700211Oil & Gas Fracture Monitoring Using SeismometersClosedGRD Proof of MarketInnovate UKThe oil and gas industry has been transformed recently due to the discovery of large untapped reservoirs containing ‘unconventional’ oil and gas. These resources are located in non-porous rock where the oil and gas flows extremely slowly, making the reservoirs uneconomic to produce. Production has been made economic by creating thousands of fractures in the rock that allow the oil to flow. Due to environmental concerns, including contamination of ground water and generating small earthquakes, many fracturing process are now monitored. Legislation in some countries requires monitoring and this is rapidly spreading to further countries. Both geophones and seismometers are used in oil and gas exploration, but currently only geophones are used for fracture monitoring. We believe that the use of seismometers for oil and gas fracture monitoring is innovative and that there may be a considerable market opportunity due to the advantages seismometers provide over geophones. The objective of our project is to investigate the commercial viability of a service to monitor oil and gas fracturing operations using seismometers. We will evaluate this opportunity by engaging with stakeholders in the market including oil operators, oil service companies and fracturing operators. We will also characterise the competition and speak with regulatory bodies and industry experts. We aim to generate 5 year financial projections for this market opportunity. To achieve this we will define our target pricing and quantify the investment required to design and procure the equipment required to deliver this innovative service.