The lower Cambrian Niutitang Formation is of crucial importance for shale gas target reservoirs in western Hubei, China; however, little work has been done in this field, and its shale gas accumulation and enrichment mechanism are still unclear. Based on survey wells, outcrop data, and large numbers of tests, the geological conditions of shale gas accumulation were studied; moreover, the factors that influence the gas content were thoroughly discussed. The results show that the Niutitang Formation (Є₁n) can be divided into three sections: the first section (Є₁n¹), the second section (Є₁n²), and the third section (Є₁n³). The Є₁n² is the main shale gas reservoir. The deep shelf facies is the main sedimentary facies and can be divided into three main lithofacies: argillaceous siltstone, carbonaceous shale and carbonaceous siliceous rock. The total organic carbon (TOC) content shows gentle growth trends until bottom of the Є₁n² and then decreases rapidly within the Є₁n¹, and the TOC content mainly ranges from 2% to 4% horizontally. The calcite and dolomite dissolution pores, clay intergranular pores and organic pores are the main pore types and the micropore types are clearly related to the mineral compositions and the TOC content. Vertically, the gas content is mainly affected by the TOC content. Horizontally, wells with high gas contents are distributed only southeast of the Huangling anticline, and the combination of structural styles, fault and fracture development, and the distribution of the regional unconformity boundary between the upper Sinian Dengying Formation (Z₂d) and the Є₁n² are the three most important factors affecting the gas content. The favorable areas must meet the following conditions: a deep shelf environment, the presence of the Є₁n¹, wide and gentle folds, far from large normal faults that are more than 5 km, moderate thermal evolution, and greater than 500 m burial depth; this includes the block with the YD2-ZD2 wells, and the block with the Y1 and YD4 wells, which are distributed in the southern portion of the Huangling anticline and northern portion of the Xiannvshan fault.

下寒武统牛蹄塘组对鄂西页岩气目标储层具有重要意义；然而，该领域的研究工作较少，其页岩气成藏富集机制尚不清楚。以测井、露头资料、大量试验为基础，研究了页岩气成藏地质条件；此外，对影响气体含量的因素进行了深入讨论。结果表明，牛蹄塘组(Є ₁ n)可分为三段：第一段(Є ₁ n ¹ )、第二段(Є ₁ n ² )和第三段(Є ₁ n ³ )。Є ₁ n²是主要的页岩气藏。深陆架相是主要的沉积相，可分为泥质粉砂岩、碳质页岩和碳质硅质岩3种主要岩相。总有机碳 (TOC) 含量显示出温和的增长趋势，直到 Є ₁ n ²底部，然后在 Є ₁ n ¹内迅速下降，TOC 含量主要在横向 2% 到 4% 之间。方解石和白云石溶蚀孔、粘土粒间孔和有机孔是主要的孔隙类型，微孔类型与矿物组成和TOC含量有明显的相关性。纵向上，气体含量主要受 TOC 含量的影响。横向上，高含气井仅分布在黄陵背斜东南部，构造样式、断层和裂缝发育相结合，上震旦系灯影组（Z ₂ d）与Є ₁ n ²是影响含气量的三个最重要的因素。有利区必须满足以下条件：深陆架环境，存在Є ₁ n ¹，宽而平缓的褶皱，远离5 km以上的大型正断层，适度的热演化，大于500 m的埋藏深度; 包括YD2-ZD2井区块和Y1、YD4井区块，分布在黄陵背斜南部和仙女山断裂北部。