Abstract:

 Shale gas is a kind of unconventional natural gas accumulation types; its practice is still in the experimental stage in China. There are no mature methods to evaluate the resources reasonably at present and it lacks reference especially for evaluation of continental shale gas. Based on the analysis of differences and characteristics between marine shale and continental shale, the conditions and standards of terrestrial shale resource evaluation are confirmed. The continental shale gas resources are evaluated preliminarily on the basis of sample tests and gas content assessment of the Mesozoic Triassic Yanchang Formation shale in Yanchang exploration area. For different exploration degree and geological conditions, different assessing methods should be used. By a comprehensive evaluation, it is shown that the Mesozoic continental shale gas resource is of great value for exploration development; its volume is 626.4×108m3 to 6037.2×108m3.

Key words: shale gas, Yanchang exploration area, Mesozoic, continental, resource evaluation