Petroleum Science >2023, Issue1: - DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petsci.2023.01.006
A synthetical geoengineering approach to evaluate the largest hydraulic fracturing-induced earthquake in the East Shale Basin, Alberta Open Access
文章信息
作者:Gang Hui, Zhang-Xin Chen, Zheng-Dong Lei, Zhao-Jie Song, Lin-Yang Zhang, Xin-Ran Yu, Fei Gu
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引用方式:Gang Hui, Zhang-Xin Chen, Zheng-Dong Lei, Zhao-Jie Song, Lin-Yang Zhang, Xin-Ran Yu, Fei Gu, A synthetical geoengineering approach to evaluate the largest hydraulic fracturing-induced earthquake in the East Shale Basin, Alberta, Petroleum Science, Volume 20, Issue 1, 2023, Pages 460-473, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petsci.2023.01.006.
文章摘要
Abstract: On 2019-03-04, the largest induced earthquake (ML4.18) occurred in the East Shale Basin, Alberta, and the underlying physical mechanisms have not been fully understood. This paper proposes a synthetical geoengineering methodology to comprehensively characterize this earthquake caused by hydraulic fracturing. Based on 3D structural, petrophysical, and geomechanical models, an unconventional fracture model is constructed by considering the stress shadow between adjacent hydraulic fractures and the interactions between hydraulic and natural fractures. Coupled poroelastic simulations are conducted to reveal the triggering mechanisms of induced seismicity. It is found that four vertical basement-rooted faults were identified via focal mechanisms analysis. The brittleness index (BI) along two horizontal wells has a high magnitude (BI > 0.5), indicating the potential susceptibility of rock brittleness. Due to the presence of overpressure, pre-existing faults in the Duvernay Formation are highly susceptible to fault reactivation. The occurrence of the earthquake clusters has been attributed to the fracturing fluid injection during the west 38th-39th stage and east 38th stage completions. Rock brittleness, formation overpressure, and large fracturing job size account for the nucleation of earthquake clusters, and unconventional natural-hydraulic fracture networks provide fluid flow pathways to cause fault reactivation. This workflow can be used to mitigate potential seismic risks in unconventional reservoirs in other fields.
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Keywords: Geoengineering; Hydraulic fracturing; Induced seismicity; Fault reactivation; Mitigation strategies; East Shale Basin