Research Assistant Professor, Civil And Environmental Engin

nzd@egi.utah.edu

Professional Membership

• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: Member, SPE – Society of Petroleum Engineers, 07/14/2022 GLOBAL

Publications

• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: Noam Z. Dvory, McLennan, J.D. & Singh, A. (2024). Avoiding the Salts: Strategic Fracture Propagation Management for Enhanced Stimulation Efficiency in the Cane Creek Play. Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTEC)., 06/03/2024 GLOBAL
• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: Noam Z. Dvory, Smith, P. J., McCormack, K. L., Esser, R. & McPherson B. J. (2023). On the Path to Least Principal Stress Prediction: Quantifying the Impact of Borehole Logs on the Prediction Model. The 57th U.S. Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium, Atlanta, Georgia., 06/05/2023 GLOBAL
• ENERGY | CLIMATE CHANGE: McCormack K.L., Mark D Zoback & Andrew W. Frederiksen (2023). Shear-Wave Anisotropy Measurements in the Crust from Receiver Functions: An Interplay of Lower and Upper Crustal Anisotropy. Geosciences., 02/07/2023 GLOBAL
• ENERGY | WATER: Noam Z. Dvory, Jens-Erik Lund Snee, Rebecca Olivia Salvage & Sam S Hashemi (2022). Induced Seismicity and Caprock Failure in Carbon Sequestration and Geo-Energy Applications. AGU., 12/14/2022 CANADA CHINA GERMANY SPAIN SWITZERLAND
• ENERGY | WATER: Noam Z. Dvory, Yuyun Yang & Eric M Dunham (2022). Rate-and-state modeling of injection-induced aseismic slip in the Delaware Basin constrains fault-zone pore pressure changes. Authorea Preprints., 11/26/2022
• ENERGY | WATER: Noam Z. Dvory, Yuyun Yang & Eric M Dunham (2022). Models of Injection‐Induced Aseismic Slip on Height‐Bounded Faults in the Delaware Basin Constrain Fault‐Zone Pore Pressure Changes and Permeability. Geophysical Research Letters., 06/16/2022
• ENERGY | WATER: Noam Z. Dvory & Mark D Zoback (2021). Prior oil and gas production can limit the occurrence of injection-induced seismicity: A case study in the Delaware Basin of western Texas and southeastern New Mexico, USA. GeoScienceWorld. Vol. 49, 1198–1203., 10/01/2021
• ENERGY | WATER: Peter Hennings, Noam Dvory, Elizabeth Horne, Peng Li, Alexandros Savvaidis & Mark Zoback (2021). Stability of the fault systems that host‐induced earthquakes in the Delaware Basin of West Texas and Southeast New Mexico. Seismological Society of America. Vol. 1, 96-106., 07/28/2021

Presentations

• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: 2023 ARMA Future Leader Webinar Series The Paradox Basin as a field lab for salt rock integrity studies The Paradox Basin in Utah and Colorado presents a promising energy landscape, offering opportunities for carbon dioxide storage, hydrocarbon discovery, and enhanced recovery. This dynamic region features exten-sive salt formations and complex subsurface structures. However, it also experiences induced seismicity linked to fluid injection. Our research delves into geomechanics, focusing on the Paradox Gr. and the Cane Creek Play, to optimize processes like hydraulic fracturing. Understanding stress states, natural fractures, and the basin's unique geology is key to sustainable energy development. Our findings point towards the critical role of stress states in hydraulic fracturing, emphasizing the significance of understanding stress layering and frac-ture toughness for fracture propagation. Crucially, in the Paradox Formation, preventing fractures from enter-ing thick salt formations, which result in costly well clogging due to brine backflow, is essential. Using ad-vanced "planar fracture modeling," we simulated fracture propagation and formulated strategies to manage fracture lengths, while also analyzing the importance of fluid viscosity in hydraulic fracturing. Utilizing a comprehensive dataset from the State 16-2 vertical test well and the State 16-2 LN horizontal well, we deter-mined the stress orientations and identified a strike-slip faulting regime. By evaluating the shear and normal effective stresses on various fracture planes and their distance to failure, we were able to predict the behavior of fractures under certain pressure conditions. Considering the potential influence of stress shadows, our anal-ysis underscores the importance of accurately defining the stress state. We identified that modest pore pressure increases primarily induce slip in strike-slip faults in the Cane Creek Play. Furthermore, the study highlights the variability of the minimum principal stress with depth and its relationship to specific stratigraphic units, emphasizing the significance of understanding stress layering to optimize stimulation strategies. This research offers an in-depth analysis of the geomechanics of the Paradox Group and the Cane Creek Play, shedding light on fracture propagation into salt units. Understanding the intricate interplay between stress states, hydraulic fracturing, and the formation's unique geological attributes is essential for efficient and sustainable extraction in the future., 11/2023 GLOBAL
• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: GUSSOW 2023 - Geomechanics for Sustainable Energy Development, Banff, AB CEGA - Canadian Energy Geoscience association What Insights Can InSAR Provide on Fracture Dynamics? Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is a cutting-edge technique enabling highly precise measurement of ground deformation within reservoir spaces. Notably, concentric land subsidence due to depletion processes and long-term injection-induced uplifts are key observations that offer potential links to poroelastic stress responses along stress paths (Dvory and Zoback, 2021). In addition, extensive lineaments extending over tens of kilometers have been identified as a distinct ground deformation feature. In regions such as the southern Delaware Basin, these lineaments correspond to normal faults in formations like the Delaware Mountain Group (Hennings et al., 2021). Employing inverse analysis, it becomes possible to assess the cumulative slip responsible for triggering such ground deformations (Pepin et al., 2021). Intriguingly, in certain cases, such as the seismically active area of the southern Delaware Basin (Sheng et al., 2020), the substantial slip (>15cm) observed cannot be solely explained by unstable frictional responses (Dvory et al., 2022). We adopt the rate state theory to simulate aseismic slip magnitude. Our findings indicate that slip initiation correlates with a pore pressure rise of 1–2 MPa, persisting for a duration of three to five years, during which pressure subsequently increases by an additional 5 MPa (see Figure 1). In our focus on aseismic slip and informed by experimental data, we set direct effect and state evolution parameters to a = 0.01 and b = 0.009, representing a velocity-strengthening behavior (a-b > 0). Another significant outcome of our analysis is the reduction of the frictional coefficient, particularly concerning normal stress over faults. This process enhances pre-slip dilatancy along fault surfaces, potentially diminishing the inclination for aseismic slip and facilitating the diffusion of pore pressure away from the injection site (Dvory et al., 2023) , 10/2023 GLOBAL
• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: University of Calgary Exploring Energy Opportunities in the Paradox Basin: A Geomechanical Perspective , 10/2023 GLOBAL
• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure - Israel Water Authority CO2 underground storage , 08/2023 ISRAEL
• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure - Israel Water Authority CO2 underground storage , 08/2023 ISRAEL
• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: ARMA 23–0510 On the Path to Least Principal Stress Prediction: Quantifying the Impact of Borehole Logs on the Prediction Model Knowledge of the minimum horizontal principal stress (Shmin) is essential for geo-energy utilization. Shmin direct measurements are costly, involve high-risk operations, and provide only discrete values of the required quantity. Other methods were developed to interpret a continuous stress sequence from sonic logs. These methods usually require some ‘horizontal tectonic stress’ correction for calibration and rarely match sections characterized by stress profiling due to viscoelastic stress relaxation. Recently, several studies have tried to predict the stress profile by an empirical correlation corresponding to an average strain rate through geologic time or by using machine learning technologies. Here, we used the Bayesian Physics-Based Machine Learning framework to identify the relationships among the viscoelastic parameter distributions and to quantify statistical uncertainty. More specifically, we used well logs data and ISIP measurements to quantify the uncertainty of the viscoelastic-dependent stress profile model. Our results show that the linear regression approach suffers from higher uncertainty, and the Gaussian process regression Shmin prediction shows a relatively smaller uncertainty distribution. Extracting the lithology logs from the prediction model improves each method's uncertainty distribution. We show that the density and the porosity logs have a superior correlation to the viscoplastic stress relaxation behavior., 06/2023 GLOBAL
• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: SSA San Juan Puerto Rico Adaptive model selection for the maximum magnitude event during injection Kevin L. McCormack and No’am Z. Dvory As injection of fluids into the subsurface becomes more common, the need for a technique to assess the maximum magnitude of induced events (Mmax) becomes more pressing. There are some models in the literature (e.g., uncalibrated moment cap, calibrated moment cap, statistical formulation, residual moment, and convolutional) that relate the cumulative injection to the Mmax. These models incorporate different site characteristics and physics such as seismogenic index, Gutenberg-Richter b-value, pore pressure diffusion, and moment release. We hypothesize that the model that best describes a certain injection operation may vary during the course of the injection. In fact, the seismic response ranges from mild due to aseismic slip and up to hazardous as dynamic runaway rupture behaviors is developed. Thus, we present a dynamic calculation of the Mmax predictive model. The injection might take the form of deep saline carbon dioxide sequestration, enhanced oil recovery, hydrogen storage, or stimulation of a reservoir. The processes associated with each of these scenarios are different, and we conduct a comparison between the enhanced oil recovery operations at the Farnsworth, TX site and the stimulation of the enhanced geothermal reservoir at the Utah FORGE site in Milford, UT. The results show that no one model describes the two injection projects the best. Rather, dynamically updating the model based on a misfit calculation between observed seismicity and the tested models allows the operator to incorporate the physics and site characteristics that are most applicable for the injection. The best fitting model is used for the prediction and down the road, for risk management and mitigation. , 04/2023 GLOBAL

External Service

• WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: Voluntary consulting and educating the 'Parents For Climate' non-profit organization, Tel Aviv Branch, in matters of 'Urban Water Conservation', 02/22/2023

Media

• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Earthquakes from oil field wastewater, 05/19/2022
• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: EurekAlert! Old oil fields may be less prone to induced earthquakes, 06/28/2021
• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: ScienceDaily. Storing carbon inn rocks underground: Old oil fields may be less prone to induced earthquakes, 06/28/2021
• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: TEMBLOR. Injecting CO2 into depleted oil fields may not cause quakes, 06/26/2021

Awards

• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: Invited Speaker, The Paradox Basin, as a field lab for salt rock integrity studies. ARMA future leader webinar series , ARMA, 12/2023 CANADA UNITED STATES
• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: Invited Speaker, Exploring Energy Opportunities in the Paradox Basin: A Geomechanical Perspective. , University of Calgary , 11/2023 CANADA
• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: Invited Speaker, What Insights Can InSAR Provide on Fracture Dynamics? GUSSOW 2023, Geomechanics for Sustainable Energy Development. Canadian Energy Geoscience Association , Canadian Energy Geoscience Association , 11/2023 CANADA UNITED STATES
• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: Invited Speaker, Carbon Capture's Overlap with Water Midstream Spells Opportunity Panel, 3rd Annual Oilfield Water Industry Update (2021), Oilfield Water, 09/15/2021
• ENERGY | WATER | CLIMATE CHANGE: Stanford Center for Induced and Triggered Seismicity Fellowship , Stanford, 01/07/2019