Earth Science Frontiers ›› 2023, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (1): 156-173.DOI: 10.13745/j.esf.sf.2022.8.32

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Preliminary study on nanopores, nanofissures, and in situ accumulation of Gulong shale oil

HE Wenyuan()   

  1. 1. China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Co., Ltd. (CNODC), Beijing 100032, China
    2. Heilongjiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Continental Shale Oil, Daqing 163002, China
  • Received:2022-07-07 Revised:2022-08-09 Online:2023-01-25 Published:2022-10-20

Abstract:

The shale oil resource in the Qingshankou formation, Gulong Sag amounts to 15.1 billion tons, making it an important petroleum “backup” resource. Electron backscattering (HDBSD) shows that nm pores and fissures are well developed in the Gulong shale oil reservoir. The nm pores are mostly 10-50 nm in diameter (median 20-30 nm) and have irregular or polygonal shapes. They are mainly a kind of E-F nano holes, and some E-E nano pores, and connected to the nano fissures that have slit widths mostly between 10-50 nm (median 20-30 nm). The nm fissures are mainly formed in clays via F-F condensation. Clay coagulation is closely related to organic matter, especially algae. The clay colloid is negatively charged due to isocrystalline replacement, and metal cations are absorbed around it to form a positive clay group. The positively charged clays in turn adsorb the negatively charged humic acid (organic matter) and lightly degraded algae to form an organic clay flocculant. When the organic clay flocculates reach the hydrocarbon generation/release threshold, organic matter shrinks up to 87% in volume. Due to capillary resistance (~12 MPa) from nano fissures, the discharged hydrocarbon cannot migrate out, thus forming the special continuous in-situ shale oil reservoir of Gulong.

Key words: shale, clay, organic matter, nano-pore and nano-fissure, in-situ accumulation, Gulong Sag

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