INDUCED SEISMICITY IN NORTHEAST BRITISH COLUMBIA

Dan Walker, P. Geol.,Senior Petroleum GeologistBritish Columbia Oil & Gas Commission

BC Laws provide public access to the current laws of British ColumbiaBC Laws provide public access to the current laws of British Columbia.

The list of Acts and Regulations by which the Commission operates is available via www.bcogc.ca.

Production2012 Reserves

40 TCF Gas

120 MMSTB Oil

102 MMSTB Condensate

40 TCF Gas

120 MMSTB Oil

102 MMSTB Condensate

277 MMSTB NGL277 MMSTB NGL

NortheastNortheast British Columbia shale gas play areasFort St. John

829 miles

The otherThe otherWashington

Shale gas play areas

Shale Gas Stratigraphy

Horn River Basin

Evie Otter Park andEvie, Otter Park and Muskwa target zones

Upper and Lower Montney target zones

FORT ST JOHN GRABENSEPTIMUS BASIN– SEPTIMUS BASIN

From: Barclay et al Bulletin of Canadian P t l G lPetroleum Geology Vol 38A Dec 1990

From: Dr. ZeevBerger, CSPG Reservoir Issue 2, February 2009

INDUCED SEISMICITY IN NEBC

1985 –2004

2004 –Present

Where are we at today?• >1000 proven/possible induced events

270 kilometres (168 miles)

p /p(mag 1 to 4.3)

• 6 events > magnitude 4.0, max event 4.3• 20+ events reported ‘felt’• Wellbore damage??

• Deformed casing at Etsho (?)C i d S ti (?)• Casing damage near Septimus (?)

• Cement damage (??)

CNSN array coverage 800

900Sample of event ratios

Seismicity red dots

coverage

200300400500600700

Series1

P d CNSN t ti

red dots0

100

Mag 1-2 Mag 2-3 Mag 3-4

Original CNSN seismograph stations

Proposed CNSN station

560 kilometres(348 miles)

Caribou – frac IS?, disposal IS?

SEISMICITY INCIDENTS UNDER REVIEW

Beg – frac IS?, disposal IS?

Graham – disposal IS ? Eagle/Eagle West –waterflood IS

Altares –Altares –Montney frac IS

Septimus –f IS?

Doe/Dawson fracIS?

frac IS?, disposal IS?

89 events, Mar 1985 – July 2013

Water-flood induced• Events areally confined• Pressure controlled , y

TATTOO7 EVENTS

(MAG 2.4 TO 3.1)

DEC 2011

TATTOO

ETSHO

31 EVENTS

(MAG 2.2 TO 3.8)

APRIL 2009 TO JULY 2011JULY 2011

Etsho-Tattoo (Mag vs Time)

2

3

4( g )

Mag

0

1

12/18/2008 07/06/2009 01/22/2010 08/10/2010 02/26/2011 09/14/2011 04/01/2012 10/18/2012 05/06/2013

d-1-D Pad

Frac- induced seismicity: occurs wi th in 300m of

in ject ion po int –

wellboresin ject ion po int in ject ion po int t rave ls

usual l y occur s wi th in 15 hr s of in jec t ion

s tops w i th end o f f rac ing

f i d t conf ined to re -act i vat ion zones

not t r iggered f rom d is tant in ject ion po ints

most ly in ta rget zoney g

Mitigation P u m p r a te s

Etsho Kiwiganag Tattoo

byp a s s i n g s t a g e s ex i t re -ac t i va t ion zone F l owb a c k

216 events (1 .0 to 3 .0Mw)

• 197 events (1 .0 to 2.0Mw)

0940

• 19 events (2.0 to 3.0Mw)

SHALE GAS FRAC-INDUCED EVENTS(MAGNITUDE VS TIME)

Sh l  G  F I d d E t

(MAGNITUDE VS TIME)

3.5

Shale Gas Frac‐Induced Events(Magnitude vs Time)

2.5

3Reactivation zone

1.5

2

magnitudeFault movement baseline?

0.5

1

006‐18‐2011 06‐25‐2011 07‐02‐2011 07‐09‐2011 07‐16‐2011 07‐23‐2011 07‐30‐2011 08‐06‐2011 08‐13‐2011 08‐20‐2011

‘ f au l t d r i ven events ’ – b - va lues 1 .1 to 1 .2

‘ f rac tu re d r i ven events ’ – b - va lues 1 .9

3.5Sh l  G  F I d d E t  

events > 0 .5ML were ‘ fau l t d r i ven ’

2.5

3

Shale Gas Frac‐Induced Events (Mag vs Time)

1.5

2

0

0.5

1 mag

7 day intervals0

6/23/12 6/30/12 7/7/12 7/14/12 7/21/12 7/28/12 8/4/12 8/11/12 8/18/12 8/25/12 9/1/12 9/8/12 9/15/12 9/22/12 9/29/12 10/6/12 10/13/12 10/20/12 10/27/12 11/3/12 11/10/12 11/17/12 11/24/12 12/1/12 12/8/12

1

1.5

2

2.5

Series1

0

0.5

0 50 100

b-value = 0.7-1.0b-value = 1.0

b-value = 0.7

122 events, mag 1.6-4.0, Mar 2001- Sept 2013• Distant epicentres• Spatially randomp y• Magnitudes increase

w/volume

Water disposal well

4

5

Septimus Mag vs Time 122 events, Mag 0.2-4.2ML, Feb Aug 2013

1

2

3

4

Magnitude

Feb-Aug 2013

001/26/13 03/17/13 05/06/13 06/25/13 08/14/13

From: Dr. Zeev Berger, CSPG Reservoir Issue 10, November 2008

From: BCOGC MontneyFormation Play Atlas, October 2012, Mark Hayes

4

Beg Mag vs Time

0

1

2

3

Mag

008/18/2013 08/20/2013 08/22/2013 08/24/2013 08/26/2013 08/28/2013 08/30/2013 09/01/2013

10 events

Mag 1.5 - 3.4

Aug 2013

Seven events

Doe-DawsonOctober 18 to 28thMagnitude 1.4 – 2.7Six felt events

CONCERNS

Surface EffectsSurface Effects

Ground motion Public safety

Property Property damage

Disposal Wells

Wellbore Integrity Casing deformation

Wells

Reservoir breakthrough

Aquifer contamination

MONITORING

CNSNCNSN

Portable Dense Array

Dense arrays in place or planned

NOTIFICATION AND CONSULTATIONNOTIFICATION AND CONSULTATION

Cons l tat ion Informat ion shar ing phase &

Detect ion

Recorded by CNSN or d

Consultat ion - In format ion shar ing phase & Moni tor ing Recommendat ions

Describe known incidents and mitigation options to Operator

dense arrays

Felt Reports

Noti f icat ion

Recommend installation of dense array to identify accurate hypocentres

Recommend using dense array data to implement mitigation strategy

Phone calls

Info Collection Questionnaire

Area operations?

Bypass injection (stages) near re-activation zones

Avoid known problem faults – “we know which faults to look out for”p

Microseismic?

Known faults?

Felt reports or

which faults to look out for

Submit routine seismicity reports to OGC

Current requi rements spec i f ic to Order or Permit

Suspend operations if Magnitude 4.0 event wellbore damage?

p p gdetected

Report all events > Magnitude 2.0

REGULATORY INITIATIVESREGULATORY INITIATIVES

Formalize operational reporting requirements Actively fracing wellbores – near real-time reports

Dense array deployments – where, when, regular reports

Require microseismic monitoring when fracing near disposal wells

Require enhanced monitoring in high-risk areas, disposal q g g , pwells, ‘felt’ areas

Report magnitude 2.0 events and suspend operations at Magnitude 4.0g

Submission of microseismic

Disposal Wells – ongoing Engineering review

Wellbore Integrity – post event testing

Thanks

Lori DenysMark Hayes

Aron BirdJef f Johnson

Sara LiTHANK Verna Kazakof fCur t is KitchenKelly Okuszko

OGC Field

THANK YOU

OGC Field Inspectors

Dr. Honn KaoDr. Amanda

Bustin

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