Engineering Seismology Group
Encyclopedia
ESG Solutions is a geophysical products and services company specializing in microseismic monitoring. ESG manufactures and installs microseismic instrumentation and performs microseismic data processing and interpretation services. It is headquartered in Kingston
, Ontario
, Canada
, with offices in Calgary
, Houston, Denver, Amsterdam
, Dubai
, Beijing
and Changsha.
, Ontario
, Canada
that was performing research on a form of seismology
called microseismics, or 'passive seismic
'.
s that are induced by industrial processes such as mining or oil production. In the 1980s, many mines in northern Ontario were experiencing increased seismic activity, including a large rockburst which killed 4 miners in Sudbury in 1984. In response to this accident, a consortium of mining companies was established with government support to develop monitoring systems to acquire seismic waveforms and to study the causes and mechanisms of rockbursts. The research lab at Queen’s University set out to develop instrumentation, software and processing routines to locate the source of microseismic activity in mines, and when the lab disbanded in the early 1990s, ESG’s founders continued this work in a commercial capacity.
stimulations in the Cotton Valley fields in East Texas through the Cotton Valley Hydraulic Fracture Imaging Consortium Project.
Currently, ESG is active in providing microseismic monitoring services for hydraulic fracture stimulations throughout North America, including in the Horn River Basin
and the Marcellus shale
, long-term reservoir monitoring of thermal steam injection
projects in Canada and CO2 sequestration and gas storage projects.
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, with offices in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Houston, Denver, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
and Changsha.
History
ESG Solutions was founded in 1993 as Engineering Seismology Group Inc. The company performs microseismic monitoring services for the oil and gas, mining and geotechnical industries, but its roots lie in microseismic monitoring for the Canadian mining industry. The group was loosely formed out of the Engineering Seismology Lab at Queen’s University in KingstonKingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
that was performing research on a form of seismology
Seismology
Seismology is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other planet-like bodies. The field also includes studies of earthquake effects, such as tsunamis as well as diverse seismic sources such as volcanic, tectonic, oceanic,...
called microseismics, or 'passive seismic
Passive seismic
Passive seismic is the detection of natural low frequency earth movements, usually with the purpose of discerning geological structure and locate underground oil, gas, or other resources. Usually the data listening is done in multiple measurement points that are separated by several hundred meters,...
'.
Early History in the Mining Industry
Microseismic science is the study of very small scale earthquakeEarthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
s that are induced by industrial processes such as mining or oil production. In the 1980s, many mines in northern Ontario were experiencing increased seismic activity, including a large rockburst which killed 4 miners in Sudbury in 1984. In response to this accident, a consortium of mining companies was established with government support to develop monitoring systems to acquire seismic waveforms and to study the causes and mechanisms of rockbursts. The research lab at Queen’s University set out to develop instrumentation, software and processing routines to locate the source of microseismic activity in mines, and when the lab disbanded in the early 1990s, ESG’s founders continued this work in a commercial capacity.
Application of Microseismics in the Energy Sector
ESG monitored well stimulations using microseismic instrumentation to define event locations and source mechanisms and analyzed microseismicity associated with compaction in the North Sea Ekofisk and Valhall fields. In 1997, ESG applied microseismics to shale gas extraction by providing geometric and fracture growth characteristics for hydraulic fractureHydraulic fracturing
Considerable controversy surrounds the current implementation of hydraulic fracturing technology in the United States. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of utilizing pressurized water, or some other liquid, to fracture rock layers and release petroleum, natural gas, or other...
stimulations in the Cotton Valley fields in East Texas through the Cotton Valley Hydraulic Fracture Imaging Consortium Project.
Currently, ESG is active in providing microseismic monitoring services for hydraulic fracture stimulations throughout North America, including in the Horn River Basin
Horn River Formation
The Horn River Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Devonian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.It takes the name from the Horn River, a tributary of the Mackenzie River, and was first described in outrop on the banks of Horn River in the Northwest Territories by Whittaker in 1922...
and the Marcellus shale
Marcellus Formation
The Marcellus Formation is a unit of marine sedimentary rock found in eastern North America...
, long-term reservoir monitoring of thermal steam injection
Steam injection (oil industry)
Steam injection is an increasingly common method of extracting heavy oil. It is considered an enhanced oil recovery method and is the main type of thermal stimulation of oil reservoirs. There are several different forms of the technology, with the two main ones being Cyclic Steam Stimulation and...
projects in Canada and CO2 sequestration and gas storage projects.