Using Stage Level Microseismic Analysis to Investigate Correlate and Ground Truth Cored Hydraulic Fractures

Conference · Wed Jul 25 00:00:00 EDT 2018

OSTI ID:1477769

Fairfield, Ryan; Courtier, James ^[1]; Trowbridge, Stacy ^[1]; Campbell, Tammy ^[1]; Wicker, Joe ^[1]; Lee, Shawn ^[2]

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1. Laredo Petroleum
2. University of Texas at Austin

The Hydraulic Fracture Test Site in Reagan County, Texas contains a valuable dataset to correlate the occurrence, position and frequency of microseismic events in relation to physical observations of hydraulic fractures taken from a low-angle whole core acquired immediately adjacent and subsequent to a modern hydraulically fractured horizontal well within the Upper & Middle Wolfcamp formations. Microseismic event density maps visualized through time locate concentrations of microseismic activity in relation to independently documented hydraulic and naturally occurring fractures. Microseismic activity observed over the duration of a single completion stage at the closest proximity to the cored interval demonstrates conformity and correlation with the presence of hydraulic fractures. Changes in microseismic signature are also correlated with changes in pump rates and pressures throughout treatment. A positive correlation was found between the high certainty hydraulic fractures observed in the core and areas of highest microseismic density in the stage of the neighboring horizontal nearest to the Upper Wolfcamp cored interval of the slant well, demonstrating that microseismic density can be a reliable indicator of hydraulic fracture density and complexity around the stimulated well. Given caveats often cited with microseismic acquisition, processing and interpretation, this study provides a ground truth example and insights into the degree of accuracy microseismic can offer as a technology in discerning the efficacy of modern completions.

• Research Organization: Gas Technology Institute
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
• DOE Contract Number: FE0024292
• OSTI ID: 1477769
• Report Number(s): URTeC: 2937221
• Resource Relation: Conference: Unconventional Resources Technology Conference held in Houston, Texas, USA, 23-25 July 2018
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English