Reservoir Characterization of a Shale-Gas Play in the Duvernay Formation using Seismic, Microseismic, and Well Log Data

The Duvernay Formation, located in central Alberta, Canada, is mainly an organic-rich shale highly attractive as a source rock for conventional oil and gas reservoirs, and more recently also very attractive for exploitation as unconventional shale plays. The development of these types of plays requires the implementation of unconventional techniques as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to increase the permeability of the reservoir. To assess the performance of a hydraulic fracturing stimulation, microseismic monitoring can be implemented to track the fractures propagation and estimate the effective stimulated reservoir volume. The obtained results of the near-surface microseismic monitoring in a shale-gas play in the Duvernay formation, together with the available 3D seismic and well log data, are assessed to extract key characteristics of the reservoir and to forecast the hydrocarbon productivity after the hydraulic fracturing stimulation.