Analysis of Lower Cambrian shale gas composition, source and accumulation pattern in different tectonic backgrounds: A case study of Weiyuan Block in the Upper Yangtze region and Xiuwu Basin in the Lower Yangtze region

Abstract Marine shale gas exploration in southern China has successes and failures. Under the condition of great hydrocarbon generation material basis, shale gas wells drilled from some shale gas blocks are rich in methane, while the wells in other shale gas blocks with high nitrogen and low hydrocarbon gas, which indicates that they have different accumulation mechanisms. Therefore, the study of gas composition in shale will help us to figure out the mechanism of shale gas accumulation and loss. In this paper, the Lower Cambrian shale from Wei-201 well in Upper Yangtze Weiyuan Block and Jiangye-1 well from Lower Yangtze Xiuwu Basin are selected as research object, and shale samples are used for tests and experiments including analysis of gas composition and nitrogen isotope, test of porosity and TOC content, overburden permeability test, permeability test before and after methane adsorption under different osmotic pressure, permeability test parallel and vertical to the bedding surface, FIB-SEM (Focus Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscope) and FIB-HIM (Focused Ion Beam Helium Ion Microscope). Finally, the reasons for the difference in the gas components of the Lower Cambrian shale gas in Weiyuan Block and Xiuwu Basin are studied by means of seismic interpretation, core description and outcrop observation besides the tests and experiments. The results show that the gas components of the Lower Cambrian shale in Weiyuan Block, the Upper Yangtze, mainly consist of methane, derived from liquid hydrocarbon cracking. The sealing capacity of roof and floor, the great self-sealing of shale and the flat anticline structure contribute to the high methane content in shale gas. The Lower Cambrian shale gas in Xiuwu Basin, the Lower Yangtze, is mostly nitrogen, which is derived both from atmosphere and deep crust-upper mantle. The detachment layer at the bottom of the Lower Cambrian, the widely developed deep faults and the Jurassic volcanic activity are the reasons for the high nitrogen and low hydrocarbon of shale gas. Based on the above analysis, the patterns are summarized for shale gas accumulation in the simple anticline background and reservoir destruction in the complex syncline background.