Using Microseismicity to Estimate Formation Permeability for Geological Storage of CO2

Abstract

We investigate two approaches for estimating formation permeability based on microseismic data. The two approaches differ in terms of the mechanism that triggers the seismicity: pore-pressure triggering mechanism and the so-called seepage-force (or effective stress) triggering mechanism. Based on microseismic data from a hydraulic fracture experiment using water and supercritical CO2 injection, we estimate permeability using the two different approaches. The microseismic data comes from two hydraulic stimulation treatments that were performed on two formation intervals having similar geological, geomechanical, and in situ stress conditions, yet different injection fluid was used. Both approaches (pore-pressure triggering, and the seepage-force triggering) provide estimates of permeability within the same order of magnitude. However, the seepage-force mechanism (i.e., effective stress perturbation) provides more consistent estimates of permeability between the two different injection fluids. The results show that permeability estimates using microseismic monitoring have strong potential to constrain formation permeability limitations for large-scale CO2 injection.