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Differences in shale gas accumulation process and its significance in exploration of Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation in Northeast Yunnan

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Abstract

The study and exploration practice of shale gas accumulation has focused on the static system comparison, key parameters analysis, reservoir characteristics, enrichment mode etc. However, the research on dynamic recovery from the original hydrocarbon generation of shale gas to the present gas reservoir is still lacking. The burial history of shale gas reservoir can reflect the overall dynamic process of early formation and later transformation of shale gas reservoir. It controls the material basis of shale gas, the quality of reservoir physical properties, preservation conditions, gas content and formation energy, which is the core and foundation of shale gas accumulation process research. Herein, based on the five typical wells data in the Northeast Yunnan, including geochronological data, measured Ro values, core description records, well temperature data, paleoenvironment, paleothermal, etc., the burial history, thermal evolution history and hydrocarbon generation history of the Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation were systematically restored via back stripping method and EASY%Ro model. The results show that 1) the differences in the burial history of marine shale in Longmaxi Formation can be divided into syncline type and anticline type. 2) The shale gas accumulation process can be divided into four stages, namely the source-reservoir-cap sedimentation period, initial accumulation period, main accumulation period, and adjustment period. 3) Based on the characteristics of burial history and preservation conditions, the areas with wide and gentle anticline, far away from the denudation area, and buried deeply with good fault sealing ability are priority structural locations for the shale gas exploration in northeast Yunnan.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41772141 and 41802183).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Coalbed Methane Resources and Reservoir Formation Process of the Ministry of Education, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Shangbin Chen & Yang Wang

  2. School of Resources and Geoscience, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Shangbin Chen, Huijun Wang, Yang Wang, Yingkun Zhang & Zhuo Gong

  3. Yunnan Coalbed Methane Resources Exploration and Development Co., Ltd, Kunming, 650031, China

    Tianguo Jiang

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  1. Shangbin Chen
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  2. Huijun Wang
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Correspondence to Shangbin Chen.

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Chen, S., Wang, H., Wang, Y. et al. Differences in shale gas accumulation process and its significance in exploration of Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation in Northeast Yunnan. Front. Earth Sci. 15, 343–359 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-021-0913-x

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