Monitoring, modeling and interpretation of felt and non-felt induced seismicity from hydraulic fracturing treatments

微震事件是一种非常小的地震，可能与储层中的压裂和流体流动有关。由于震级较低，这些事件在地表很少感觉到。微震活动被石油和天然气工业用来监测“致密”油气藏的水力刺激。因此，它是支撑加拿大西部最近恢复常规石油生产以及开发新致密烃油田的技术之一。碳氢化合物产量的增加通常也会导致水产量的增加，这些水必须进行处理、回收或处置在地下。在某些情况下，水力压裂处理和/或盐水处理导致断层重新激活，使地表感觉到地震活动。微地震技术的当前状态已经成熟，可以在已建立的大学-产业合作伙伴关系中加速发现(微地震产业联合会)。这一合作研发计划的目标是：1)继续进行关于如何最好地处理和解释微地震数据的持续研究；2)创造新的知识，以提高我们对地震过程的地质力学方面的了解；3)调查有感地震活动、水力压裂处理和盐水处理之间是否存在因果联系，如果存在，如何减少诱发地震活动的危险；4)培养高素质的人才(HQP)，以满足这一重要技术领域的行业需求；以及5)加强学术界和产业界之间的知识转移。特别是，该项目将为至少18个B.Sc。4名硕士、6名博士后和5名博士后。通过这一伙伴关系建立的大学和行业协同效应将创建一个创新平台，有望在监测、模拟和解释有感和非有感(微)地震活动方面取得改变游戏规则的进展。

Microseismic events are very small earthquakes that can be associated with fracturing and fluid flow inreservoirs. These events are rarely, if ever, felt at the surface due to their low magnitudes. Microseismicity is used by the oil and gas industry to monitor hydraulic stimulation of "tight" hydrocarbon reservoirs. As such, it is one of the technologies underpinning the recent revival of conventional oil production in Western Canada, as well as the development of new tight-hydrocarbon fields. Increased hydrocarbon production generally also leads to increased water production, which must either be treated, recycled or disposed of underground. In some cases, hydraculic fracturing treatments and/or salt-water disposal has led to fault reactivation, causing seismicity felt at the surface. The current state of microseismic technology is ripe for accelerated discovery within an established university-industry partnership (Microseismic Industry Consortium). The objectives of this collaborative research and development program are: 1) to continue ongoing research on how to best process and interpret microseismic data; 2) to create new knowledge to improve our understanding of geomechanical aspects of earthquake processes; 3) to investigate if causal links exist between felt seismicity, hydraulic fracturing treatments and salt-water disposal, and if so how to reduce the hazard of induced seismicity; 4) to train highly-qualified personnel (HQP) to meet the demands of industry within this important technical field; and, 5) to enhance knowledge transfer between academia and industry. In particular, this project will provide support for at least 18 B.Sc. 4 M.Sc., 6 Ph.D. students, and 5 postdoctoral fellows.The university-industry synergies established through this partnership will create an innovation platform that promises to yield game-changing advances in the monitoring, modeling and interpretation of felt and non-felt induced (micro)-seismicity.