Shale gas reservoir characterisation: A typical case in the southern Sichuan Basin of China

Shangbin Chen, Yanming Zhu, Hongyan Wang, Honglin Liu, Wei Wei and Junhua Fang

Energy, 2011, vol. 36, issue 11, 6609-6616

Abstract: The Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation is an organic-rich (black) mudrock that is widely considered to be a potential shale gas reservoir in the southern Sichuan Basin (the Yangtze plate) in Southwest China. A case study is presented to characterise the shale gas reservoir using a workflow to evaluate its characteristics. A typical characterisation of a gas shale reservoir was determined using basset sample analysis (geochemical, petrographical, mineralogical, and petrophysical) through a series of tests. The results show that the Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation shale reservoir is characterised by organic geochemistry and mineralogical, petrophysical and gas adsorption. Analysis of the data demonstrates that the reservoir properties of the rock in this region are rich and that the bottom group of the Longmaxi Formation has the greatest potential for gas production due to higher thermal maturity, total organic carbon (TOC) enrichment, better porosity and improved fracture potential. These results will provide a basis for further evaluation of the hydrocarbon potential of the Longmaxi Formation shale in the Sichuan Basin and for identifying areas with exploration potential.

Keywords: Shale gas; Reservoir characterisation; Southern Sichuan Basin; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (38)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:36:y:2011:i:11:p:6609-6616

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2011.09.001

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