Seismos Inc. and Liberty Energy Corp. on May 4 formed a partnership to expand the toolset for real-time quality control (QC) of stimulation performance, a Seismos press release announced. The companies will focus on maximizing value to E&P operators by offering the Seismos-MWF QC and analytics system alongside Liberty's completion services.

"We are excited to offer the Seismos-MWF system, a completions quality control tool that complements our industry leading portfolio of fracture optimization technologies," Liberty director of technology Dr. Mike Mayerhofer said in the release. "The Seismos-MWF system can provide a cost-effective measurement of stimulation quality in each stage and well."

Through a simple surface connection, the system uses active controlled acoustics to directly probe the near-wellbore fracture network, providing a near-field connectivity index (NFCI) for each stage without a need for downhole equipment or offset well instrumentation.

The connectivity between the fracture system and the wellbore can be an important contributor to productivity at both the well and stage level thus providing information on the quality of the fracture stimulation. The extended data collection of the Seismos-MWF system after each stage also allows for better fracture model calibration with pressure decline data.

The QC metric is used to benchmark in real-time every stimulated stage and well against the best producing wells of a similar geological and reservoir profile. The NFCI targets, 'trained' by a database of 15,000+ stage measurements and production repository, are fine-tuned for the localized acreage and continuously re-calibrated as new production data becomes available, helping Liberty customers optimize fracture designs, make changes while completing the well and improve well performance.

"Every stage counts," Seismos CEO Panos Adamopoulos commented. "The biggest limitation to real-time fracture optimization was the lack of practical, cost-effective technologies that can be applied in every well as mainstream practice."

Based in Austin, Texas, Seismos provides AI-powered acoustic sensing systems enabling real-time, non-intrusive and cost-effective quality control and monitoring for the oil and gas industry.