Al Taweel, Yaareb
(2021)
Advanced Analysis of Well Treatment and Microseismic Events for Two Parallel Horizontal Wells in The Utica Shale.
Master's Thesis, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Because unconventional reservoirs have become a major oil and gas resource there have been hundreds of studies and methods targeting every aspect of hydraulic fracturing, all attempting to optimize the treatment process and maximize well production of hydrocarbons. This is uniquely important in tight formations such as shales due to their low permeability and large spatial distribution. Hydraulic fracturing stimulation creates additional permeability and increase pore pressure within the formation by injecting fluids directly into the target formation. Microseismic data provide an insight into the effectiveness and efficiency of the hydraulic fracturing operation and show how fractures are progressing during treatment. Collections of injection specific microseismic emissions, or microseismic clouds show the stimulated volume and any possible communication with preexisting fracture systems. However, cloud volume whether it is a stage or the entire well could be exaggerated and misleading if irrelevant events are not excluded from the analyzes, such as dry events and/ or low frequent events, which are distinguished by the Gutenberg–Richter relation. In order to identify and separate those irrelevant events, this study utilizes multiple microseismic analytical techniques: triggering fronts and RT plots (Shapiro 2015), seismogenic index (Shapiro, et al. 2010) and the variation of b-value/ D-value for each stage. The triggering front method provides an approximate outermost envelope of the distances between event locations and the injection point as function of the time (Hummel and Shapiro 2012). Where it serves as quality control measure to separate between relevant microseismic events or wet events and dry events that occurred on preexisting fractures. This becomes important where there is pattern, which can be recognized though multiple stages as this study shows.
My study showed that distinguishing between dry and wet events plays an important role in the interpretation of communication between wells. It also reveals preexisting fractures and their pattern. The collective analysis of formation properties and stimulation data has revealed that under similar circumstances the formation returns similar results.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
20 January 2021 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
13 July 2020 |
| Approval Date: |
20 January 2021 |
| Submission Date: |
23 October 2020 |
| Access Restriction: |
2 year -- Restrict access to University of Pittsburgh for a period of 2 years. |
| Number of Pages: |
175 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Geology and Environmental Science |
| Degree: |
MS - Master of Science |
| Thesis Type: |
Master's Thesis |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
The seismogenic index (∑) indicates the level of seismic activity one should expect from injecting fluid into rocks (Shapiro, et al. 2010). ∑ is independent of injection time or any other injection characteristics. The seismogenic index is a convenient quantity for a quantitative comparison of seismotectonic activity at different locations, a higher seismogenic index leads to a higher probability of significant events. Based on the negative correlation between the b-value and the seismogenic index, the b-value can be used to identify the regions with higher probability of significant events, where it leads to the activation of a natural fracture or a fault. |
| Date Deposited: |
20 Jan 2021 19:26 |
| Last Modified: |
20 Jan 2023 06:15 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/39811 |
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