none 10.1190/1.3477966 Society of Exploration Geophysicists Society of Exploration Geophysicists 186 44578266 5981 2025121114484354900 10.1190 2025-12-11T19:48:57Z 2010-09-15T16:33:02Z 388 Geophysics 1942-2156 0016-8033 2010 01 01 2010 75 5 Petroleum reservoir characterization using downhole microseismic monitoring S. C. Maxwell 1Schlumberger, Hydraulic Fracture Monitoring, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. E-mail: smaxwell@slb.com. J. Rutledge 2Los Alamos National Laboratory, Geophysics Group, Los Alamos, New Mexico, U.S.A. E-mail: jrutledge@lanl.gov. R. Jones 3Schlumberger Cambridge Research, Cambridge, U.K. E-mail: rjones23@slb.com. M. Fehler 4Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A. E-mail: fehler@mit.edu. Abstract Imaging of microseismic data is the process by which we use information about the source locations, timing, and mechanisms of the induced seismic events to make inferences about the structure of a petroleum reservoir or the changes that accompany injections into or production from the reservoir. A few key projects were instrumental in the development of downhole microseismic imaging. Most recent microseismic projects involve imaging hydraulic-fracture stimulations, which has grown into a widespread fracture diagnostic technology. This growth in the application of the technology is attributed to the success of imaging the fracture complexity of the Barnett Shale in the Fort Worth basin, Texas, and the commercial value of the information obtained to improvecompletions and ultimately production in the field. The use of commercial imaging in the Barnett is traced back to earlier investigations to prove the technology with the Cotton Valley imaging project and earlier experiments at the M-Site in the Piceance basin, Colorado. Perhaps the earliest example of microseismic imaging using data from downhole recording was a hydraulic fracture monitored in 1974, also in the Piceance basin. However, early work is also documented where investigators focused on identifying microseismic trace characteristics without attempting to locate the microseismic sources. Applications of microseismic reservoir monitoring can be tracked from current steam-injection imaging, deformation associated with reservoir compaction in the Yibal field in Oman and the Ekofisk and Valhall fields in the North Sea, and production-induced activity in Kentucky, U.S.A. 2010 01 01 2010 09 14 2010 75A129 75A137 10.1190/1.3477966 https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geophysics/article/75/5/75A129/301138/Petroleum-reservoir-characterization-using https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/seg/geophysics/article-pdf/75/5/75A129/3218452/gsgpy_75_5_75A129.pdf https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/seg/geophysics/article-pdf/75/5/75A129/3218452/gsgpy_75_5_75A129.pdf http://geophysics.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/doi/10.1190/1.3477966 68th Conference & Technical Exhibition Al-Anboori 2006 10.3997/2214-4609.201402236 Fracture-induced frequency-dependent anisotropy, Yibal field, Oman 68th Conference & Technical Exhibition Al-Anboori 2006 10.3997/2214-4609.201402237 Spatial variations in microseismic focal 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