Microseismic Geomechanics Interpretation of a Montney Hydraulic Fracture

Drew Chorney, Mike Smith and Shawn Maxwell

…In this paper, we describe the use of a geomechanical model to interpret microseismicity recorded during a Montney hydraulic fracture treatment. The microseismic geomechanical model is calibrated to the recorded microseismicity and used to understand the complete fracture network, including the proppant distribution. The calibrated model is then used to…

Supercomputing Needs of our Industry

Satinder Chopra and Kurt J. Marfurt

…The search for oil and gas has now moved into complex frontier areas such as the foothills in the onshore and into deeper waters and subsalt traps in the offshore, where geological risks are higher. The need to maximize the economic production of hydrocarbons in our current low price environment…

Reducing Uncertainty in Characterization of Vaca Muerta Fm Shale with Post-stack Seismic Data

Ritesh Kumar Sharma, Satinder Chopra, Luis Vernengo, Eduardo Trinchero and Claudio Sylwan

…The Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Vaca Muerta (VM) Formation in the Neuquén Basin has served as an important source rock for many of the conventional oil and gas fields in Argentina. With the interest in developing and exploiting the shale resources in the country, many companies there have undertaken the characterization…

Preconditioning of Seismic Data Prior to Impedance Inversion

Satinder Chopra and Ritesh Kumar Sharma

…The calibration of seismic data with the available well control is an important step that provides the link between seismic reflections, their stratigraphic interpretation and subsequent prediction of reservoir and fluid properties. The standard practice to do this has been to produce synthetic seismograms from well logs with a bandwidth…

Arthur McDonald

An Interview with Arthur McDonald

…Q&A: How did you get started with research on neutrinos? I have always been interested in measurements using nuclear and particle physics techniques that can provide insight into the basic laws of physics. Neutrinos are the basic building blocks that we know the least about because they are so difficult…

President’s Message

…Are you sitting on the C-Train travelling to GeoConvention as you read this page or standing on the convention centre stairs about to start planning which technical or panel sessions to attend? Have you registered already or chosen not to attend? At the least, get down to the Exhibition Floor…

CAGC Column

…It has been a tough couple of years. All of Canada is figuring out how closely it is tied to the price of oil and other resources. Our dollar is dropping, EI rolls are being hit in all provinces, and our growth is slowing. We are absolutely moving to a…

Tracing the Industry

…How I got involved in the seismic industry So many people have such interesting pathways leading into and through the seismic industry. I am also pleased to share these stories with the RECORDER readers. If you would like to share your story, get in touch! This month I have the…

Grapevine

…Doodlespiel 2016 RECAP The 44th annual 2016 Doodlespiel has now come and gone and this year we had 64 teams with over 275 participants. The host town of Banff and the Banff Curling Club again created an amazing venue for the Doodlespiel that was enjoyed by all. This year’s Doodlespiel…

The Oil Price and Seismic Exploration: A Roller Coaster Ride

Easton Wren

…In any debate a historical perspective is useful since it tells us where we were and how we got here. It does not necessarily enable predicting the future. The ever changing oil price and the ups and downs of seismic exploration are ideal examples for looking into the past and…

Introduction To February Focus: Reservoir Geophysics

Marco Perez

…Geophysics has a wide range of uses within the oil and gas industry. In the broadest sense, geophysical data is a representation of the earth’s interior. Geophysicists design experiments to ascertain properties such as structure, geomorphology and even mapping hydrocarbon reservoirs. Reservoir geophysics can mean a number of different things…

A Reservoir Characterization Strategy for the Flemish Pass Basin, Offshore Newfoundland and Labrador

Chris Blackwood and Gary Thorpe

…In frontier deep water exploration settings such as the Flemish Pass offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, wells are uncommon and are often separated by tens of kilometres or more. Given the scarcity of well data, well-to-seismic calibrations must be extrapolated over large distances. Seismic interpretation and analysis drives the understanding of…

Predicting Mineralogy from Elastic Rock Properties

Rob Holt and Bill Westwood

…In contrast to conventional reservoirs, where the measured elastic rock properties are sensitive to changes in facies, porosity and pore fluids, we find that changes in the elastic rock properties of low porosity unconventional plays are driven largely by changes in the relative fractions of the dominant minerals that form…

An Overview of Microseismic Acquisition Project Management

Jubran Akram and Atila da Silva Paes

…In the past decade, the boom of stimulation and production from the unconventional reservoirs have made microseismic monitoring a commonly used technology in the petroleum industry. However, the recent business challenges faced by the petroleum industry have amplified the need for cost optimization while achieving the maximum benefits from a…

Inversion in Depth?

Satinder Chopra

…An interesting idea that was highlighted at the recently concluded 2015 SEG Convention at New Orleans was about carrying out seismic impedance inversion in the depth domain. ‘Inversion’ refers to the transformation of seismic amplitude data into acoustic impedance data. Seismic data represent an interface property wherein reflection events are…

President’s Message

…GeoConvention 2016: Optimizing Resources (www.geoconvention.com) is almost upon us. In tough economic environments it is critical that we, as an industry, look at methods to optimize resources using novel technology, following innovative workflows and/or simply being as efficient as possible. We should all be there in one capacity or another.…

Letters to the Editor

…Dear Editor Penny (and CSEG Colleagues): Perry here. We’ve known each other for many years now, gone through some great times – and some really bad ones – in our careers and in the oil and gas business.... Thought I might share some things I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way)…

Executive Message

…2015 was an incredibly difficult year, and the New Year is promising to have its own challenges. Notwithstanding, we have positioned ourselves to come out of the down-turn stronger. While we continue to discuss the fiscal challenges, and develop means to address them, I’d like to focus on our communication…

CAGC Column

…As I write this at the end of 2015 to be published in February of 2016 there is little to be optimistic about in our Industry here in Canada. Commodity prices remain low, our Governments are adding on more regulatory and environmental hurdles and more stakeholder processes. The developed world…

Committee Highlight

…CSEG Foundation’s Fund Development Committee I’m happy to be writing this month’s spotlight committee on the CSEG Foundation’s Fund Development Committee. I had the opportunity to interact with this important committee while I was volunteering with the Foundation and it was an educational and inspirational experience. The purpose of the…