Pyrolysis results of shales from the South Cambay basin, India: Implications for gas generation potential

Abstract

Shale, an abundant organic-rich sedimentary rock of extremely low porosity, is of lately being realized as a significant energy source, owing to the possibility of huge amount of natural gas which may be stored in it. Instigated by the enormous production of natural gas from the shale formations of Barnett, Marcellus and several other plays in USA, the Indian sedimentary basins are being looked assertively for their shale gas prospects. The petroliferous Cambay basin in western India with interbedded carbonaceous shales in its thick Tertiary sequence forms a potential prospect for the shale gas. Fine grained, clastic and organic-rich Cambay, Tarapur and other Tertiary shales have sourced the oil and gas for the basin.