Characteristics and Resource Potential of Lacustrine Shale Oil and Gas in China

Jin, Zhijun

Chinese petroliferous basins contain several organic rich lacustrine shales, including the Upper Cretaceous Qingshankou Formation in the Songliao, Paleogene Shahejie Formation in the Bohai Bay, Triassic Yanchang Formation in the Erdos, Triassic-Jurassic strata in the Sichuan, and Permian and Jurassic in the Zhungeer Basin. In comparison with the marine shales in the USA, lacustrine shales in China are characterized by young geologic age, limited areal extent, large facies variation, variable organic input, low thermal maturity, less brittle mineral, high clay content, and poor diagenesis. Since 2008, China has been actively engaged in lacustrine shale oil and gas exploration. Major breakthroughs have been achieved, successively in the lacustrine shale gas exploration from the Lower Jurassic Ziliujing Formation in the Sichuan Basin and the Triassic Yanchang Formation from the Erdos Basin. Significant progress has been made in the shale oil exploration from the Paleogene in several rift basins in eastern China. This presentation will utilize Sinopec's extensive core data, to address the key geological factors that make the Paleogene shale oil resource in eastern China extremely attractive, and the main technological challenges that impede the large-scale economic exploitation of this resource. Several case studies from the Ordos, Sichuan and Zhungeer basins will be used to demonstrate the shale gas resource potential and commercial feasibility in the Upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic lacustrine sequences in China.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90163©2013AAPG 2013 Annual Convention and Exhibition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 19-22, 2013