Continuous deep microseismic monitoring of the Karachaganak Field, Kazakhstan: integrating reservoir geoscience, drilling and engineering

The Karachaganak Field is an oil and gas condensate supergiant field located in the western Kazakhstan Pricaspian Basin. As part of the challenge to improve reservoir knowledge, KPO has been continuously monitoring the reservoir using a microseismic array deployed downhole since February 2009. Continuous deep recording of microseismic activity is an innovative technique for reservoir monitoring; progressive refinements were made to fine-tune the acquisition and processing techniques. By December 2010, 8074 events had been detected and, from this group, 2556 events have been located. Events within the reservoir were recorded up to 8 km from the array to a depth of 5 km with moment magnitudes (Mw) ranging from −2.4 to +1. Microseismic events are continuously located and their spatial and temporal distribution analysed. This basic analysis is the input to an integrated study that considers the static model for the reservoir, in addition to dynamic and operational aspects such as production and injection rates, pressure baffles, drilling behaviour and casing perforations. The results to date indicate valuable reservoir information concerning the location of lateral and vertical reservoir pressure baffles and delineation of zones of instability at the reservoir–seal interface, important for well integrity issues. This new information is helping to improve dynamic and geomechanical reservoir models and also wellbore stability predictions.

This article presents the details of the Karachaganak microseismic array and how microseismic events were located. Discussion follows on the interpretation and the possible impact on reservoir monitoring and drilling. The Karachaganak array is one of the deepest installations of a passive microseismic monitoring system and also represents one of the longer periods of continuous monitoring, with two years of data available.