Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Multi-Scale Pore Structure Heterogeneity of Lacustrine Shale in the Gaoyou Sag, Eastern China

The success of shale oil exploration and production is highly dependent on the heterogeneous nature of the reservoir pore structure. Despite this, there remains limited research on the heterogeneity characteristics of pores at different scales in lacustrine shale oil reservoirs and the factors that impact them. This study aims to quantitatively characterize the multi-scale pore heterogeneity differences of the lacustrine shale found in the Funing Formation in Gaoyou Sag. Additionally, the study seeks to clarify the impact of the total organic carbon (TOC) and lithofacies type on pore structure heterogeneity. To achieve this, nitrogen adsorption, scanning electronic microscope (SEM), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), and other experimental means were adopted in combination with the fractal dimension model of FHH and capillary. The results show that the predominant lithofacies of the Funing Formation shale samples are mixed shale (MS) and siliceous shale (SS), with a limited presence of calcareous shale (CS). The micro-pores of lacustrine shale are dominated by inorganic mineral pores and fewer organic pores. Intragranular pores and clay mineral pores are two types of inorganic mineral pores that are widely found. Small pores (pore diameter < 50 nm) make up 89% of the pore volume (PV) and 99% of the specific surface area (SSA). The fractal dimensions D-1, D-2, and D-3 were calculated to characterize the roughness of the pore surface, the structural complexity of small pores, and the structural complexity of large pores (pore diameter > 50 nm), respectively. The increase in the total organic carbon (TOC) resulted in a decrease in the D-1, D-2, PV, and SSA, while connectivity showed a slight improvement. The fractal dimension of shale across all lithofacies followed the pattern: D-3 > D-2 > D-1. The pore structure is more complex than the pore surface, and the large pores showed a greater heterogeneity than the small pores. Among the three lithofacies, CS had the largest PV, SSA, D-1, and D-2, indicating the development of a more complex pore structure network. This expands the space required for shale oil occurrence. However, the connectivity of the CS lithofacies is the lowest among the three, which hinders shale oil production. Although the PV of SS is slightly lower than that of CS, its average pore diameter (AVE PD) and connectivity are significantly advantageous, making SS an ideal shale reservoir. This study provides an important reference for the reservoir evaluation required to better develop lacustrine shale oil around the world.

Automated summary

This study aims to quantitatively characterize the multi-scale pore heterogeneity differences of lacustrine shale in the Funing Formation and determine the impact of total organic carbon (TOC) and lithofacies type on pore structure heterogeneity. The results show that the micro-pores of lacustrine shale are dominated by inorganic mineral pores, with small pores making up the majority of the pore volume and surface area. The increase in TOC leads to decreased fractal dimensions and pore volume, but improved connectivity.