Evaluation of the exploration prospect and risk of marine gas shale, southern China: A case study of Wufeng-Longmaxi shales in the Jiaoshiba area and Niutitang shales in the Cen’gong area

Abstract The Wufeng-Longmaxi shales and the Niutitang shales are the most important organic-rich marine shales in southern China. To fully understand the significant difference in drilling results between the two sets of shales, the accumulation conditions of shale gas were systematically compared. The Niutitang shales have a superior material base of hydrocarbon generation for higher total organic carbon than the Wufeng-Longmaxi shales. Due to the influence of hydrothermal activities and carbonization of organic matter, however, the porosity, pore volume, pore size, and pore connectivity of Niutitang shales is obviously lower than that of Wufeng-Longmaxi shales. The natural fractures of Wufeng-Longmaxi shales are dominated by horizontal bedding fractures, and most of them are filled by calcite. By contrast, the high dip-angle fractures are more developed in the Niutitang shales. Especially, these fractures remain open in stages during the process of serious uplift and denudation movements. Thus, the seal conditions of the Niutitang shales are poor, which is further not conducive to the enrichment of shale gas. Our work also suggests that the exploration and development of highly over matured marine shales in southern China should follow the principle of “high to find low, and strong to find weak.”