Fracture Quality From Integrating Time-Lapse VSP and Microseismic Data

We present a new methodology to characterize the quality of hydraulic fractures by extracting the amount of scattered seismic energy from the induced fractures. A 3D VSP is collected over the field before and after the hydraulic fracturing is performed. Microseismic recordings of the hydraulic fracturing treatment form the basis for imaging operators. These imaging operators are used on the time lapse (difference) VSP volumes to extract the amount and angular variation in amplitude of scattered energy. Model results show that compliant, open fractures produce larger amounts of scattering than stiff, closed fractures. It may also be possible to use the azimuthal variation in scattered energy as an additional indicator of fracture compliance.