Seismic monitoring of well integrity

Journal Article · 31 January 2022 · The Leading Edge

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1190/tle41020134.1 · OSTI ID:1896470

Vasco, D. W. ^[1]; Daley, Thomas M. ^[1]; Tribaldos, Verónica Rodríguez ^[1]; Marchesini, Pierpaolo ^[2]; Hoversten, G. M. ^[1]; Mali, Gwyn ^[3]; Bevc, Dimitri ^[4]; Korneev, Valeri ^[1]

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1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
2. Silixa, London (United Kingdom)
3. Chevron North America Exploration and Production Company, Bakersfield, CA (United States)
4. Chevron Technical Center, Houston, TX (United States)

Seismic tube waves, produced by flexure of the well boundary, pressure changes in the fluid in the well, and deformation of the material immediately surrounding the well, are particularly sensitive to variations in the state of the well. In this work, we evaluate a direct approach for generating and observing tube waves as a means of detecting well damage. While we find that it can be difficult to reliably excite observable tube waves without a very strong surface source, time-frequency techniques can be employed to increase the detectability of tube wave reflections. New technologies, particularly distributed acoustic sensing, hold great promise for evaluating well integrity by monitoring tube waves, temperature changes, and seismic noise due to well deformation and fluid leakage.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 1896470
• Journal Information: The Leading Edge, Journal Name: The Leading Edge Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 41; ISSN 1070-485X
• Publisher: Society of Exploration Geophysicists, SEGCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English