Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Microseismic events are very small earthquakes that can be associated with fracturing and fluid flow in reservoirs. Long-standing applications of microseismic methods include monitoring of shaft stability in mines and the creation of engineered geothermal systems. These methods are also being used increasingly by the oil and gas industry to monitor hydraulic stimulation of ""tight"" hydrocarbon reservoirs, and steam-injection in heavy-oil fields. 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-gas and tight-oil fields, and monitoring of caprock integrity during in situ heavy-oil exploitation. The current state of microseismic technology is ripe for progress within a recently established university-industry partnership at the Universityof Calgary and the University of Alberta (Microseismic Industry Consortium). The objectives of this collaborative research and development program are: 1) to acquire microseismic field data to test physical models, survey methodology and data-acquisition scenarios; 2) to develop innovative software for processing, visualization and interpretation of microseismic data; 3) to create new knowledge focused on a better understanding of geomechanical processes associated with induced microseismicity; and, 4) to train HQP to meet the growing demands of industry. In particular, this project will provide support for at least 12 B.Sc. 4 M.Sc., 4 Ph.D. students, 4 postdoctoral fellows and 2 field technologists. Acquisition of microseismic dataundertaken as part of this project is enabled by the world's only university-based microseismic system at the University of Calgary, and will provide unparalleled datasets for analysis. The university-industry synergies established through this partnership will create an innovation platform that promises to yield game-changing advances in microseismic technology.