Accumulation and exploration enlightenment of shallow normal-pressure shale gas in southeastern Sichuan Basin, SW China

Based on the drilling, logging, experimental and testing data of Well PD1, a shallow normal-pressure shale gas well in the Laochangping anticline in southeastern Sichuan Basin, the shallow shale gas reservoirs of the Ordovician Wufeng Formation to Silurian Longmaxi Formation (Wufeng-Longmaxi) were investigated in terms of geological characteristics, occurrence mechanism, and adsorption-desorption characteristics, to reveal the enrichment laws and high-yield mechanism of shallow normal-pressure shale gas in complex structure areas. First, the shallow shale gas reservoirs are similar to the medium-deep shale gas reservoirs in static indicators such as high-quality shale thickness, geochemistry, physical properties and mineral composition, but the former is geologically characterized by low formation pressure coefficient, low gas content, high proportion of adsorbed gas, low in-situ stress, and big difference between principal stresses. Second, shallow shales in the complex structure areas have the gas occurrence characteristics including low total gas content (1.1-4.8 m3/t), high adsorbed gas content (2.5-2.8 m3/t), low sensitive desorption pressure (1.7-2.5 MPa), and good self-sealing. Third, the adsorbed gas enrichment of shales is mainly controlled by organic matter abundance, formation temperature and formation pressure: the higher the organic matter abundance and formation pressure, the lower the formation temperature and the higher the adsorption capacity, which is more beneficial for the adsorbed gas occurrence. Fourth, the shallow normal-pressure shale gas corresponds to low sensitive desorption pressure. The adsorbed gas can be rapidly desorbed and recovered when the flowing pressure is reduced below the sensitive desorption pressure. Fifth, the exploration breakthrough of Well PD1 demonstrates that the shallow complex structure areas with adsorbed gas in dominance can form large-scale shale reservoirs, and confirms the good exploration potential of shallow normal-pressure shale gas in the margin of the Sichuan Basin.

Evaluation of sweet spots and horizontal-well-design technology for shale gas in the basin-margin transition zone of southeastern Chongqing,SW China

The shale gas accumulation conditions in the basin-margin transition zone of southeastern Chongqing in SW China are complex.In order to improve single-well productivity in this area,the geologic characteristics,major factors controlling the occurrence of sweet spots,and drilling/fracturing optimization were investigated in this study.The sweet spot evaluation system and criteria were established,and the horizontal-well-design technology was developed.The following three conclusions were drawn.First,the accumulation and high-productivity-oriented approaches for sweet spot evaluation are proposed and the criteria are established based on screened key indicators.Second,the horizontal well was designed based on:(1)the“six-map”method,to identify both the geology and engineering sweet spots for well locations;and(2)seismic attributes,to predict the development of fractures and cavities,and thus,avoid mud loss and improve the drilling efficiency.The target window,well-azimuth optimization,and the curvature were forecasted to improve the fracturing performances.Third,the Pingqiao anticline,Dongsheng anticline,Jinfo slope,and Wulong syncline were selected as Type I sweet spots.Currently,shale gas has been successfully discovered in the basin-margin transition zone and is being commercially developed.

Enrichment characteristics and exploration directions of deep shale gas of Ordovician-Silurian in the Sichuan Basin and its surrounding areas,China

The enrichment characteristics of deep shale gas in the Ordovician Wufeng-Silurian Longmaxi formations in the Sichuan Basin and its surrounding areas are investigated through experiments under high temperature and high pressure,including petrophysical properties analyses,triaxial stress test and isothermal adsorption of methane experiment.(1)The deep shale reservoirs drop significantly in porosity and permeability compared with shallower shale reservoirs,and contain mainly free gas.(2)With higher deviatoric stress and axial strain,the deep shale reservoirs have higher difficulty fracturing.(3)Affected by structural location and morphology,fracture characteristics,geofluid activity stages and intensity,deep shale gas reservoirs have more complicated preservation conditions.(4)To achieve the commercial development of deep shale gas reservoirs,deepening geological understanding is the basis,and exploring reservoir simulation technology befitting the geological features is the key.(5)The siliceous shale and limestone-bearing siliceous shale in the Metabolograptus persculptus-Parakidograptus acuminatus zones(LM1-LM3 graptolite zones)are the high-production intervals for deep shale gas and the most favorable landing targets for horizontal drilling.Deeps water areas such as Jiaoshiba,Wulong,Luzhou and Changning with deep shale reservoirs over 10 m thickness are the most favorable areas for deep shale gas enrichment.It is recommended to carry out exploration and development practice in deep-water shale gas areas deposited deep with burial depth no more than 5000 m where the geological structure is simple and the shale thickness in the LM1-LM3 graptolite zone is greater than 10 m.It is better to increase the lateral length of horizontal wells,and apply techniques including high intensity of perforations,large volume of proppant,far-field and near-wellbore diversions to maximize the stimulated deep reservoir volume.

Characteristics of microscopic pore heterogeneity and development model of Wufeng‒Longmaxi Shales in the Pengshui area of south-east Chongqing

Normal-pressure shale gas reservoirs are widely distributed in south-eastern Chongqing and show good potential for resource exploration.This paper reports the organic matter(OM),physical,and pore characteristics,mineral composition,and gas content of representative shale samples from the Upper Ordovician Wufeng Formation and Member 1 of the Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation(Long 1 Member).Microscopic pores within different shale layers of the Long 1 Member were classified,quantitatively evaluated,and their development mechanisms were systematically studied.We found that OM characteristics,mineral composition,and pore type were the main factors affecting the enrichment and preservation of shale gas.The characteristics of the Long 1 Member are mainly controlled by changes in the sedimentary environment.There are evident differences in total organic carbon content and mineral composition vertically,leading to a variable distribution of pores across different layers.Organic matter abundance controls the degree of OM pore development,while clay minerals abundance control the development of clay mineral-related pores.Total organic carbon content generally controls the porosity of the Long 1 Member,but clay minerals also play a role in OM-poor layers.Pore connectivity and permeability are influenced by the development of pores associated with brittle minerals.We propose a microscopic pore development model for the different layers.Combining geochemical data and this pore development model,layers 1‒4 are considered to be excellent shale gas preservation and enrichment reservoirs.Poor preservation conditions in layers 5‒7 result in high levels of shale gas escape.Layers 8‒9 possess a better sealing condition compared with layers 5‒7 and are conducive to the enrichment and preservation of shale gas,and can thus be used as future potential target strata.This research provides a theoretical basis for exploring and evaluating shale gas potential in the studied region or other complex normal-pressure shale blocks.

Geochemistry and geological significance of the Upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic source rocks in the Lower Yangtze region

The Lower Yangtze region is one of the important marine sedimentation areas of oil and gas distribution in southern China,for its favorable source rocks,reservoirs and covers.However,the intense tectonic movements and complex hydrocarbon generation process made it highly impossible to form large-sized oil and gas reservoirs.So it was divided to different hydrocarbon-bearing preservation units in oil-gas exploration.Recent study shows that the Permian and Lower Triassic source rocks in the Lower Yangtze region are complicated in lithology.The hydrocarbon generation potential of limestone there is low while argillaceous source rocks are overall of high abundance with excellent organic types,now in the process of hydrocarbon generation,so differences in high maturity influence the evaluation of organic matter abundance and type.Biomarker characteristics indicate a reductive environment.n-alkanes are marked by a single peak,with no odd-even predominance.The composition and distribution of the carbon numbers of n-alkanes,and the high abundance of long-chain tricyclic terpanes are indicative of marine sedi-mentation.The high contents of pregnane,homopregnane,rearranged hopane suggest that the source rocks are of high maturity.There is a good linear correlation between methylphenanthrene index and vitrinite reflectance.The correlation of oil-source rocks indicated that the oil of Well HT-3 may come from the Permian Longtan Formation in the Huangqiao area,the oil of Wells Rong-2 and Juping-1 came from the Lower Triassic Qinglong Formation in the Jurong area.The exploration here is promising in those different source rocks which all have great potential in hy-drocarbon generating,and oil and gas were produced in the late stage of hydrocarbon generation.