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Advances in Geo-Energy Research 2023, 9(3): 146-151 https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2023.09.02
Perspective | Open Access | Issue | Published: 18 August 2023

Quantitative characterization of fluid occurrence in shale reservoirs

Show Author's Information Junqian Li1 ( ),  Jianchao Cai2
National Key Laboratory of Deep Oil and Gas, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, P. R. China
National Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, P. R. China
Keywords:
Shale oil, shale gas, quantitative characterization, shale pore water, occurrence mechanism
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Li J, Cai J. Quantitative characterization of fluid occurrence in shale reservoirs. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2023, 9(3): 146-151. https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2023.09.02
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Abstract Full text About this article

Shale oil and gas, as important unconventional resources, have been widely discussed in the last decade. The occurrence characteristics of fluids (oil, gas, and water) in shale reservoirs are closely related to the exploitation of shale oil and gas, therefore the quantitative characterization of fluid occurrence in shale reservoirs has received extensive attention. In this paper, the latest advances and potential challenges on this subject are summarized. With respect to shale oil, the amounts, ratios and micro-distributions of shale oil in different states can be determined using the state equation of liquid and adsorption ratio equation, which contributes to identifying high-quality shale oil reservoirs. However, it is still necessary to strengthen the research on the multi-attribute coupling relationship and oil-rock interaction of shale oil reservoirs, and the determination of occurrence characteristics of adsorbed and free oil under in situ reservoir conditions. In terms of shale gas evaluation, the process analysis method and isotope fractionation method effectively solve the problem of evaluating in situ gas-bearing characteristics of shale, and can accurately estimate the amounts of total, adsorbed and free gas. The quantum physisorption behavior of gas could be a new research direction to reveal the microscopic occurrence mechanism of shale gas. As for shale pore water, a complete evaluation procedure for determining the amounts and micro-distributions of adsorbed and free water in shale matrix pores has been established, which provides insight into the storage and flow of oil and gas. In future work, a study on the quantitative evaluation of water-rock interaction is significant for obtaining the adsorbed and free water under in situ reservoir conditions.


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About this article

Quantitative characterization of fluid occurrence in shale reservoirs

Show Author's information Junqian Li1 ( ), Jianchao Cai2
National Key Laboratory of Deep Oil and Gas, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, P. R. China
National Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, P. R. China

Abstract

Shale oil and gas, as important unconventional resources, have been widely discussed in the last decade. The occurrence characteristics of fluids (oil, gas, and water) in shale reservoirs are closely related to the exploitation of shale oil and gas, therefore the quantitative characterization of fluid occurrence in shale reservoirs has received extensive attention. In this paper, the latest advances and potential challenges on this subject are summarized. With respect to shale oil, the amounts, ratios and micro-distributions of shale oil in different states can be determined using the state equation of liquid and adsorption ratio equation, which contributes to identifying high-quality shale oil reservoirs. However, it is still necessary to strengthen the research on the multi-attribute coupling relationship and oil-rock interaction of shale oil reservoirs, and the determination of occurrence characteristics of adsorbed and free oil under in situ reservoir conditions. In terms of shale gas evaluation, the process analysis method and isotope fractionation method effectively solve the problem of evaluating in situ gas-bearing characteristics of shale, and can accurately estimate the amounts of total, adsorbed and free gas. The quantum physisorption behavior of gas could be a new research direction to reveal the microscopic occurrence mechanism of shale gas. As for shale pore water, a complete evaluation procedure for determining the amounts and micro-distributions of adsorbed and free water in shale matrix pores has been established, which provides insight into the storage and flow of oil and gas. In future work, a study on the quantitative evaluation of water-rock interaction is significant for obtaining the adsorbed and free water under in situ reservoir conditions.

Keywords: Shale oil, shale gas, quantitative characterization, shale pore water, occurrence mechanism

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Publication history

Received: 25 July 2023
Revised: 10 August 2023
Accepted: 15 August 2023
Published: 18 August 2023
Issue date: September 2023

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© The Author(s) 2023.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 41972123).

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This article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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