Fracture quality images from 4D VSP and microseismic data at Jonah Field, WY.

Natural and induced fractures provide the only means of production in tight gas sand reservoirs. The objective of this work is to locate and characterize natural and induced fractures from the analysis of scattered waves recorded on 4-D (time lapse) VSP data in order to optimize well placement an...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Willis, Mark E., Willis, Kent M., Burns, Daniel R., Shemeta, Julie, House, Nancy J.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Earth Resources Laboratory
Format: Technical Report
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Earth Resources Laboratory 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/68564
_version_ 1826202301134536704
author Willis, Mark E.
Willis, Kent M.
Burns, Daniel R.
Shemeta, Julie
House, Nancy J.
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Earth Resources Laboratory
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Earth Resources Laboratory
Willis, Mark E.
Willis, Kent M.
Burns, Daniel R.
Shemeta, Julie
House, Nancy J.
author_sort Willis, Mark E.
collection MIT
description Natural and induced fractures provide the only means of production in tight gas sand reservoirs. The objective of this work is to locate and characterize natural and induced fractures from the analysis of scattered waves recorded on 4-D (time lapse) VSP data in order to optimize well placement and well spacing in these gas reservoirs. Using synthetic seismic data, we have previously shown that it is possible to characterize the quality of fracturing based upon the amount of scattering of seismic energy from hydraulic fractures. We show this concept applied to a field dataset from the Jonah Field in Wyoming. The time lapse (4D) VSP data from this field are imaged with a migration algorithm using shot travel time tables derived from the first breaks of the 3D VSPs and receiver travel time tables based on the microseismic and perf shot arrival times. We create images of the fracture planes through two of the hydraulically fractured wells in the field. The scattered energy shows correlation with the locations of the microseismic events and azimuthal scattering which is different from the azimuthal reflectivity of the reservoir. This gives us more confidence that we have separated the scattered signal from simple formation reflectivity. Variations of the scattered energy along the image planes suggest differences in the quality of the fractures in three distinct zones.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T12:05:21Z
format Technical Report
id mit-1721.1/68564
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
last_indexed 2024-09-23T12:05:21Z
publishDate 2012
publisher Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Earth Resources Laboratory
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/685642019-04-12T21:43:34Z Fracture quality images from 4D VSP and microseismic data at Jonah Field, WY. Willis, Mark E. Willis, Kent M. Burns, Daniel R. Shemeta, Julie House, Nancy J. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Earth Resources Laboratory Willis, Mark E. Willis, Kent M. Burns, Daniel R. Microseismic VSP 4D Fractures Natural and induced fractures provide the only means of production in tight gas sand reservoirs. The objective of this work is to locate and characterize natural and induced fractures from the analysis of scattered waves recorded on 4-D (time lapse) VSP data in order to optimize well placement and well spacing in these gas reservoirs. Using synthetic seismic data, we have previously shown that it is possible to characterize the quality of fracturing based upon the amount of scattering of seismic energy from hydraulic fractures. We show this concept applied to a field dataset from the Jonah Field in Wyoming. The time lapse (4D) VSP data from this field are imaged with a migration algorithm using shot travel time tables derived from the first breaks of the 3D VSPs and receiver travel time tables based on the microseismic and perf shot arrival times. We create images of the fracture planes through two of the hydraulically fractured wells in the field. The scattered energy shows correlation with the locations of the microseismic events and azimuthal scattering which is different from the azimuthal reflectivity of the reservoir. This gives us more confidence that we have separated the scattered signal from simple formation reflectivity. Variations of the scattered energy along the image planes suggest differences in the quality of the fractures in three distinct zones. National Energy Technology Laboratory (U.S.) (DE-FC26-06NT42956) Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Earth Resources Laboratory 2012-01-13T18:00:01Z 2012-01-13T18:00:01Z 2009 Technical Report http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/68564 Earth Resources Laboratory Industry Consortia Annual Report;2009-07 application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Earth Resources Laboratory
spellingShingle Microseismic
VSP
4D
Fractures
Willis, Mark E.
Willis, Kent M.
Burns, Daniel R.
Shemeta, Julie
House, Nancy J.
Fracture quality images from 4D VSP and microseismic data at Jonah Field, WY.
title Fracture quality images from 4D VSP and microseismic data at Jonah Field, WY.
title_full Fracture quality images from 4D VSP and microseismic data at Jonah Field, WY.
title_fullStr Fracture quality images from 4D VSP and microseismic data at Jonah Field, WY.
title_full_unstemmed Fracture quality images from 4D VSP and microseismic data at Jonah Field, WY.
title_short Fracture quality images from 4D VSP and microseismic data at Jonah Field, WY.
title_sort fracture quality images from 4d vsp and microseismic data at jonah field wy
topic Microseismic
VSP
4D
Fractures
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/68564
work_keys_str_mv AT willismarke fracturequalityimagesfrom4dvspandmicroseismicdataatjonahfieldwy
AT williskentm fracturequalityimagesfrom4dvspandmicroseismicdataatjonahfieldwy
AT burnsdanielr fracturequalityimagesfrom4dvspandmicroseismicdataatjonahfieldwy
AT shemetajulie fracturequalityimagesfrom4dvspandmicroseismicdataatjonahfieldwy
AT housenancyj fracturequalityimagesfrom4dvspandmicroseismicdataatjonahfieldwy