Photo courtesy of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau
W-14: Use of Borehole and Surface Seismic Measurements to Understand the Geomechanical Behavior of Unconventional Reservoirs
Friday, 27 September 8:30 - 5:00 pm
Organizers: Colin Sayers, Mirko van der Baan, Roderick Perez, Robert Tatham E-mail Contact: CSayers@slb.com Through the support of the SEG Research Committee
In the last 10 years there has been a remarkable growth in the development of unconventional resources. Some key technologies that have permitted this are horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing of low permeability reservoirs, steam injection in heavy-oil sands, microseismic monitoring, etc., yet the geomechanical implications of high-pressure fluid injection into a reservoir are not yet fully understood. Nonetheless geomechanics is crucial to ensure borehole and caprock integrity, fracture containment, and the optimization of reservoir drainage. The objective of this workshop is to motivate a forward-looking exchange of ideas, and to assess how our industry is doing in solving geomechanical challenges related to the successful development of these unconventional resources. Some of the questions we would like to answer at the end of this workshop are:
How does a hydraulic fracture perturb the stress state in the reservoir? How does steam injection influence the stress state?
Can we detect spatial and temporal changes in stress using seismic methods? Can time-lapse seismic be used to study a growing hydraulic fracture? What seismic observables are best used to detect fractures in unconventional resources?
How does microseismicity depend on the geomechanical properties of the rock being fractured? To what extent do large event clouds indicate successful reservoir stimulation?
Can we distinguish between propped and unpropped fractures, between connected and isolated fractures, or even between failure in intact rock and slip on pre-existing fractures using borehole, reflection and/or microseismic data?
What is the role of borehole and cross-well seismic data? Can they be used to determine the properties of the stimulated volume?
Can the stimulated volume be described as a discrete fracture network and, if so, what are its properties?
Can we assess risks for induced seismicity and fault reactivation?
