Seismic velocity changes in the Groningen reservoir associated with distant drilling

Wen Zhou; Hanneke Paulssen

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-22351-5

Seismic velocity changes in the Groningen reservoir associated with distant drilling

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

In this study, we show that passively recorded data of nearby passing trains by a deep borehole geophone array could be linked to fluctuations of the gas-water contact in the Groningen reservoir in The Netherlands. During a period of 1.5 months, changes of inter-geophone P-wave travel times were detected by deconvolution interferometry of the recorded train signals. P-to-S converted waves, obtained by deconvolution of the horizontal component by the vertical component at individual geophones, showed simultaneous variations. The observed travel-time changes could be related to fluctuations of the gas-water contact in the observation well caused by pressure variations at a well drilling 4.5 km away. The ∼ 3.5 day delay between drilling in the reservoir and the seismic response yields a hydraulic diffusivity of approximately 5 m2/s and suggests that the pressure front is effectively propagated over such a long distance. Our observations illustrate that downhole geophone arrays can be used to monitor changes in the subsurface if repeating noise sources are available, and that unexpected effects may occur due to drilling.

Original language	English
Article number	17523
Pages (from-to)	1-9
Number of pages	9
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	12
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22351-5
Publication status	Published - Dec 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank NAM for providing us with the seismic data and other types of information. Ronald Pijnenburg and Chris Spiers informed us about the ZRP-3 drilling activities. Jan van Elk, Steve Oates and other NAM colleagues, as well as André Niemeijer, Jianye Chen, Peter Fokker, Ivan Vasconcelos, Yuntao Ji, and Annemarie Muntendam-Bos are thanked for helpful discussions. We thank Florent Brenguier and four anonymous reviewers for their helpful and constructive comments. This project has been funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant agreement No. 642029-ITN CREEP.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).

Keywords

Fault
Fluid
Permeability
Sensitivity
Stress
Waves

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Cite this

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abstract = "In this study, we show that passively recorded data of nearby passing trains by a deep borehole geophone array could be linked to fluctuations of the gas-water contact in the Groningen reservoir in The Netherlands. During a period of 1.5 months, changes of inter-geophone P-wave travel times were detected by deconvolution interferometry of the recorded train signals. P-to-S converted waves, obtained by deconvolution of the horizontal component by the vertical component at individual geophones, showed simultaneous variations. The observed travel-time changes could be related to fluctuations of the gas-water contact in the observation well caused by pressure variations at a well drilling 4.5 km away. The ∼ 3.5 day delay between drilling in the reservoir and the seismic response yields a hydraulic diffusivity of approximately 5 m2/s and suggests that the pressure front is effectively propagated over such a long distance. Our observations illustrate that downhole geophone arrays can be used to monitor changes in the subsurface if repeating noise sources are available, and that unexpected effects may occur due to drilling.",

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author = "Wen Zhou and Hanneke Paulssen",

note = "Funding Information: We thank NAM for providing us with the seismic data and other types of information. Ronald Pijnenburg and Chris Spiers informed us about the ZRP-3 drilling activities. Jan van Elk, Steve Oates and other NAM colleagues, as well as Andr{\'e} Niemeijer, Jianye Chen, Peter Fokker, Ivan Vasconcelos, Yuntao Ji, and Annemarie Muntendam-Bos are thanked for helpful discussions. We thank Florent Brenguier and four anonymous reviewers for their helpful and constructive comments. This project has been funded by the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant agreement No. 642029-ITN CREEP. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s).",

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Seismic velocity changes in the Groningen reservoir associated with distant drilling

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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