Fracture Network Archives - Meta | Innovative AI Analytics and Training Software https://www.exploremetakinetic.com/blog/tag/fracture-network/ beyond interactive Fri, 22 May 2020 17:44:58 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.1 https://www.exploremetakinetic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/cropped-Group-1215@2x-1-32x32.png Fracture Network Archives - Meta | Innovative AI Analytics and Training Software https://www.exploremetakinetic.com/blog/tag/fracture-network/ 32 32 Microseismicity-derived fracture network characterization of unconventional reservoirs by topology https://www.exploremetakinetic.com/blog/microseismicity-derived-fracture-network-characterization-of-unconventional-reservoirs-by-topology/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=microseismicity-derived-fracture-network-characterization-of-unconventional-reservoirs-by-topology Wed, 30 May 2018 17:47:05 +0000 http://www.exploremetakinetic.com/?p=442 The advent of horizontal drilling technology, combined with multistaged hydraulic fracturing to create a complex fracture network within the relatively impermeable rock mass, has made natural gas production from tight reservoirs economically feasible. Understanding of the generated fracture network properties, such as its spatial distribution, extension, connection, and ability to percolate, plays a significant role […]

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The advent of horizontal drilling technology, combined with multistaged hydraulic fracturing to create a complex fracture network within the relatively impermeable rock mass, has made natural gas production from tight reservoirs economically feasible. Understanding of the generated fracture network properties, such as its spatial distribution, extension, connection, and ability to percolate, plays a significant role in evaluation of the stimulation efficiency, optimizing analytical frac models, and ultimately enhancing completion programs.

We have developed a unique approach to understand the influence of fractures on fluid flow and production from impermeable reservoirs and evaluate completion effectiveness. We characterize the microseismicity-derived discrete fracture network in a North American shale-gas reservoir using modified scanline and topology methods. Using concepts of node and branch classification and assessing the number of connections (fracture intersections), the network connectivity is established volumetrically. The zones of permeability enhancement are then identified using the connection per branch and line (CB and CL), tied to percolation thresholds of the fracture system. These zones consist of a primary zone with a high proportion of doubly connected fractures, a secondary zone populated with partially connected fractures, and a tertiary or unstimulated zone dominated by isolated fractures. These divisions are reflected in the deformation that is observed in the reservoir as measured through a cluster-based description of the microseismicity. The primary and secondary zones are considered spanning fracture clusters, and they take part in production, whereas the tertiary zone is recognized as nonspanning fractures, and though it may enhance the bulk permeability of the rock mass, it is unlikely to contribute to reservoir production.

Check out our full article published in SEG Interpretation Journal, Volume 6, Issue 2 or contact us to get a copy.

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Effectiveness of geometric versus variable shot clusters to stimulate a percolating crack network capable of sustaining flow https://www.exploremetakinetic.com/blog/effectiveness-of-geometric-versus-variable-shot-clusters-to-stimulate-a-percolating-crack-network-capable-of-sustaining-flow/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=effectiveness-of-geometric-versus-variable-shot-clusters-to-stimulate-a-percolating-crack-network-capable-of-sustaining-flow Tue, 30 Jan 2018 02:12:23 +0000 https://www.exploremetakinetic.com/?p=575 The perforation strategy for a hydraulic fracture completion for an unconventional reservoir can have a very large influence on the overall success of the injection program at effectively stimulating that network. To evaluate differences in perf clustering methodologies, operators are frequently in need of observational evidence to suggest which strategy is most efficient. We present […]

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The perforation strategy for a hydraulic fracture completion for an unconventional reservoir can have a very large influence on the overall success of the injection program at effectively stimulating that network. To evaluate differences in perf clustering methodologies, operators are frequently in need of observational evidence to suggest which strategy is most efficient. We present a paper where we look at a detailed analysis of microseismicity for different stages with different completion programs.

While event distributions tend to be the first and most frequently examined aspect of a microseismic monitoring effort, because the generation of a microseismic event is not immediately diagnostic of fluid-induced fracturing, the event clouds tend to overestimate the effective area of fracturing. In order to gain further insight into how microseismic events describe effective fracture growth, a deeper look at the waveforms through techniques like Seismic Moment Tensor Inversion (SMTI) and subsequent stress inversion can be effective. These steps are necessary to describe the discrete network of cracks, from the microseismic data. Using a fracture network topology approach, the network can then be characterized in terms of its ability to percolate fluids.

We compare how cracks behave for a regular geometric shot cluster (GSC) and a variable shot cluster (VSC) and assess variations in the stimulations. Both shot clusters were completed in consecutive stages of the same lateral. The mechanisms from the GSC stages show shear-dominant mechanisms with opening and closing components in roughly equal proportions, while the VSC stages have a higher concentration of shear-tensile opening failures. Furthermore, the GSC stages showed modest connectivity around the treatment well relative to the VSC stages, which showed significant growth of connected fractures away from the treatment well. Since the VSC stages also showed relatively more stable stress behaviour than the GSC stages, these observations suggest that stability in stresses allows for steady growth of the fracture network across the reservoir.

This type of higher-order analysis of microseismic data is critical to establishing value from this data stream in terms of completion evaluation. The recognition that each microseismic event is tied to the rupture of a crack in the reservoir allows for these types of comparisons to be made in a robust fashion and be tied to the underlying geomechanics that governs the type of response from one type of completion to the other.

Check out our full article published in SPE (Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference 2018) or contact us to get a copy.

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Integration of SMTI topology with dynamic parameter analysis to characterize fracture-connectivity related to flow and production along wellbores in the STACK play https://www.exploremetakinetic.com/blog/integration-of-smti-topology-with-dynamic-parameter-analysis-to-characterize-fracture-connectivity-related-to-flow-and-production-along-wellbores-in-the-stack-play/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=integration-of-smti-topology-with-dynamic-parameter-analysis-to-characterize-fracture-connectivity-related-to-flow-and-production-along-wellbores-in-the-stack-play Tue, 30 Jan 2018 01:51:26 +0000 https://www.exploremetakinetic.com/?p=566 A number of years ago, there was an appeal to microseismic service providers and end users to go ‘beyond the dots’ in terms of the types of analysis that can be performed to relate the microseismic waveforms to problems in terms of drilling, completion, and field development. While this call to arms has often been […]

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A number of years ago, there was an appeal to microseismic service providers and end users to go ‘beyond the dots’ in terms of the types of analysis that can be performed to relate the microseismic waveforms to problems in terms of drilling, completion, and field development. While this call to arms has often been interpreted rather specifically, in terms of moment tensor inversion, this is just one aspect of how microseismic data can be looked at beyond the rather limited information afforded to by their locations. Even in terms of determining the moment tensors of microseismic events, the question of how to use this information to affect business decisions is not intuitively obvious. In this paper, we describe a number of analyses that aim to make use of microseismic data, from moment tensors to other source parameters, in the context of a completion in the STACK play in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma. Key to extracting information from these data is the concept that a single microseismic event does not afford a lot of information in of itself. The critical idea is that it is the interaction of different microseismic events which captures processes that are not elucidated in the consideration of events individually.


Using the example of seismic moment tensor inversion (SMTI) data, we describe an approach for obtaining a picture of a connected fracture network that can further be described in terms of the percolation properties of the network. This allows for the moment tensor data to be linked to where the hydraulic stimulation fractures connect to the treatment well and therefore the volumes where we may expect production.
Further consideration of microseismic event clusters can identify the different deformation processes that accompany the microseismicity. By clustering events of similar character, and considering both how they are distributed in time and space, as well as the insights into their failure processes from a detailed study of their source mechanics, the deformation in the reservoir
can be mapped. Characterizing the deformation by the degree of co-seismic (anelastic) deformation allows the processes in the reservoir to be described in terms of different deformation indexes, ‘dynamic parameters’: plasticity index (PI) corresponding to anelastic deformation; stress index (SI) as related to the localized stress behaviour/conditions leading to seismicity; and diffusion index (DI) which describes the rate of stress transfer as it results in seismicity throughout the volume of interest.

We introduce the site and give an overview to the microseimsic data acquisition for a lateral well completion in the STACK play (Sooner Trend Anadarko basin Canadian and Kingfisher counties). We then describe an approach for processing these data, through moment tensor inversion, into a picture of the Discrete Fracture Network (DFN). This requires a methodology to group events occurring under like stress conditions to invert for the stress ratio and the principal stress axes, such that the fracture planes may be deterministically derived from the moment tensor data. We also discuss the methodology to determine the cluster-based dynamic parameters. We then illustrate how we can use these tools to arrive at an integrated interpretation of processes occurring during the hydraulic completion, and how these data can be used to affect design decisions for completion and field development.

Check out our full article published in EAGE First Break, Volume 35, Number 12, or contact us to get a copy.

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