Abstract
Understanding the created fracture geometry is key to the effectiveness of any stimulation program, as fracture surface area directly impacts production performance. Microseismic monitoring of hydraulic stimulations can provide in real-time extensive diagnostic information on fracture development and geometry. Thus, it can help with the immediate needs of optimizing the stimulation program for production performance and long-term concerns associated to field development. However, microseismic monitoring is often underutilized at the expense of productivity in the exploration and appraisal phases of a field.
Geology is a fundamental element in the design of a stimulation program and the interpretation of its results. Rock properties and geomechanics govern the achievable fracture geometry and influence the type of fluids to be injected in the formation and the pumping schedule. Rock layering controls the location of the monitoring device, guides the depth at which perforations should be located, and influences how hydrocarbons flow within the formation. Despite this importance, the impact geology may have on the stimulation results is often overlooked as it is all too common to see assumed laterally homogeneous formations, invariant stress field (both laterally and vertically), stimulated fractures having a symmetric planar geometry, etc.
As exploration and appraisal moves toward active tectonics areas (as opposed to relatively quiet passive margins and depositional basins), understanding the impact of complex geology and the stress field on fracture geometry is critical to optimizing stimulation treatments and establishing robust field development plans. Mapping of hypocenters detected using microseismic monitoring is an ideal tool to help understand near- and far-field fracture geometry. Additionally, moment tensor inversion performed on mapped hypocenters can contribute to understanding the rock failure mechanisms and help with evaluating asymmetric and complex fracture geometry. Understanding this fracture complexity helps address key uncertainties such as achievable fracture coverage of the reservoir.
We present the results of several hydraulic fracture stimulations in various geological environments that have been monitored using microseismic data. We illustrate with these case studies that in some rare cases, simple radial and planar fracture system (often mislabeled penny shape-like fracture) may be generated as predicted using simple modeling techniques. However, in most cases, the final fracture system geometry is complex and asymmetric, largely governed by stress, geologic discontinuities, rock fabric, etc. Understanding this impact and optimizing the well design to enhance productivity is key to evaluating reservoir potential and commercial viability during exploration and appraisal phases and for maximizing return on investment during development.
