Characterization of natural fractures in deep-marine shales: a case study of the Wufeng and Longmaxi shale in the Luzhou Block Sichuan Basin, China

Abstract

Natural fractures are of crucial importance for oil and gas reservoirs, especially for those with ultralow permeability and porosity. The deep-marine shale gas reservoirs of the Wufeng and Longmaxi Formations are typical targets for the study of natural fracture characteristics. Detailed descriptions of full-diameter shale drill core, together with 3D Computed Tomography scans and Formation MicroScanner Image data acquisition, were carried out to characterize microfracture morphology in order to obtain the key parameters of natural fractures in such system. The fracture type, orientation, and their macroscopic and microscopic distribution features are evaluated. The results show that the natural fracture density appears to remarkably decrease in the Wufeng and Longmaxi Formations with increasing the burial depth. Similar trends have been observed for fracture length and aperture. Moreover, the natural fracture density diminishes as the formation thickness increases. There are three main types of natural fractures, which we interpret as (I) mineral-filled fractures (by pyrite and calcite), i.e., veins, (II) those induced by tectonic stress, and (III) those formed by other processes (including diagenetic shrinkage and fluid overpressure). Natural fracture orientations estimated from the studied natural fractures in the Luzhou block are not consistent with the present-day stress field. The difference in tortuosity between horizontally and vertically oriented fractures reveals their morphological complexity. In addition, natural fracture density, host rock formation thickness, average total organic carbon and effective porosity are found to be important factors for evaluating shale gas reservoirs. The study also reveals that the high density of natural fractures is decisive to evaluate the shale gas potential. The results may have significant implications for evaluating favorable exploration areas of shale gas reservoirs and can be applied to optimize hydraulic fracturing for permeability enhancement.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

marine shale / natural fracture / filled fracture / tortuosity

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Acknowledgments

The project is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42202155), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2021MD703807), Major Special Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology of PetroChina (Nos. 2022DJ8004 and 2021DJ1901), Heilongjiang Postdoctoral Foundation (No. LBH-Z20121), Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province Project (No. 2020CFB501) and The Scientific Research Project of Department of Natural Resources of Hubei Province (No. ZRZY2020KJ10). The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the China Scholarship Council (No. 202008230018). EGR acknowledges funding by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN)/State Research Agency of Spain (AEI)/European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)/10.13039/501100011033 for the “Ramón y Cajal” fellowship RYC2018-026335-I and research projects PGC2018-093903-B-C22 and PID2020-118999GB-I00.

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