Obtaining precise hypocenters of microseismic events is the primary objective of contemporary microseismic surveys. The sought precision usually hinges on two factors: an accurate velocity model, its inaccuracy biasing hypocenters of an entire event population, and an adequate data-recording aperture, its deficiency blurring the hypocenters of individual events and causing noisy appearance of event population computed even in a highly precise velocity model. Our paper explores the possibility of aperture enhancement through adding reflections to direct arrivals, conventionally used to locate microseismic events.
We illustrate the performance of our multiphase (that is, direct + reflected waves) event-location technique on a data set recorded in the Anadarko Basin Woodford play, Oklahoma, USA, and demonstrate that the use of reflected waves not only improves velocity model but also unambiguously places the recorded events in the Wood-ford formation, something that cannot be achieved with the direct arrivals alone.
Presentation Date: Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Start Time: 8:55 AM
Location: 381A
Presentation Type: ORAL
