The progress and prospects of shale gas exploration and development in southern Sichuan Basin, SW China

Abstract

Abstract The Ordovician Wufeng Formation-Silurian Longmaxi Formation organic-rich shales distributed widely and stably in Southern Sichuan Basin were investigated based on drilling data. Geological evaluation of wells show that the shale reservoirs have good properties in the Yibin, Weiyuan, Zigong, Changning, Luzhou, Dazu areas, with key parameters such as TOC, porosity, gas content similar to the core shale gas production zones. Moreover, these areas are stable in structure, good in preservation conditions and highly certain in resources. The shale reservoirs have a burial depth of 4 500 m or shallow, a total area of over 2×104 km2 and estimated resource of over 10×1012 m3, so they are the most resource-rich and practical areas for shale gas exploitation in China. Through construction of the Changning-Weiyuan national demonstration region, the production and EUR of shale gas wells increased significantly, the cost of shale gas wells decreased remarkable, resulting in economic benefit better than expected. Moreover, the localized exploration and development technologies and methods are effective and repeatable, so it is the right time for accelerating shale gas exploitation. Based on the production decline pattern of horizontal wells at present and wells to be drilled in the near future, at the end of the 13th Five Year Plan, the production of shale gas in southern Sichuan Basin is expected to reach or exceed 10 billion cubic meters per year. The resources are sufficient for a stable production period at 30 billion cubic meters per year, which will make the South Sichuan basin become the largest production base of shale gas in China.