Injection and Induced Seismicity in Texas
Presenter
Peter Hennings
Research Professor
Bureau of Economic Geology
Jackson School of Geosciences
The University of Texas at Austin
Description
“When you produce fluids from the subsurface you learn things, when you inject fluids into the subsurface you learn much more” is an important aphorism that petroleum geoscientists and engineers learn as they manage subsurface reservoirs. In this regard, over the last ~15 years the petroleum industry has been conducting what amounts to a grand geomechanical experiment in the U.S. mid-continent and Permian Basin region by injecting over 50 billion barrels of produced wastewater – mainly the byproduct of unconventional oil production from tight reservoirs. This journey of injection-induced seismicity reveals Texas to be an exquisite laboratory within which to study aspects of anthropogenic fault rupture and seismicity. Now in its 10th year, the Bureau’s Center for Injection and Seismicity Research has conducted many technically integrated mechanistic studies spanning the most problematic areas of injection-induced seismicity in Texas. What has been achieved during this decade of research, and the implications for all system undergoing large-scale injection, will be reviewed. Many questions remain that will drive future research.
