Monitoring surface deformation over oilfield using MT-InSAR and production well data

TL;DR

This study employs the SBAS InSAR technique to monitor surface subsidence in Iran's Marun oilfield, revealing a maximum of 13.5 mm/year subsidence and correlating ground deformation with oil extraction rates.

Contribution

It demonstrates the application of SBAS InSAR for detecting and analyzing oilfield surface deformation and its relation to hydrocarbon production.

Findings

Maximum subsidence of 13.5 mm/year detected

Good correlation between surface displacement and oil production

InSAR effectively monitors hydrocarbon extraction impacts

Abstract

Surface displacements associated with the average subsidence due to hydrocarbon exploitation in southwest of Iran which has a long history in oil production, can lead to significant damages to surface and subsurface structures, and requires serious consideration. In this study, the Small BAseline Subset (SBAS) approach, which is a multi-temporal Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) algorithm was employed to resolve ground deformation in the Marun region, Iran. A total of 22 interferograms were generated using 10 Envisat ASAR images. The mean velocity map obtained in the Line-Of-Sight (LOS) direction of satellite to the ground reveals the maximum subsidence on order of 13.5 mm per year over the field due to both tectonic and non-tectonic features. In order to assess the effect of non-tectonic features such as petroleum extraction on ground surface displacement, the results of InSAR have been compared with the oil production rate, which have shown a good agreement.