Optimizing of operational strategies in producting gas fields mitigating induced seismic risk

Pore pressure changes caused by the production of gas from reservoir rocks result in reservoir compaction, stress changes on faults, potential fault reactivation and related seismic activity. This seismic activity is expected to be affected by the amount of pressure change, the spatial distribution of the pressure changes relative to the distribution of the faults and the rate at which the pressure changes occur. One of the options to mitigate seismicity in the field during ongoing depletion is to reduce production in areas of high seismicity rates and/or to maintain pressures by local injection. Therefore, seismic activity can potentially be reduced by optimizing the production strategy of a field.