Sponsored Session: Geothermal Analysis and Reservoir Management, including a case study for The Geysers

Calpine Corporation have been leveraging Emerson’s SKUA-GOCAD solutions for 3D model building and visualization since 2011 to aid with 3D induced seismicity analysis and mitigation efforts for The Geysers Geothermal Field.
Calpine initially utilized well-developed workflows for the animation of spatiotemporal relationships between water injection rates and resulting induced seismicity throughout The Geysers. It soon became clear that Emerson’s SKUA-GOCAD workflows would allow the flexibility to constrain Geysers’ 3D structural model with a broad range of existing data, including more than 900 lithology logs, steam entries, temperature logs, pressure logs, tracer patterns, heat flow patterns, non-condensable gas patterns, surface geologic maps and induced seismicity hypocenter patterns.
Utilizing this data, Calpine committed the necessary resources towards building a fieldwide 3D structural model, and the detailed analysis capabilities within the software have improved Calpine’s understanding of The Geysers, including its complex 3D subsurface structure, fluid flow paths and boundaries, reservoir heterogeneity and compartmentalization.
In addition, the software’s advanced visualization allows the continuously evolving 3D model to be used as a communication tool across disciplines. Calpine’s subsurface specialists are using it for planning water injection and steam production wells, real-time drilling monitoring (with daily updates to directional surveys and lithology information), and frequent public outreach regarding induced seismicity and risk mitigation.