Investigating local stress variations inferred from earthquake properties in proximity to a hydraulic fracture well.

非常规石油和天然气生产商的主要目标是以最小的成本回收碳氢化合物。 需要的努力。油井产能是影响油气生产效率和盈利能力的关键因素 复苏局部地质结构，如断层，会影响水力压裂威尔斯井的产能。 生产率与压裂过程中形成的裂缝网络的外观密切相关， 也就是说，无论裂缝是在空间上分布，还是集中在广阔的平面特征中。接近断层 可以改变在压裂过程中形成的裂缝网络的外观，然而， 断层距离和裂缝网络之间的关系知之甚少。在这里，我们将研究 通过在油井生产过程中产生的裂缝网络的流体迁移，以了解附近的 地震可以告诉我们裂缝形成的应力场。我们将利用震源 属性，以帮助约束应力场的局部变化，并将变化与位置进行比较 已知的故障。然后，我们将研究应力场和相关裂缝网络之间的关系 水力压裂来尝试和推断应力场如何影响裂缝网络的外观， 也就是说，良好的生产力。然后，可以获得关于该案例研究的应力场和井产能的信息， 加拿大进步能源有限公司（Progress Energy Canada，Ltd.）直接使用这些数据来选择未来钻井的最佳地点。 该项目将通过帮助进步能源公司提高油井生产率， 加拿大是第二大天然气出口国。

The primary goal of non-conventional oil and gas producers is to recover hydrocarbons with the minimum required effort. Well productivity is a key factor influencing the efficiency and profitability in oil or gas recovery. Local geologic structure, such as faults, can influence the productivity of hydraulic fracturing wells. Productivity is strongly linked to the appearance of the fracture network formed during the fracture process, i.e., whether fractures are distributed in space, or concentrated into broad, planar features. Proximity to faults can change the appearance of the network of fractures formed during the fracturing process, however, the relationship between fault distance and the fracture network is poorly understood. Here we will study the migration of fluids through the fracture network creating during well production to learn what the nearby earthquakes can tell us about the stress field in which the fractures form. We will use the earthquake source properties to help constrain the local variations in the stress field, and compare the variations with the location of known faults. We will then examine the relationship between the stress field and the fracture network related to hydraulic fracturing to try and infer how the stress field influences the appearance of the fracture network, i.e., well productivity. The information on stress field and well productivity for this case study can then be directly used by the company, Progress Energy Canada, Ltd. to select the optimal sites for drilling a future well. This project will directly benefit Progress Energy by helping them increase well productivity, as well benefit the Canadian economy as the second largest exporter of natural gas.