Lower Cambrian Organic-Rich Shales in Southern China: A Review of Gas-Bearing Property, Pore Structure, and Their Controlling Factors

Abstract

The Lower Cambrian shales are widely developed in southern China, with greater thicknesses and higher TOC contents. Although the shale gas resource potential has been suggested to be huge, the shale gas exploration and development is not satisfactory. At present, the gas-bearing property evaluation of the Lower Cambrian shale is still a hot spot of concern. According to previous works, this paper systematically summarizes the gas-bearing characteristics and controlling factors of the Lower Cambrian shales in southern China. The buried depth of Lower Cambrian shales mainly ranges from 3000 m to 6000 m, and the thickness of organic-rich shale intervals ( TOC > 2 % ) varies from 20 m to 300 m. The TOC content and EqVRo value are generally up to 2%-10% and 2.5%-6.0%, respectively. The gas content of the Lower Cambrian shales in the Weiyuan-Qianwei block of the Sichuan Basin and the western Hubei area generally exceeds 2 m3/t, and gas composition is dominated by CH4. In southeastern Chongqing, northwestern Hunan, and northern Guizhou areas, the gas content of the Lower Cambrian shales is generally <2 m3/t, and the N2 content is generally >60%. In the Lower Yangtze region, the Lower Cambrian shale reservoirs basically contain no gas. Higher maturity, lower porosity, and less-no organic pores are suggested to be responsible for low gas contents and/or the predominate of N2 in shale gas reservoirs. Strong tectonic deformation is an important factor leading to the massive gas loss from shale reservoirs, thus resulting in no gas or only a small amount of N2 in the Lower Cambrian shales. In a word, the Lower Cambrian shale gas plays with low maturity and relatively stable tectonic condition, especially deep-ultradeep zones, may be the favorable targets for shale gas exploration.