Hydraulic Fracturing and Seismicity in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

Atkinson, Gail M.; Eaton, David W.; Ghofrani, Hadi; Walker, Dan; Cheadle, Burns A.; Schultz, Ryan; Shcherbakov, R.; Tiampo, K. F.; Gu, Jeff; Harrington, R. M.; Liu, Yajing; Baan, Mirko van der; Kao, Honn

doi:10.1785/0220150263

Cited by 373 publications

(312 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…[26][27][28][29] Engineering monitoring in this study proved this point, the maximal moment magnitude Some scholars pointed out that West Canadian reservoirs and Sichuan Basin in China experienced anomalous activity during multistage fracturing, the microseismic moment magnitude was more than 4.…”

Section: Slippingsupporting

confidence: 67%

A new numerical method for evaluating the variation of casing inner diameter after strike‐slip fault sliding during multistage fracturing in shale gas wells

Liu

et al. 2019

Energy Science & Engineering

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Casing shear deformation has become a prominent problem in the process of completion in shale gas wells. It was believed that the slide of strike‐slip fault induced by multistage fracturing was the main reason. This paper presented a new numerical investigation for evaluating the casing inner diameter after strike‐slip fault sliding based on the microseismic data. A 3D finite element model, considering the mechanical anisotropy of shale and heat‐fluid‐solid coupling effect during multistage fracturing, was developed to calculate the variation of casing inner diameter after fault sliding under different engineering and geological conditions. The calculation result was verified by comparison with the measurement result of the multi‐finger caliper survey. Sensitivity analysis was carried out and the results showed that decreasing the sliding distance, maintaining high pressure, increasing the casing thickness, and increasing the elasticity modulus and decreasing the Poisson ratio of cement sheath were beneficial to protect the casing integrity. Finally, the engineering verification demonstrated that the numerical method has an accuracy up to 85.9%. Numerical model in this study was expected to provide a better understanding of casing shear deformation and an evaluation method of casing inner diameter after fault sliding during multistage fracturing in shale gas wells.

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Section: Slippingsupporting

confidence: 67%

A new numerical method for evaluating the variation of casing inner diameter after strike‐slip fault sliding during multistage fracturing in shale gas wells

Liu

et al. 2019

Energy Science & Engineering

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“…In Canada, development of shale gas and shale oil resources is focused within the WCSB, where seismic activity has been increasing since 2010 . Most observed events in the WCSB with M ≥ 3 have been associated with oil and gas activity since 1985, and Atkinson et al (2016) determined that from 2010 to 2015 more than half of all M ≥ 3 events correlated spatially and temporally with hydraulic fracturing operations. It was determined that only ~0.3% of all hydraulic fracturing operations are associated with M ≥ 3 events, but as the number of these operations grows in Alberta and eastern British Columbia, the cumulative risk of inducing earthquakes becomes greater .…”

Section: Seismicity Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparison of Ground‐Motion Characteristics from Induced Seismic Events in Alberta with Those in Oklahoma

Kaski

Atkinson

2017

Seismological Research Letters

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Ground motions from potentially-induced seismic events in Alberta of magnitude (M) > 3, recorded within 100 km, are empirically characterized in terms of their response spectral shapes and amplitudes. Ground motions are compared statistically to those from induced events in Oklahoma, as well as to three benchmark ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs), derived from natural events. Discrepancies between Alberta and Oklahoma events appear to be magnitude-dependent, and distance-independent. For events greater than M~4, the ground motions appear equivalent in the two regions. Highfrequency motions from M < 3.5 events in Alberta are weaker than those of natural events, even those at shallow focal depths. For larger magnitudes, the residuals between the Alberta motions and benchmark GMPEs suggest that observations are in reasonable accord with the models. These results provide a further understanding of ground motions from induced events in Alberta.

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“…In the United States, where the industry is well established, a marked increase in felt seismicity (M > 3) occurred [3]. Previously it was argued that this was due to injection to depths of several kilometres [12], but recent work in Canada [13] has shown that processes at shallower depths (i.e., hydraulic fracturing of the reservoir) may also lead to felt seismicity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Hybrid Empirical Green’s Function Technique for Predicting Ground Motion from Induced Seismicity: Application to the Basel Enhanced Geothermal System

et al. 2018

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A method is described for the prediction of site-specific surface ground motion due to induced earthquakes occurring in predictable and well-defined source zones. The method is based on empirical Green's functions (EGFs), determined using micro-earthquakes at sites where seismicity is being induced (e.g., hydraulic fracturing and wastewater injection during shale oil and gas extraction, CO 2 sequestration, and conventional and enhanced geothermal injection). Using the EGF approach, a ground-motion field (e.g., an intensity map) can be calculated for a potentially felt induced event originating within the seismic zone. The approach allows site-and path-specific effects to be mapped into the ground-motion field, providing a local ground-motion model that accounts for wave-propagation effects without the requirement of 3D velocity models or extensive computational resources. As a test case, the ground-motion field for the mainshock (M L = 3.4, M = 3.2) resulting from the Basel Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) was simulated using only seismicity recorded prior to the event. We focussed on peak ground velocity (PGV), as this is a measure of ground motion on which Swiss norms for vibration disturbances are based. The performance of the method was significantly better than a previously developed generic ground-motion prediction equation (GMPE) for induced earthquakes and showed improved performance through intrinsic inclusion of site-specific effects relative to predictions for a local GMPE. Both median motions and the site-to-site ground-motion variability were captured, leading to significantly reduced misfit relative to the generic GMPE. It was shown, however, that extrapolation beyond units of a couple of magnitude leads to significant uncertainty. The method is well suited to a real-time predictive hazard framework, for which shaking estimates are dynamically updated in light of newly recorded seismicity.

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Hydraulic Fracturing and Seismicity in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

Cited by 373 publications

References 46 publications

A new numerical method for evaluating the variation of casing inner diameter after strike‐slip fault sliding during multistage fracturing in shale gas wells

A new numerical method for evaluating the variation of casing inner diameter after strike‐slip fault sliding during multistage fracturing in shale gas wells

A Comparison of Ground‐Motion Characteristics from Induced Seismic Events in Alberta with Those in Oklahoma

A Hybrid Empirical Green’s Function Technique for Predicting Ground Motion from Induced Seismicity: Application to the Basel Enhanced Geothermal System

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