Research paperGeological models of gas in place of the Longmaxi shale in Southeast Chongqing, South China

- High-pressure methane adsorption of Longmaxi shale samples was performed.
- Adsorption data were extrapolated to geological conditions by the SDR model.
- GIP models of Longmaxi shale systems with different pressure gradients were proposed.
- GIP data was used to explain gas yield difference between Fuling and Pengshui blocks.

Gas-in-place (GIP) is one of the primary controlling factors in shale gas production, but studies examining GIP have been lacking for the Lower Silurian Longmaxi shale in South China. In the present study, a suite of Longmaxi shale samples was collected from an exploratory well in Southeast Chongqing, South China, and the adsorption parameters were fitted using a supercritical Dubinin-Radushkevich (SDR) model based on the high-pressure methane adsorption experiment data for the samples. The results show that the adsorbed phase density and the adsorbed gas capacity of the samples have a positive correlation with the content of total organic carbon (TOC) but a negative correlation with temperature. Combined with the geological characteristics of the Longmaxi shale in Southeast Chongqing, GIP models were constructed under three different fluid pressure conditions. The absolute adsorbed amount of the samples increases and later decreases with increasing depth with a maximum corresponding to depths between 800 and 1200 m. The fluid pressure coefficient has no obvious effect on the absolute adsorbed amount when burial depth is over 2000 m but controls the free gas content. Overpressure primarily increases the free gas content and thus increases the total gas content. The free gas content of the Longmaxi shale in the Pengshui Block is reduced to 47%-58% of that in the Fuling Block, which is the main reason for its low gas production. Further exploration of the Longmaxi Formation should be expanded to deeper burial shales in the eastern area of Southeast Chongqing.