Exploration, development, and construction in the Fuling national shale gas demonstration area in Chongqing: Progress and prospects

Abstract

In September 2013, the National Energy Administration approved the establishment of Fuling national shale gas demonstration area (hereinafter referred to as the demonstration area), whose construction was completed in December 2015. After nearly one decade of development, it has grown into the main shale gas production base in China. In order to speed up the integration and breakthrough of China's shale gas theoretical understanding and exploration and development technology and effectively promote the great development of marine shale gas in China, this paper reviews and summarizes the development and construction history of the demonstration area, geological theory understanding, engineering technology and key equipment progress. And based on this, the future development direction of the demonstration area is predicted. And the following research results are obtained. First, shale gas exploration and development in the demonstration area is divided into three stages, i.e., exploration evaluation, phase I and II construction, and stacked development and adjustment. Second, the “binary enrichment” theory for marine shale gas and the engineering theory for efficiently developing gas reservoirs are innovatively established. Third, a series of supporting technologies are innovatively developed, such as optimized and fast drilling technology for shale gas cluster horizontal wells, differentiated network fracturing technology, high-efficiency gas production, gathering and transportation technology, and green development technology for karst mountains, and the localization of key equipment and tools is realized. Fourth, the efficient development of shallow overpressure shale gas reservoirs above 3500 m in depth and the effective development of shale gas reservoirs at the depth of 3500–4000 m are realized in the demonstration area. Fifth, the construction of the demonstration area in the future includes accelerating the development of normal-pressure deep shale gas, continuously tackling key shale gas EOR technologies, actively promoting the field application of new technologies and methods, and powerfully strengthening the construction of green demonstration areas. In conclusion, this demonstration area is the earliest one of four national shale gas demonstration areas, and its achievements will provide continuous guidance for the shale gas exploration and development in China and play a demonstrative and guiding role in promoting the development of shale gas geological theories and exploration and development technologies in China.