Reservoir creep and induced seismicity: inferences from geomechanical modeling of gas depletion in the Groningen field

Wees, J.D. van; Osinga, S.; Thienen-Visser, K. van; Fokker, P.A.

doi:10.1093/gji/ggx452

Cited by 40 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The effect of contrasts in elastic properties regarding the effects of stress changes due to (differential) compaction has been addressed by others (e.g. Mulders 2003;Atefi Monfared & Rothenburg 2015;Fokker & Osinga 2018;van Wees et al 2018). When accounting for the contrasts in elastic properties, the magnitudes of stress changes and incurred slip can be affected, and even the patterns of stress changes can be different.…”

Section: Discussion a N D C O N C L U S I O N Smentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When accounting for the contrasts in elastic properties, the magnitudes of stress changes and incurred slip can be affected, and even the patterns of stress changes can be different. Reservoir creep and over-and underburden creep can also affect stress changes (Orlic & Wassing 2013;Chang et al 2014;Marketos et al 2015;van Wees et al 2018).…”

Section: Discussion a N D C O N C L U S I O N Smentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(4) (Madariaga 1979). Furthermore, the method could also easily incorporate the effect of slip weakening through adopting a drop in friction angle during failure (Zielke & Arrowsmith 2008;Van Wees et al 2017).…”

Section: From Excess Of Coulomb Stress To Seismic Momentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our novel semi-analytical stress analysis method has been compared to the FEM solution. We used DIANA, a commercial code widely used in engineering and subsurface applications (DIANA 10.1 User Manual 2016), with the plane-strain elastic FEM of a depleting faulted gas reservoir, exhaustively described in van Wees et al (2018). The geometry of the mesh and boundary conditions are shown in Fig.…”

Section: O M Pa R I S O N O F T H E S T R E S S S O L U T I O N W Imentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To this end, our methodology, described in Section 2, deploys a mesh-free semi-analytical approach for the Coulomb stress calculation. More specifically, the three main ingredients are: (1) the use of Green's function formulation for the stress response to nuclei of strain; (2) the deployment of an octree representation and calculation scheme for the nuclei of strain and (3) the use of the recently developed semi-analytical approach of van Wees et al (2018) to derive the seismic moment from the excess of Coulomb stress. After detailing the methods, we demonstrate in Section 3 the performance of our calculation workflow, dubbed as MACRIS (Mechanical Analysis of Complex Reservoir for Induced Seismicity) through comparison with the FEM solution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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3-D mechanical analysis of complex reservoirs: a novel mesh-free approach

Wees

Pluymaekers²,

Osinga³

et al. 2019

Geophysical Journal International

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SUMMARY Building geomechanical models for induced seismicity in complex reservoirs poses a major challenge, in particular if many faults need to be included. We developed a novel way of calculating induced stress changes and associated seismic moment response for structurally complex reservoirs with tens to hundreds of faults. Our specific target was to improve the predictive capability of stress evolution along multiple faults, and to use the calculations to enhance physics-based understanding of the reservoir seismicity. Our methodology deploys a mesh-free numerical and analytical approach for both the stress calculation and the seismic moment calculation. We introduce a high-performance computational method for high-resolution induced Coulomb stress changes along faults, based on a Green's function for the stress response to a nucleus of strain. One key ingredient is the deployment of an octree representation and calculation scheme for the nuclei of strain, based on the topology and spatial variability of the mesh of the reservoir flow model. Once the induced stress changes are evaluated along multiple faults, we calculate potential seismic moment release in a fault system supposing an initial stress field. The capability of the approach, dubbed as MACRIS (Mechanical Analysis of Complex Reservoirs for Induced Seismicity) is proven through comparisons with finite element models. Computational performance and suitability for probabilistic assessment of seismic hazards are demonstrated though the use of the complex, heavily faulted Gullfaks field.

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Section: Discussion a N D C O N C L U S I O N Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussion a N D C O N C L U S I O N Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: From Excess Of Coulomb Stress To Seismic Momentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: O M Pa R I S O N O F T H E S T R E S S S O L U T I O N W Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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3-D mechanical analysis of complex reservoirs: a novel mesh-free approach

Wees

Pluymaekers²,

Osinga³

et al. 2019

Geophysical Journal International

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World Stress Map

Heidbach

Rajabi

Reiter³

et al. 2019

Selective Neck Dissection for Oral Cancer

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The World Stress Map (WSM) is a global compilation of information on the present-day crustal in situ stress within the upper 40 km of the lithosphere. It is a collaborative project between academia and industry that aims to characterize the crustal stress pattern and to understand the causes of these stresses. The present-day stress information in the WSM database is derived from a variety of methods, primarily earthquake focal mechanism, borehole breakouts and drilling-induced tensile fractures (from borehole image or multi-arm caliper log data), in situ stress measurements (overcoring, hydraulic fracturing), and geologic indicators such as fault slip and volcanic vent alignment. The in situ stress information in the WSM database is compiled in a standardized format and quality-ranked for reliability and comparability on a global scale.

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Microphysics of Inelastic Deformation in Reservoir Sandstones from the Seismogenic Center of the Groningen Gas Field

Pijnenburg

Spiers

2020

Rock Mech Rock Eng

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Physics-based assessment of the effects of hydrocarbon production from sandstone reservoirs on induced subsidence and seismicity hinges on understanding the processes governing compaction of the reservoir. Compaction strains are typically small (ε < 1%) and may be elastic (recoverable), or partly inelastic (permanent), as implied by recent experiments. To describe the inelastic contribution in the seismogenic Groningen gas field, a Cam-clay-type plasticity model was recently developed, based on the triaxial test data obtained for sandstones from the Groningen reservoir (strain rate ~ 10 −5 s −1). To underpin the applicability of this model at production-driven strain rates (10 −12 s −1), we develop a simplified microphysical model, based on the deformation mechanisms observed in triaxial experiments at in situ conditions and compaction strains (ε < 1%). These mechanisms include consolidation of and slip on µm-thick clay films within sandstone grain contacts, plus intragranular cracking. The mechanical behavior implied by this model agrees favourably with the experimental data and Cam-clay description of the sandstone behavior. At reservoir-relevant strains, the observed behavior is largely accounted for by consolidation of and slip on the intergranular clay films. A simple analysis shows that such clay film deformation is virtually time insensitive at current stresses in the Groningen reservoir, so that reservoir compaction by these mechanisms is also expected to be time insensitive. The Cam-clay model is accordingly anticipated to describe the main trends in compaction behavior at the decade time scales relevant to the field, although compaction strains and lateral stresses may be slightly underestimated due to other, smaller creep effects seen in experiments.

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Reservoir creep and induced seismicity: inferences from geomechanical modeling of gas depletion in the Groningen field

Cited by 40 publications

References 27 publications

3-D mechanical analysis of complex reservoirs: a novel mesh-free approach

3-D mechanical analysis of complex reservoirs: a novel mesh-free approach

World Stress Map

Microphysics of Inelastic Deformation in Reservoir Sandstones from the Seismogenic Center of the Groningen Gas Field

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