Petroleum Exploration and Development (Jun 2020)

Controlling factors of marine shale gas differential enrichment in southern China

  • Zhenxue JIANG,
  • Yan SONG,
  • Xianglu TANG,
  • Zhuo LI,
  • Xingmeng WANG,
  • Guozhen WANG,
  • Zixin XUE,
  • Xin LI,
  • Kun ZHANG,
  • Jiaqi CHANG,
  • Hengyuan QIU

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 47, no. 3
pp. 661 – 673

Abstract

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Abstract: Based on the exploration and development practice of marine shale gas in Fuling, Weiyuan, Changning, Luzhou and Southeast Chongqing in southern China, combined with experiments and analysis, six factors controlling differential enrichment of marine shale gas are summarized as follows: (1) The more appropriate thermal evolution and the higher the abundance of organic matter, the higher the adsorption and total gas content of shale will be. (2) Kerogen pyrolysis and liquid hydrocarbon cracking provide most of the marine shale gas. (3) The specific surface area and pore volume of organic matter rich shale increased first and then decreased with the increase of thermal evolution degree of organic shale. At Ro between 2.23% and 3.33%, the shale reservoirs are mainly oil-wet, which is conducive to the enrichment of shale gas. (4) The thicker the roof and floor, the higher the shale gas content. The longer the last tectonic uplift time and the greater the uplift amplitude, the greater the loss of shale gas will be. (5) The buried depth and dip angle of the stratum have different controlling and coupling effects on shale gas in different tectonic positions, resulting in two differential enrichment models of shale gas. (6) The effective and comprehensive matching of source, reservoir and preservation conditions determines the quality of shale gas accumulation. Good match of effective gas generating amount and time, moderate pore evolution and good preservation conditions in space and time is essential for the enrichment of shale gas.

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