Induced Seismicity and Recent Advances in Hydraulic Fracturing Diagnostics

Recorded On: 04/18/2022

Induced seismicity refers to seismic events that are a result of human activity. There are many different ways in which human activity can induce seismicity including geothermal operations, reservoir impoundment (water behind dams), wastewater injections, and oil and gas operations such as hydraulic fracturing. Induced seismicity has become an important topic for the oil and gas industry. This webinar will discuss topics crucial to understanding the cause of, and characterization of, induced seismicity. Methods to evaluate and predict the potential for induced seismicity will be highlighted, including the introduction of new hydraulic fracturing diagnostics which may assist in the identification of seismic potential due to local geological features and/or completion operational procedures.

The first speaker will be Dr. Michael Brudzinski, Department of Geology and Environmental Science at Miami University. Dr. Brudzinski will start with an overview of the industrial activities that may induce seismicity. He will then focus on the two processes most applicable to the oil and gas extraction industry: produced water disposal/injection and hydraulic fracturing. The physical mechanisms which cause seismicity and methods for characterizing the severity of seismic events will be covered in detail. Examples of commercial monitoring methods will be provided along with a brief comments on induced seismicity related regulations.

The second speaker will be Ms. Mary Van Domelen, Senior Completions Advisor, Well Data Labs. Ms. Van Domelen will highlight recent advances in hydraulic fracturing diagnostics which may be used to predict the potential for, and possibly minimize, induced seismicity. The first technology is Sealed Wellbore Pressure Monitoring (SWPM). Case studies demonstrating the use of SWPM to validate an improved fluid design and to detect faults will be provided. Ms. Van Domelen will then examine a new completion process, Simul-frac, to determine if the claims of increased operational efficiency for simul-frac compared to zipper fracturing are true. More importantly, it will be shown that it is possible to quickly and accurately quantify some of the key fracturing parameters related to induced seismicity, even in the presence of multiple simultaneous operations.

This webinar is categorized under the Completions technical discipline.

All content contained within this webinar is copyrighted by Mary van Domelen and Dr. Mike Brudzinski and its use and/or reproduction outside the portal requires express permission from Mary van Domelen and Dr. Mike Brudzinski.

This webinar is a collaboration between SPE, IOGCC and EDF.

Dr. Mike Brudzinski

Dr. Mike Brudzinski is a Professor of Seismology at Miami University in Ohio. He earned a B.S. in Physics and Marine Geophysics in 1995 from Eckerd College in Florida and a Ph.D. in Geophysics in 2002 from the University of Illinois. He maintained a decade-long field experiment in southern Mexico to investigate how colliding plates generate a spectrum of different kinds of fault slip, from megathrust earthquakes to slow slips and tiny tremors. He has also helped uncover relationships between fluid injection and induced seismicity in the central and eastern US, particularly associated with hydraulic fracturing. These efforts have required development of methods for detecting key signals in vast datasets, marshalling aspects of data science, high performance computing, and machine learning. His educational research has pioneered active e-learning courses that create authentic scientific experiences in computer-enabled class settings.

Mary Van Domelen

Mary Van Domelen is a licensed Professional Engineer and a SPE Certified Petroleum Engineer with 40 years experience in both technical and leadership roles. After earning a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma, Mary started her career with Halliburton working in research and operations in the US, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. She has also worked with innovative E&P companies such as Maersk Oil, Chesapeake, and Continental Resources. Mary is a SPE Distinguished Member, twice SPE Distinguished Lecturer (2015-2016 and 2019-2020), co-founder of the SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technical Section and recipient of the 2016 SPE Mid-Continent Regional Completions Optimization and Technology Award. She has authored more than 30 technical papers and is co-inventor of 8 issued patents. Mary is currently a Senior Completions Advisor with Well Data Labs.

George King

George E. King is a Registered Professional Engineer with 50 years continuous oilfield experience starting with Amoco 1971. He has held senior engineering positions in Amoco, BP, Rimrock Energy, and Apache Corp. In his third semi-retirement, he is focusing on well interventions, casing deformation, fracture driven interactions, unconventional resources completions, shut-in/start-up procedures, and has been involved with geothermal energy projects for the last two years. He consults through Viking Engineering or through GEK Engineering. He has produced and presented over 100 technical papers, podcasts, webinars, and book chapters. His education includes a BS in Chemistry (Oklahoma State), a BS in Chem. Eng. and a MS in Petroleum Engineering (University of Tulsa). He taught courses in well completion and fracturing as an adjunct professor for 11 years at night at University of Tulsa.

This SPE webinar is sponsored by the Environmental Defense Fund and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission.