ESG Solutions was founded in 1993 as Engineering Seismology Group Canada Inc. Today, the company is active in microseismic monitoring projects in the oil and gas, mining, Energy Transition and geotechnical industries but its roots lie in microseismic monitoring for the Canadian mining industry. The group was loosely formed out of a research lab at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario looking at a form of seismology called microseismics, or `passive seismic`.

Our Rich History - 30+ Years of Microseismic Monitoring

Microseismic science is literally the study of very small scale earthquakes that are induced by industrial processes such as mining or oil production. In the 1980’s, many mines in northern Ontario were experiencing increased seismic activity, including a large rockburst which killed 4 miners in Sudbury 1984. In response to this accident, a consortium of mining companies was established with government support to determine whether monitoring microseismic activity could have prevented this tragedy. The research lab at Queen’s University then 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 important work in a commercial capacity.

Retsof Salt Mine, New York

ESG`s first permanent seismic system installation took place at the Retsof Salt Mine in the Genesee Valley near Retsof, New York. In 1994, the Retsof Salt Mine was the largest salt mine in North America, and the second largest in the world. Mining activities had caused the collapse of a 500 by 500 foot piece of the mine celing at a depth of 1,200 feet below the surface. The collapse of the shale celing rock compromised the caprock layer separating the mine from overlying ground water, and the mine began to flood. The failure caused a magnitude 3.6 earthquake that was felt on the surface, as well as release of natural gases, declining aquifer levels and surface subsidence.[4] An ESG seismic system was installed using boreholes and surface-based sensors to evaluate the integrity of the mine as it flooded and track the sinkhole generated at the surface.

Early Hydraulic Fracture Mapping

In the late 1990s, ESG began applying the knowledge gained from work in the mining industry to the oil and gas sector. ESG began monitoring well stimulations using instrumentation installed in treatment wells and remote observation wells to define event locations and source mechanisms. ESG went on to analyze the microseismicity associated with compaction in the North Sea Ekofisk and Valhall fields.

In 1997, ESG pioneered the use of microseismics in shale gas extraction in the Cotton Valley fields in East Texas. Through work with Union Pacific Resources (now Anadarko) ESG obtained geometric and fracture growth characteristics for hydraulic fracture stimulations. The Cotton Valley Hydraulic Fracture Project was initiated in order to determine if microseismicity can be used to accurately map fracture geometry and depict hydraulic fracture growth, and be further employed to improve fracture design (fracture models), optimize the number and location of wells (reservoir drainage), and improve on-site production methodologies.

The findings of this project lead to the development of Fracmap®, the petroleum industry’s first viable commercial hydraulic fracture imaging and interpretation service in January 2000.

Application to EOR installation of and Field-wide Systems

Since 2002, ESG has been active in monitoring EOR activities in the heavy oil sands of Western Canada. Microseismic monitoring has proven to be a valuable resource to map out steam movement during CSS and SAGD operations, as well as ensuring environmental compliance by mapping containment, caprock integrity and well casing failures.

ESG also recently completed the installation of the world’s largest field-wide monitoring system in the Middle East to optimize production activities, and the installation of a permanent microseismic monitoring system at the largest gold mine in the world, located in Indonesia.

Advanced Microseismic Analysis and the ITG

In recent years, ESG has built on years of technical expertise and a reputation as an innovator in the microseismic industry by offering its advanced Enhanced Reservoir Characterization (ERC) analysis to the hydraulic fracture market. This powerful analysis is used to help optimize fracture stimulations by evaluating the failure mechanisms of the rock as fractures develop as well as better understand deformation within a reservoir using statistical methods. For more information, please see Advanced Microseismic Analysis.

The formation of ESG`s Innovation and Technology Group (ITG) in 2015 brought the R&D capabilities for the Global Energy and Mining groups together under the direction of Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Ted Urbancic. In addition to continuing to develop new tools and techniques to analyze and interpret oilfield microseismic data, ESG is working hard to apply many advanced microseismic capabilities developed for oil and gas applications to the mining and geotechnical industries.

Wireline Fracture Mapping

In 2011, ESG re-entered the realm of wireline microseismic acquisition with the purchase a fleet of trucks and wireline tools to serve the US and Canadian markets. ESG successfully launched its wireline monitoring services by monitoring a 10-stage horizontal hydraulic fracture operation in the southern US, providing around-the-clock microseismic monitoring from three vertical observation wells. Since then, ESG has offered complete microseismic monitoring solutions for hydraulic fracture operations throughout the US and Western Canada.

Purchase by Spectris plc.

In 2014, ESG was acquired by Spectris plc., a leading supplier of productivity-enhancing instrumentation and controls. Headquartered in Egham, Surrey, United Kingdom, the Company employs over 8,000 people with offices in more than 30 countries. For more information, visit www.spectris.com

In 2015, Spectris acquired Spectraseis, a leading supplier of microseismic monitoring technology and analysis solutions to customers in the oil and gas and minig sectors. The company has been integrated into ESG Solutions, which now represents one of the leading suppliers of both downhole and surface-based microseismic solutions.

Publication: International Symposium on Caving 2010 - Monitoring Open Stope Caving at Goldex Mine Brochure