Comparative Study on Flow Characteristics in Deep Marine and Marine-Continental Transitional Shale in the Southeastern Sichuan Basin, China.

Abstract

Permeability is a significant characteristic of porous media and a crucial parameter for shale gas development. This study focuses on deep marine and marine-continental transitional shale in the southeastern Sichuan area using the gas pulse decay testing method to systematically analyze the gas permeability, stress sensitivity, and gas transport mechanisms of shale under different pressure conditions and directions. The results show that the porosity and gas permeability of the deep marine shale are greater compared to those of the marine-continental transitional shale. The elevated fluid pressure in the deep marine shale offers superior conditions for the preservation of nanopores, while the high quartz content provides advantageous conditions for fluid transport in nanopore channels. The permeability and stress sensitivity of the deep marine shale are greater than those of the marine-continental transitional shale, and the stress sensitivity is greater in the perpendicular bedding direction than in the parallel bedding direction, possibly related to the mineral composition of shale and the compaction it has undergone. The flow mechanism of the deep marine shale is transition flow and Knudsen flow, while that of the marine-continental transitional shale is transition flow. The deep marine shale possesses smaller nanopore sizes and a higher quantity of micropores, which create advantageous conditions for gas transport within nanopores. During the process of extracting shale gas, the extraction of gas causes a decrease in pore pressure and an increase in effective stress, resulting in a reduction in permeability. However, when the pore pressure reaches a specific value, the enhanced slippage effect leads to an increase in permeability, which is advantageous for gas extraction. In the later stage of shale gas well production, intermittent production plans can be developed considering the strength of the slippage effect, leading to a significant improvement in production efficiency.