Geoscience BC, the BC Oil and Gas Commission, Natural Resources Canada, and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers have partnered to launch a five-year $1 million collaborative geoscience program to study seismicity in northeast British Columbia, according to a news release.

Geoscience BC and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers will equally share the program costs, and the BC Oil and Gas Commission and Natural Resources Canada will provide in-kind technical support.

Led by Geoscience BC, the program partners will install a network to collect seismic data in northeast British Columbia. The seismic array network will include up to six new stations, which will complement two existing Canadian National Seismograph Network stations, the release said. It is anticipated that the installation work will be completed by late 2012. Once the array has been calibrated, real-time seismic data will be provided to researchers for analysis and interpretation.

Recently, geoscientists have applied their knowledge of rock mechanics and geophysics to develop tight gas reserves through multi-stage, high volume hydraulic fracturing completions of horizontal wells and monitoring these completions with microseismic geophone arrays. Along with the routine micro-seismicity created by hydraulic fracturing, some low magnitude seismic events were triggered in Northeast British Columbia by fluid injection during fracturing. The enhancements to the seismograph network are expected to increase understanding of this induced seismicity.