Fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensing of microseismicity, strain and temperature during hydraulic fracturing

Abstract

Hydraulic fracturing operations in unconventional reservoirs are typically monitored using geophones located either at the surface or in the adjacent wellbores. A new approach to record hydraulic stimulations uses fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensing (DAS). A fiber-optic cable was installed in a treatment well in the Meramec formation to monitor the hydraulic fracture stimulation of an unconventional reservoir. A variety of physical effects, such as temperature, strain, and microseismicity are measured and correlated with the treatment program during hydraulic fracturing of the well containing the fiber and also an adjacent well. The analysis of this DAS data set demonstrates that current fiber-optic technology provides enough sensitivity to detect a considerable number of microseismic events and that these events can be integrated with temperature and strain measurements for comprehensive hydraulic fracture monitoring.