Abstract
Geological factors are key elements to control shale gas enrichment and influence the accurate estimation of shale gas reserve. However, the impact of the main geological factors, such as porosity, mineralogy, and organic matter, on marine shale gas enrichment and reserve calculation has not yet been fully clarified. Herein, we measured gas adsorption, porosity, mineralogical composition, and total organic carbon content of the marine shale samples from the Jiaoshiba area of Fuling gas field in Sichuan Basin, South China, and investigate the relationships between the geological factors and the adsorbed gas content. The results show that adsorbed gas content is positively correlated with total organic carbon and porosity; the larger specific surface area of samples with more clay minerals essentially contributes to shale gas enrichment. Additionally, the sealing of faults imposes a significant impact on shale gas accumulation. The probability volume method was applied to calculate the shale gas reserve. The reserves of P90 (the most pessimistic reserve), P50 (the most likely reserve), and P10 (the most optimistic reserve) were calculated, respectively, which provides useful information to reduce the risk in shale gas development.
Highlights
Shale gas, as a new type of clean energy, has recently influenced the world’s energy supply pattern because of the large reserves and wide distribution around the world [1]
According to the different characteristics of shale gas reserves, taking appropriate resource assessment methods is of great significance for the future exploration and development of shale gas
This is because the presence of organic carbon generates more organic pores and larger specific surface area in the samples, which can increase the adsorbed gas content [35,36,37]
Summary
As a new type of clean energy, has recently influenced the world’s energy supply pattern because of the large reserves and wide distribution around the world [1]. The recoverable resources of shale gas in China are about 2600 × 1010 m3, and the resource potential is huge [4, 5]. The accumulation mechanism of shale gas is complex and has the characteristics of self-generation, self-storage, and self-protection [6, 7]. Many different geological factors control shale gas enrichment, such as porosity, pore structure, total organic carbon (TOC), clay, and the structural characteristics of strata [8, 9]. The marine shale gas in South China is more complex because of the heterogeneity of shale organic matter content, mineral composition, and other evolutionary conditions [10,11,12]. The geological factors controlling shale gas enrichment in southern China are still unclear [13, 14]. The research about the relationship between shale gas supply, gas storage, gas preservation, structural style, and spatial-temporal matching of reservoir formation is urgently needed [15,16,17,18]
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