Theory and practice of unconventional gas exploration in carrier beds: Insight from the breakthrough of new type of shale gas and tight gas in Sichuan Basin, SW China

Unconventional gas in the Sichuan Basin mainly includes shale gas and tight gas. The development of shale gas is mainly concentrated in the Ordovician Wufeng Formation–Silurian Longmaxi Formation, but has not made any significant breakthrough in the Cambrian Qiongzhusi Formation marine shale regardless of exploration efforts for years. The commercial development of tight sandstone gas is mainly concentrated in the Jurassic Shaximiao Formation, but has not been realized in the widespread and thick Triassic Xujiahe Formation. Depending on the geological characteristics of the Qiongzhusi Formation and Xujiahe Formation, the feedback of old wells was analyzed. Then, combining with the accumulation mechanisms of conventional gas and shale gas, as well as the oil/gas shows during drilling, changes in production and pressure during development, and other characteristics, it was proposed to change the exploration and development strategy from source and reservoir exploration to carrier beds exploration. With the combination of effective source rock, effective carrier beds and effective sandstone or shale as the exploration target, a model of unconventional gas accumulation and enrichment in carrier beds was built. Under the guidance of this study, two significant results have been achieved in practice. First, great breakthrough was made in exploration of the silty shale with low organic matter abundance in the Qiongzhusi Formation, which breaks the traditional approach to prospect shale gas only in organic-rich black shales and realizes a breakthrough in new areas, new layers and new types of shale gas and a transformation of exploration and development of shale gas from single-layer system, Longmaxi Formation, to multi-layer system in the Sichuan Basin. Second, exploration breakthrough and high-efficient development were realized for difficult-to-produce tight sandstone gas reserves in the Xujiahe Formation, which helps address the challenges of low production and unstable production of fracture zones in the Xujiahe Formation, promote the transformation of tight sandstone gas from reserves without production to effective production, and enhance the exploration and development potential of tight sandstone gas.