New technologies have raised the likelihood that large amounts of domestic natural gas will be available in enormous quantities into the distant future. The importance and impact of shale gas extraction continues to grow as energy companies tap into new, previously unreachable deposits. Specifically, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing,(also known as fracking)  the injection  of massive amounts of water and a few chemicals and sand deep into well bores to free up shale gas, are now widespread and critical to the growth of shale
gas recovery, say industry experts.

But it hasn’t come without controversy.

By David A. Hill, Executive Editor

INTRODUCTION

The fracking process has raised the ire of environmentalists and others concerned about its impacts on water supplies and human health. Their concern focuses on the exact makeup of fracking fluid, a recipe closely-guarded by each firm. Usually no one aside from the company injecting the water and chemicals into the ground has any idea which chemicals are being used. 

The utilization of fracking is taking on added importance since the recent introduction of legislation in Congress, known as the FRAC (Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals) Act, which would give the EPA regulatory authority over the practice. In addition, the EPA was asked to take a second look at the effects of fracking on groundwater as part of a $32 billion appropriations bill passed late last year. The agency recently agreed to undertake a two-year ‘lifecycle’ approach to analyze the technique.

Amidst this backdrop, we thought it would be an opportune time to check in with the CEO of a technology company actively involved with the fracking process,  a company that, on the surface, would seemingly benefit from potential federal regulations for hydraulic fracturing.

The CEO is Peter Duncan and the company is MicroSeismic, Inc., with offices in Houston and Denver.

The company is co-sponsoring “Fracking and the Environment: the 9^th Annual Shale Gas Summit” taking place in Houston early next month. We wanted to learn more about MicroSeismic’s approach to the process and how it is helping natural gas players manage risk. It seems that this technology organization is changing the way hydraulic fracturing is viewed - literally.

GETTING THE TRUE PICTURE

Founded in 2003, MicroSeismic, Inc. (MSI) has become a leader in microseismic monitoring and passive seismic imaging.

What is microseismic monitoring?
The practice of listening to the indigenous seismic noise emitted around and from a reservoir in order to directly detect such things as patterns of fluid movement, fracture development or compaction. The detection and analysis of these patterns enables improved reservoir management. Passive seismic imaging is 3-D structural imaging using existing, naturally occurring, sound sources, rather than man-made sources such as dynamite or vibrators. Passive seismic technology enables seismic exploration in places that are difficult to reach or environmentally sensitive. 

CEO Duncan is nothing if not ambitious. His stated goal is to make his company the most recognized and respected provider of passive seismic and microseismic data acquisition, analysis and interpretation in the world. No small goal, for sure, but he has the science  and the experience to make it happen.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

The concept of mapping where fluids are going is not a new one, and, in fact, dates back to the late ’60’s. Original patents were granted in this area in 1973 based on work with origins in Colorado. Early applications were in the oilfield as well as mining and geothermal exploration. The problem until the last decade or so has been the lack of equipment - hardward and software - — capable of detecting and visualizing extremely small microseismic activities.

“You had to go down very deep, near to the reservoir and that wasn’t practical.

Gradually, imaging technology improved to the point that by the late 90’s, underground reservoir monitoring, including some hydraulic fracturing, was having some success using a technology in which borehole geophones placed near  reservoir depth were able to detect where rocks were fracturing.

“By 2005, two-to-three percent of fractured wells were being monitored. Pinnacle Technologies, now a Haliburton subsidiary, was the market leader at the time but the value proposition of the process was still being proved to the industry, especially to the gas field personnel and completion engineers.”

According to Duncan, the technology that enables operators to view the fracturing process, “to know with a high degree of confidence where rock has been fractured, and where it has not, — has really only been available for the last 10 years.”

REAL TIME IMAGING

MicroSeismic’s technology centers on 3D seismic data processing performed on data recorded with a large areally distributed surface array and not requiring well bore equipment positioned deep underground. This has driven monitoring costs down substantially. In essence, personnel can monitor the fracking process in real time from aboveground.

“When this technology began being used by energy companies, they would generally monitor only a handful of wells and project the results out across the field. The expensive nature of it precluded more wells from using it,” says Duncan. “But gradually the industry realized that, if costs could be reduced, there was value in having a higher percentage of wells monitored.

Today, some companies still believe they only need to use seismic data processing on the first few wells drilled, but more and more large operators now say they plan to monitor between 30-50% of the total number of wells in a play. Real time monitoring enables personnel to see the actual rock fracturing process at depths of 7,000-8,000 feet, and even as deep as 15,000 feet in some cases. 

“We now have developed monitoring technology that allows an operator to actually watch these rocks fracking in real time,” says Duncan. “With this real time monitoring, if the fracturing process moves outside the reservoir, we can shut it down within 10-15 minutes. Using fracturing models that provide feedback, we can create boundaries of how far away you can fracture geological formations.”

Another major contributor to cost reduction is the development of geophones which are buried 100 to 300 feet into the ground in permanent  locations throughout a field. These devices are available to the operator for the life of the field and negate the need for a large seismic crew at a well’s surface. The geophone stations monitoring capabilities are available to an operator 24/7 and can be remotely run, with data radioed in and information processed immediately. Because every well can be monitored this way, unit monitoring cost are driven down.

MicroSeismic, Inc’s 3D technique  involves identifying very small seismic signals using a beam steering approach. This enables the company to build a field-wide monitoring system of a shale gas reserve. Each permanent array design has a custom aspect to it, with three to four stations buried in a square mile, depending on local noise and specific geology. The fundamentals of each installation, including the methodologies of data recording are pretty much the same, notwithstanding the minor changes at a given location, depending on  the nature of the rock, the local “noise” and topography.

Helpful Image: A single MicroSeismic FracStar® Surface Array is used to monitor five wells in the Marcellus

TO REGULATE OR NOT

“With costs coming down and technology enabling well monitoring in real time, there is a growing appreciation that you’re able to tell what’s going on … and what happened,” says Duncan. Previously, when something out of the ordinary occurred with a fracking process, only the timing and placement of frack events could be determined.

“Now we can actually see the fracking motion direction, determine what kinds of fractures are being made in the reservoir, where actual rock breaking is occurring and what locations appear to be the best for extraction.”

All this supports Duncan’s contention,that  microseismic monitoring can reduce the risk of  environmental hazards caused by the fracking process..

“We are no any longer fracking rock formations deep underground in a blind manner, and making simplistic models and assumptions of what we think the fracturing process is like. Today, we can narrow it down to within tens of meters to see where rocks have been broken and where fracturing has taken place and, implicitly, where the hydro fractured fluids are going.”

In fact, according to Duncan, companies using MicroSeismic’s technology “can determine if a cementing job and tubing failure would be a more likely cause of potable water contamination, instead of fracking at such a major depth.”.

You would think that Duncan and his company would welcome federal regulation of the fracking process by some advocates. But, it isn’t that simple.

“My experience suggests that if a technology exists, regulators are going to say operators should be doing it on all wells, and that would be unnecessary.” Duncan says. “Let’s remember that energy companies are incentivized to be efficient with their fracking processes,” he reminds us. “They don’t want to waste energy and time fracking rocks outside the reservoir and they certainly don’t want to cause environmental problems. It is simply not in their best interests.”

Duncan thinks the possibility exists that potential federal regulations could reduce the process of monitoring fracturing to a simplistic and arbitrary approach. Such an approach could be driven not by science but by over simplified criteria that may not be practical or the best approach from an environmental standpoint

THE CONFERENCE

That is why Duncan views the upcoming Shale Gas Conference of strategic importance to all the stakeholder groups involved with hydraulic fracturing.

“Shale gas can be a game changer for the energy policy of the country. Estimates of recoverable domestic shale gas exceed 500 trillion cubic feet. This two-day meeting brings together professionals from the energy industry, technology, government policy and environmental sectors, for an open discussion on fracking and its importance to the country and to the environment of the natural gas business. Specifically, how the development of hydraulic fracturing is done, the steps taken to monitor the process, how we use what we learn from monitoring to design a fracking process, the controls we place, and more.” notes Duncan.

“This is a much needed discussion that will take place in Houston,” Duncan concludes.

Nice timing, for sure.