Bo Ran

Reservoir Characteristics and Preservation Conditions of Longmaxi Shale in the Upper Yangtze Block, South China

The Upper Ordovician-Lower Silurian Longmaxi Shale in the Upper Yangtze block represents one of the most important shale gas plays in China. The shale composition, porosity, organic thermal maturity, and methane sorption were investigated at the Qilongcun section in the Dingshan area, southeastern Sichuan Basin. The results show that the Upper Ordovician-Lower Silurian Longmaxi Shale contains: (1) sapropelic I organic matter; (2) a 40-m thick bedded sequence where total organic carbon (TOC) content is > 2%; (3) a 30m thick layer at the base of the Longmaxi Shale with a brittle mineral content higher than 50%; and (4) a mean methane adsorption capacity of 1.80 cm3/g (7 MPa pressure). A positive correlation between TOC and sorbed gas indicates that organic matter content exerts an important control on methane storage capacity. Based on the analysis of the shale reservoir characteristics, the lower member of the Longmaxi Shale can thus be considered a favorable stratum for shale gas exploration and exploitation. It has similar reservoir characteristics with the Longmaxi Shale in the Jiaoshiba area tested with a high-yield industrial gas flow. However, based on tectonic analysis, differences in the level of industrial gas flow between the low-yield study area and the high-yield Jiaoshiba area may result from different tectonic preservation conditions. Evidence from these studies indicates the shale gas potential of the Longmaxi Shale is constrained by the reservoir and preservation conditions.

Late Triassic thickening of the Songpan–Ganzi Triassic flysch at the edge of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Growing geologic evidence documents incremental Mesozoic and early Cenozoic shortening and thickening of the Tibetan crust prior to the onset of the main Cenozoic orogenic event. The Tibetan crust shows spatial and temporal variability in thickness, style, and timing of thickening, and in plateau-forming processes. The Songpan–Ganzi area of northeastern Tibet provides evidence for shortening and thickening of the crust in Late Triassic time. An oil exploratory well (HC-1) of 7012.4 m located in the area shows at least six tectonic repetitions, resulting in more than ∼46% thickening of the Triassic sequence. It indicates that the true thickness of the Songpan–Ganzi Triassic flysch is not 10–15 km as previously assumed, but not more than 3–5 km. Based on this evidence, combined with prior tectonostratigraphic studies, we propose that substantial crustal shortening and thickening, leading to initial plateau formation in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, had already occurred during the Late Triassic.

Characteristics of black shale in the Upper Ordovician Wufeng and lower Silurian Longmaxi formations in the Sichuan Basin and its periphery, China

ABSTRACT Geochemical and mineralogical analyses, in addition to isothermal adsorption experiments on field samples, are used to characterise the sedimentary environments, reservoirs and adsorbed gas of the Upper Ordovician Wufeng–lower Silurian Longmaxi formations in the Sichuan Basin and its peripheral areas. The sedimentary environment of the Wufeng and the lower part of Longmaxi formations is a deep-water shelf with five different lithologies identified: siliceous shale, black shale, siltstone, biolithite limestone and bentonite. The black shale in the Wufeng and the lower part of Longmaxi formations is 50 m thick, with an average organic carbon content (TOC) of 3.81 wt% and a maturity (Ro) of 1.62%. Quartz comprises 54.94 vol% of the shale and positively correlates with the TOC. Micropores in the black shale include intergranular pores, intragranular pores, organic matter pores and microfractures. Among these pores, spaces between clay sheets and organic molecules represent a favourable storage space for the accumulation and preservation of oil and gas. The Langmuir volume parameter ranges between 1.52 and 3.01 cm3/g, with an average value of 2.33 cm3/g. The presence of organic matter pores and pores between clay sheets in the black shale is the main and controlling factor for accumulated gas.