To frac or not to frac: assessing potential damage as related to hydraulic fracture induced seismicity

摘要

Concerns about seismic hazards during hydraulic fracturing, and other stimulation and injection practices in the petroleum industry has reached a crossroads in the last few years. Incidents in Blackpool, England, Fox Creek, Alberta, the general increase in seismicity in areas such as Oklahoma and Kansas, to name a few, have shined a light on the potential of hydrocarbon field operations to generate seismicity at levels that are of public concern. In general, to address these concerns, a number of jurisdictions have instituted various 'traffic-light' systems to govern the response of the industry to the potential occurrence of significant magnitude events. Generally, these protocols dictate that below a certain magnitude threshold, no response is necessary; once an event is in the 'amber' magnitude range, reporting to the regulator may entail more frequency and/ or injections that need to be moderated. Finally, once an event is in the 'red' magnitude range, the injection in some jurisdictions could be halted. The exact application of these protocols, due to the nature of this approach, varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Further, there has been poor time correlation between injection periods and the occurrence of induced seismic events with many occurring outside time periods we would commonly associate with fluid injection.