Induced Seismicity Forecasting with Uncertainty Quantification: Application to the Groningen Gas Field

Abstract

Reservoir operations for gas extraction, fluid disposal, carbon dioxide storage, or geothermal energy production are capable of inducing seismicity. Modeling tools exist for seismicity forecasting using operational data, but the computational costs and uncertainty quantification (UQ) pose challenges. We address this issue in the context of seismicity induced by gas production from the Groningen gas field using an integrated modeling framework, which combines reservoir modeling, geomechanical modeling, and stress-based earthquake forecasting. The framework is computationally efficient thanks to a 2D finite-element reservoir model, which assumes vertical flow equilibrium, and the use of semianalytical solutions to calculate poroelastic stress changes and predict seismicity rate. The earthquake nucleation model is based on rate-and-state friction and allows for an initial strength excess so that the faults are not assumed initially critically stressed. We estimate uncertainties in the predicted number of earthquakes and magnitudes. To reduce the computational costs, we assume that the stress model is true, but our UQ algorithm is general enough that the uncertainties in reservoir and stress models could be incorporated. We explore how the selection of either a Poisson or a Gaussian likelihood influences the forecast. We also use a synthetic catalog to estimate the improved forecasting performance that would have resulted from a better seismicity detection threshold. Finally, we use tapered and nontapered Gutenberg–Richter distributions to evaluate the most probable maximum magnitude over time and account for uncertainties in its estimation. Although we did not formally account for uncertainties in the stress model, we tested several alternative stress models, and found negligible impact on the predicted temporal evolution of seismicity and forecast uncertainties. Our study shows that the proposed approach yields realistic estimates of the uncertainties of temporal seismicity and is applicable for operational forecasting or induced seismicity monitoring. It can also be used in probabilistic traffic light systems.