Distribution of shale gas resources in China and their exploration and development potential

Abstract

As an important environment-friendly new energy with low carbon emission, shale gas has attracted very much attention around the world. Based on such characteristics as the geologic histories, the sedimentary and structural settings, and the shale gas accumulation mechanism and distribution patterns, the areas with shale gas accumulation in China can be divided into four regions which correspond to the tectonic plates by and large. Shale is very developed in each geologic period, and the shale formations include Sinian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic. They are widely distributed in the hydrocarbon basins formed in different eras, the areas where deposits are remained after complex tectonic movements, or the outcrop areas. In terms of basin types, craton, foreland and rift (faulted) basins all contain shale; in terms of sedimentary facies, there are diverse facies of shale deposits, including both the marine shale with good-very good TOC in South China and the organic-rich lacustrine and marine-continental transitional shale in North China. Compared with North America where shale gas resources were generated, accumulated, and have been developed commercially, China also has suitable geologic structural and depositional conditions favoring the generation, accumulation and distribution of shale gas. It is preliminarily estimated that there are abundant shale gas resources in China. The total shale gas resources are about 15-30×10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">12</sup> m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup> , and the mid-value of the shale gas resources is 23.5×10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">12</sup> m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup> , close to the mid-value of 28.3×10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">12</sup> m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup> in the U.S. In a word, shale gas is widely distributed in China with good exploration and development potential. Nonetheless, shale gas exploration theory and target assessment approaches should be established in line with China's complicated geological and structural conditions, and also the properties of shale gas reservoirs in different regions. Drilling and production technologies applicable to the geologic characteristics of China's shale formations should be researched and developed to facilitate efficient shale gas production in China.