fracture wells are often drilled to avoid large natural faults distinguished
from 3D surface seismic images, as faults can “steal” fracturing fluid and divert fluids away from
the formation targeted for hydraulic fracturing. An example of this issue was discussed by
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APPENDIX I 211
Wessels et al. (2011), where a through-going fault was reactivated during hydraulic fracturing
(figure C).
Figure I.3 Map view of hydraulic fracture microseismic events during a four well stimulation (dark blue
lines on the map) in the Barnett Shale. Red events are interpreted to be associated with hydraulic
fracturing, blue dots indicate microseismicity associate wth the reactivation of a strike slip fault. See
Wessels (2011) for details. Some hydraulic fracture stages were not mapped. SOURCE: Wessels (2011).
REFERENCES
Maxwell, S.C., J. Rutledge, R. Jones, and M. Fehler. 2010. Petroleum reservoir characterization
using downhole microseismic monitoring. Geophysics 75(5): 75A129-75A137.
Warpinski, N.R., R.C. Kramm, J.R. Heinze, and C.K. Waltman, 2005. Comparison of Single-
and Dual-Array Microseismic Mapping Techniques in the Barnett Shale. Society of
Petroleum Engineers Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, October 9-12, Dallas,
Texas.
Wessels, S.A., A. De La Pena, M. Kratz, S. Williams-Stroud, and T. Jbeili. 2011. Identifying
faults and fractures in unconventional reservoirs through microseismic monitoring. First
Break 29(7): 99-104.
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