Controls of hydrocarbon generation on the development of expulsion fractures in organic-rich shale: Based on the Paleogene Shahejie Formation in the Jiyang Depression,Bohai Bay Basin,East China

The development of expulsion fractures in organic-rich shale is closely related to hydrocarbon generation and expulsion from kerogen. Organic-rich shales from the upper part of the fourth member and the lower part of the third member of the Paleogene Shahejie Formation in the Jiyang Depression, Bohai Bay Basin, East China, are used as an example. Based on thin sections, SEM and thermal simulation experiments, the characteristics of hydrocarbon generation and the conditions supporting the development of expulsion fractures were explored. The key factors influencing these fractures include the presence of kerogens, their distribution along laminae and around particle boundaries, their exposure to heat and the build-up in pressure due to confinement by low permeability. The development of excess pore fluid pressures and intrinsic low rock fracture strength are the main influencing factors. Pressurization by rapid generation of hydrocarbon provides impetus for fracture initiation and cause bitumen to migrate quickly. The shale laminae results in distinctly lower fracture strength laminae-parallel than laminae-normal and this directs the formation of new fractures in the direction of weakness. When pore fluid pressure increases, maximum and minimum principal effective stresses decrease by different proportions with a larger reduction in the maximum principal effective stress. This increases the deviatoric stress and reduces the mean stress, thus driving the rock towards failure. Moreover, the tabular shape of the kerogen aids the generation of hydrocarbon and the initiation of expulsion fractures from the tip and edge. The resulting fractures extend along the laminae when the tensile strength is lower in the vertical direction than in the horizontal direction. Particle contact boundaries are weak and allow fractures to expand around particles and to curve as the stress/strength regime changes. When pore fluid pressure fields at different fracture tips overlap, fractures will propagate and interconnect, forming a network. This paper could provide us more detailed understanding of the forming processes of expulsion fractures and better comprehension about hydrocarbon expulsion (primary migration) in source rocks.     

Simulation of paleotectonic stress fields and quantitative prediction of multi-period fractures in shale reservoirs: A case study of the Niutitang Formation in the Lower Cambrian in the Cen'gong block,South China

Reservoirs where tectonic fractures significantly impact fluid flow are widespread. Industrial-level shale gas production has been established from the Lower Cambrian Niutitang Formation in the Cen'gong block, South China; the practice of exploration and development of shale gas in the Cen'gong block shows that the abundance of gas in different layers and wells is closely related to the degree of development of fractures. In this study, the data obtained from outcrop, cores, and logs were used to determine the developmental characteristics of such tectonic fractures. By doing an analysis of structural evolution, acoustic emission, burial history, logging evaluation, seismic inversion, and rock mechanics tests, 3-D heterogeneous geomechanical models were established by using a finite element method (FEM) stress analysis approach to simulate paleotectonic stress fields during the Late Hercynian—Early Indo-Chinese and Middle-Late Yanshanian periods. The effects of faulting, folding, and variations of mechanical parameters on the development of fractures could then be identified. A fracture density calculation model was established to determine the quantitative development of fractures in different stages and layers. Favorable areas for shale gas exploration were determined by examining the relationship between fracture density and gas content of three wells. The simulation results indicate the magnitude of minimum principal stress during the Late Hercynian — Early Indo-Chinese period within the Cen'gong block is −100 ∼ −110 MPa with a direction of SE-NW (140°–320°), and the magnitude of the maximum principal stress during the Middle-Late Yanshanian period within the Cen'gong block is 150–170 MPa with a direction of NNW-SSE (345°–165°). During the Late Hercynian — Early Indo-Chinese period, the mechanical parameters and faults play an important role in the development of fractures, and fractures at the downthrown side of the fault are more developed than those at the uplifted side; folding plays an important role in the development of fractures in the Middle-Late Yanshanian period, and faulting is a secondary control. This 3-D heterogeneous geomechanical modelling method and fracture density calculation modelling are not only significant for prediction of shale fractures in complex structural areas, but also have a practical significance for the prediction of other reservoir fractures.     

High resolution characterization of a core from the Lower Jurassic Gordondale Member,Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

The Gordondale Member is a hydrocarbon source rock and potential unconventional reservoir that extends across northeastern British Columbia and central-northwestern Alberta. It is an organic-rich, calcareous, fossiliferous mudstone with a median total organic carbon value of 6.0 wt%. A total of 230 samples were collected from approximately 25 m of Gordondale Member core for organic matter analysis using Rock-Eval 6 analysis and organic petrology. Detailed core logging provides sedimentological context for organic matter characterization. The predominant organic material in the samples is solid bitumen and liptinite with lesser zooclast and inertinite. Most kerogen is Type II, autochthonous marine biomass, with minimal dilution by inert organic carbon. Rock-Eval T_max values and random reflectance measurements of solid bitumen indicate the samples are within the oil generation window. Solid bitumen contributes a substantial amount of hydrocarbon potential to the interval. A micro-reservoir structure within the core is produced by thin intervals of impermeable displacive calcite that act as barriers to the upward migration of free hydrocarbons. These free hydrocarbon accumulations could make excellent targets for horizontal wells within the Gordondale Member.     

The electrical conductivity of Posidonia black shales — from magnetotelluric exploration to rock samples

We carried out a magnetotelluric field campaign in the South–East Lower Saxony Basin, Germany, with the main goal of testing this method for imaging regional Posidonia black shale sediments. Two‐dimensional inversion results of the magnetotelluric data show a series of conductive structures correlating with brine‐saturated sediments but also with deeper, anthracitic Westphalian/Namurian coals. None of these structures can be directly related with the Posidonia black shale, which appears to be generally resistive and therefore difficult to resolve with the magnetotelluric method. This assumption is supported by measurements of electrical resistivity on a set of Posidonia shale samples from the Hils syncline in the Lower Saxony basin. These rock samples were collected in shallow boreholes and show immature (0.53% Ro), oil (0.88% Ro), and gas (1.45% Ro) window thermal maturities. None of the black shale samples showed low electrical resistivity, particularly those with oil window maturity show resistivity exceeding 10⁴ Ωm. Moreover, we could not observe a direct correlation between maturity and electrical resistivity; the Harderode samples showed the highest resistivity, whereas the Haddessen samples showed the lowest. A similar trend has been seen for coals in different states of thermal maturation. Saturation of the samples with distilled and saline water solutions led to decreasing electrical resistivity. Moreover, a positive correlation of electrical resistivity with porosity is observed for the Wickensen and Harderode samples, which suggests that the electrical resistivity of the Posidonia black shale is mainly controlled by porosity.     

Sensitivity of the elastic anisotropy and seismic reflection amplitude of the Eagle Ford Shale to the presence of kerogen

The Eagle Ford Shale of Central and South Texas is currently of great interest for oil and gas exploration and production. Laboratory studies show that the Eagle Ford Shale is anisotropic, with a correlation between anisotropy and total organic carbon. Organic materials are usually more compliant than other minerals present in organic‐rich shales, and their shapes and distribution are usually anisotropic. This makes organic materials an important source of anisotropy in organic‐rich shales. Neglecting shale anisotropy may lead to incorrect estimates of rock and fluid properties derived from inversion of amplitude versus offset seismic data. Organic materials have a significant effect on the PP and PS reflection amplitudes from the Austin Chalk/Upper Eagle Ford interface, the Upper Eagle Ford/Lower Eagle Ford interface, and the Lower Eagle Ford/Buda Limestone interface. The higher kerogen content of the Lower Eagle Ford compared with that of the Upper Eagle Ford leads to a negative PP reflection amplitude that dims with offset, whereas the PS reflection coefficient increases in magnitude with increasing offset. The PP and PS reflection coefficients at the Austin Chalk/Upper Eagle Ford interface, the Upper Eagle Ford/Lower Eagle Ford interface, and the Lower Eagle Ford/Buda Limestone interface all increase in magnitude with increasing volume fraction of kerogen.     

泥岩、页岩声速各向异性及其影响因素分析

在实验室超声波频率下(纵波主频为700kHz、横波为250kHz)对层理发育的页岩和泥岩的各向异性进行了研究,给出了在干燥和油饱和条件下,样品不同方向上纵、横波速度以及各向异性参数随压力的变化规律. 用X 射线衍射和扫描电镜分析了样品中引起各向异性的原因,指出平行于层理定向排列的粘土矿物和微裂隙是使样品显示出强弹性各向异性的内在原因. 随着压力的增高微裂隙逐渐闭合,样品的各向异性程度减弱. 孔隙流体的存在增强了孔隙（裂隙）的刚度,减弱了各向异性随压力增大而减小的趋势.     

琼东南盆地崖南区少井岩性建模技术研究

崖南区是琼东南盆地已证实的富生烃区,几口已钻井都已证实主要目的层段为高压地层,利用常规的压力预测方法预测新钻井的压力会出现较大的误差.若是从区域应力角度入手预测新钻井的压力误差会减小,其预测基础为岩性模型.对于已开发的油气田,利通常规的岩性建模方法可以建立较好的岩性模型;但是对于崖南区而言,由于地震资料品质不是很好,同时本区钻井较少,很难通过常规的建模方法建立岩性模型,所以本区研究重点是如何利用少井建立岩性模型.通过研究认为若完成崖南区的岩性建模必须改进建模流程,改进的岩性建模流程克服了常规岩性建模在崖南区存在的问题,主要有三方面的优点:1)不采用相模型约束岩性建模,解决了由于研究区相模型划相较粗很难约束岩性模型建立的问题;2)属性模型控制岩性模型的横向变化趋势,解决了几种常规属性与岩性间没有较好关系的问题;3)利用泥质含量结合岩性资料建立岩性体,得到的岩性模型比较接近实际情况.C井钻前完成岩性模型建立,利用C井井点位置提取岩性数据与本井钻后录井岩性数据对比,发现预测岩性与录井岩性的吻合程度很高,证明改进的岩性建模思路在崖南少井区可用.     

国内外页岩气研究进展及山东省页岩气资源潜力

当前国际能源供需矛盾突出,能源问题日益成为各国关注的焦点,页岩气资源勘查开发备受世界瞩目;全球页岩气资源非常丰富,主要分布在北美、中亚和中国、拉美、中东和北非、前苏联地区;近年来随着开采和利用技术的不断进步,美洲、欧洲、亚洲国家对页岩气的勘查开发正在形成热潮。中国页岩气资源丰富,对页岩气的区域勘查研究越来越多,取得了不错的成果,但总体上中国页岩气的研究和勘查尚处于起步阶段,同时中国的开发技术与国外相比还存在较大的差距。结合山东省不同类型富含有机质泥页岩的具体特点和国内外页岩气勘查经验,初步认为山东省具有一定的页岩气形成条件,山东省页岩气远景区地层主要为新生代古近纪济阳群和五图群及官庄群,中生代早白垩世莱阳群,古生代石炭—二叠纪月门沟群和石盒子群;在综合考虑页岩的赋存层位、页岩成气潜力和页岩气开发可行性的基础上,提出了山东省页岩气潜力区为:济阳坳陷区、临清坳陷区、胶莱坳陷区和黄县(龙口)凹陷以及鲁西南潜隆起区,其中济阳-临清坳陷地区页岩气潜力较好。     

Research Progress and Development Tendency About Thermal Physical Properties of Rocks

The fundamental researches about thermal physical properties of rocks have much concern in oil and gas field. They go through four stages and are applied in thermal structure of lithosphere, thermal evolution of sedimentary basins, geotechnical engineering and geothermal area. This article summarized the current research progress on the basis of thermal physical properties of rocks and proposed the development of tendency for the future. Moreover, some cylindrical heat pipe, disc heat pipe, spherical heat pipe based on in-situ measurement method and prediction model based on mathematical statistics have been developed. The scholars discuss the internal relation between thermal conductivity parameter of rocks and other physical properties by a large number of experiments. The researches show that the thermal conductivity of rocks is affected by many factors, and the petrologic characteristic is the most important factor. The porosity of rocks, filled fluid properties, acoustic characteristics are also related to thermal conductivity, which is affected by temperature, pressure and anisotropy. In consideration of the study of thermal physical properties of rocks, we proposed the following tendency for the future. First of all, shale gas is regarded as a hot spot in oil-gas exploration and the formation mechanism and the formation of shale gas reservoir are under the control of thermal physical properties of shale gas, but the relationship among thermal conductivity and organic porous, organic carbon content, gas content, fractured characteristics remains unknown. Therefore, exploring the thermal physical properties of gas-bearing shale is an important research direction in oil and gas field. Secondly, the study of big data represents the general trend. Though the database of rocks thermal parameter is continually expanding, measuring in-situ thermal conductivity continuously in well is the best method to get the accurate in-situ thermal conductivity of rocks. Hence, the development of logging method principle and logging instruments based on thermal physical properties of rocks is a necessary trend for the future.     

泥页岩裂缝研究进展

国内外大量泥岩裂缝油气藏不断发现和近年来北美地区页岩气勘探获得的巨大成功表明,泥页岩裂缝的研究尤为重要.在对国内外泥页岩裂缝研究成果全面系统调研和详细深入分析总结的基础上,认为与其他岩石类型的储层相比,塑性相对较大的泥页岩储层在裂缝类型与成因、裂缝识别方法、裂缝参数估算、裂缝分布预测等方面既有共性也有其特殊性.依据成因...