What Does Microseismic Tell Us About Hydraulic Fracture Deformation

Shawn C. Maxwell

…Introduction With the expansion of microseismic imaging of hydraulic fracture stimulations in the past few years, interest has evolved from simply the event locations to extracting more information from the signals through advanced source characterization. Details about the fracturing and deformation associated with the microseismic source can be investigated using…

Noise Examples from Two Microseismic Datasets

Andy St-Onge and David W. Eaton

…Abstract The recording of microseismic surveys can be used to monitor hydraulic fracture stimulation of reservoirs. In these surveys, the continuous recording of three component geophones are used to detect P and S wave energy induced by the fracturing process and related stress changes. This paper presents a number of…

Advanced seismic techniques help in characterizing a challenging Jean Marie carbonate play, NE British Columbia, Canada – a Case Study

Dragana Todorovic-Marinic, Satinder Chopra and Mark Edmonds

…Introduction This paper describes a workflow that was adopted for understanding the porosity and permeability distribution in the Jean Marie carbonate play in British Columbia, Canada. It makes use of some advanced seismic techniques and holds promise of being a robust methodology that has resulted in enhanced deliverability and recovery…

Chris Bird and Peter Gagliardi

An Interview with Chris Bird and Peter Gagliardi

…Chris and Peter, welcome to this interview. Let’s begin by asking you to tell us something about your educational background and activities that you are pursuing at present. You both have been working during the summer, so you might want to say something about that. [Chris]: I received my B.Sc.…

The Use of 3-component Seismic Data to Identify Sweet Spots in Fractured Bakken Reservoirs

Scott Stockton

…In October 2008, Vector acquired and processed an experimental 2D seismic line in Mountrail and Ward Counties ND. In recent years, several operators have been successful drilling long-lateral horizontal wells in the Middle Bakken using surface seismic only loosely for approximate structural control. The efficacy of conventional surface seismic data…

Improvements in microseismic data processing using sparsity and non-linear inversion constraints

Ismael Vera Rodriguez, Dave Bonar and Mauricio Sacchi

…Abstract This study explores improvements obtained in microseismic data processing through the application of inversion techniques that utilize sparse and non-linear constraints. Specifically, we present a method for de-noising microseismic traces and a method for the automatic time picking of microseismic events. The de-noising method is based on a sparsity…

Synthetic Microseismic Datasets

Joe Wong, Peter M. Manning, Lejia Han, and John C. Bancroft

…Abstract Microseismic or passive seismic monitoring during hydraulic fracturing processes involves recording 3C seismograms produced by microearthquakes associated with breaking rock. By analyzing the data to locate hypocenters where the breakage occurs, geophysicists enable reservoir engineers to follow the growth and evolution of the fractured rock volume in time and…

Fast Search Algorithms for Automatic Localization of Microseismic Events

Ulrich Zimmer and Jeremy Jin

…Abstract Automatic localization of microseismic events has become an important tool in characterizing formations which generate large numbers of microseisms during hydraulic fracturing, e.g. Horn River shales. Especially for large complex threedimensional velocity models, the automatic processing requires the use of specialized optimization algorithms to locate the events within an…

Don Umbsaar

An Interview with Don Umbsaar

…Could you tell us about your educational background and your work experience? Well I attended the University of Calgary and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Geophysics in 1988. At that time jobs were somewhat scarce and I had even considered and applied for a Masters Degree, but Petro…

Presidential Column

…Welcome back! What started out as a slow start to summer weather turned out to be not too bad. Although we have a few warm days left, the days are getting just a little shorter with each passing day. And a sure sign that summer is nearly over is the…

Executive Message

…In my last executive message I waxed philosophical and misspelled “nick of time” as “knick of time”. This gaffe triggered ribbing among friends and colleagues in the industry who know me as a consummate grammar cop (on a good day under favourable wind conditions, I’ve been known to sniff out…

Through the Eyes of a Student

…I understand that some of you have been away from the classroom for as many as 30+ years. Others may have just graduated. With the exponential growth in science and technology, the university curriculum is in constant flux. My goal for this issue and the column in general is to…

CAGC Column

…This past winter was a busy one with the amount of seismic activity in Canada. Already companies report booking up already for a similar winter coming up. With just ten land seismic companies left in Canada (depending upon how you count them) and the usual challenges with a seasonal industry…

Tracing the Industry

…I hope you had a wonderful summer, we certainly did. We spend some time in Birch Bay, Washington. It is a lovely little resort town just across the US border. It reminded me a lot of Sylvan Lake in the 70s. Both Kelly and I would highly recommend it for…

Grapevine

…Happy September! Welcome back to work… I have to admit, I am a wee bit jealous of all the returning summer students. I always find that the first few weeks of September make me want to go back to school... sad, but true. Hey? Speaking of starting the year off…

Presidential Column

…Will Spring ever arrive?? Hopefully by the time this edition of the RECORDER is delivered, we will be basking in the sunshine and dusting off our cowboy boots and hats (or leaving town) in preparation for Stampede week. What a convention! Hats off to the many volunteers who worked tirelessly…

Anisotropic PSTM Imaging for Unconventional Reservoirs

Edward Jenner

…Introduction Exploration and drilling efforts in onshore North America have increasingly moved away from conventional reservoirs and toward unconventional ones. Although advances in drilling technology have been the primary factors in achieving economic viability in these tight reservoirs, 3D seismic data has played an increasingly important role in development success.…

Compressive sensing in seismic exploration: an outlook on a new paradigm

Felix J. Herrmann, Haneet Wason, and Tim T.Y. Lin

…Abstract Many seismic exploration techniques rely on the collection of massive data volumes that are subsequently mined for information during processing. While this approach has been extremely successful in the past, current efforts toward higher resolution images in increasingly complicated regions of the Earth continue to reveal fundamental shortcomings in…

The Evolving Role of Geophysics in Exploration. From Amplitudes to Geomechanics

Eric Andersen and David Gray

…Introduction Over the last 25 years, geophysical analysis of seismic data has greatly evolved. However, in the routine utilization and daily workflows of many exploration and development teams, geophysical technology is at a standstill. This paper came though our observations and dealings with many geophysicists over time. We’ve been involved…

Temperature versus political transparency: Does heat corrupt us?

Robert R. Stewart

…Summary Human discomfort increases at elevated temperatures (above about 27°C or 81°F). Higher temperatures impact our ability to work accurately and productively as well as to learn. Irritability and inclination to anger can increase, too. Transparency International is an organization that evaluates countries according to their political transparency – a…