Black shale is dark-colored, organic-rich sediment, and there have been many episodes of black shale deposition over the history of the Earth. Black shales are source rocks for petroleum and natural gas, and thus are both geologically and economically important. Here, we review our recent progress in understanding of the surface ocean ecosystem during periods of carbonaceous sediment deposition...

The poly(styrene-methyl methacrylate) latex particles as potential physical shale stabilizer were successfully synthesized with potassium persulfate as an initiator in isopropanol-water medium. The synthesized latex particles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), particle size distribution measurement (PSD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and thermal gr...

Shale gas is one of the primary types of unconventional reservoirs to be exploited in search for long-lasting resources. Production from shale gas reservoirs requires horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing to achieve the most economic production. However, plenty of parameters (e.g., fracture conductivity, fracture spacing, half-length, matrix permeability, and porosity, etc) have high un...

This paper proposes a novel energy-efficient oil shale pyrolysis process triggered by a topochemical reaction that can be applied in horizontal oil shale formations. The process starts by feeding preheated air to oil shale to initiate a topochemical reaction and the onset of self-pyrolysis. As the temperature in the virgin oil shale increases (to 250-300°C), the hot air can be replaced by ambie...

The worldwide energies’ price continues to rise again. More countries pay more attention to unconventional energies. Shale gas is one of the significant unconventional energy sources. With the successful development of shale gas in the United States, more and more countries and corporations focus on the shale gas exploitation. The large recoverable reserves of shale gas will ensure China's ener...

the main purpose of this research paper is to compare qiujiahe formation (є1q) and longmaxi formation (s1ln) in north sichuan basin where shale gas exploration has not been fully researched, and hence represents the possibility of shale gas concentration under the complex geological conditions. based on valid laboratorial analysis, there are optimistic prospects for є1q and s1ln of research are...

Hydrous pyrolysis experiments conducted on Messel shale with D2O demonstrated that a large amount of deuterium becomes incorporated into the hydrocarbons generated from the shale kerogen. In order to understand the pathway of deuterium (and protium) exchange and the role of water during hydrous pyrolysis, we conducted a series of experiments using aliphatic compounds (1,13-tetradecadiene, 1-hex...

The Pierre Shale is a marine deposit that accumulated in the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway during the onset of Laramide tectonism in the southern Rocky Mountains region. In the eastern part of the Raton Basin near Trinidad, Colorado, ammonite biostratigraphy suggests that the base of the Pierre Shale lies within or slightly above the Lower Campanian Scaphites hippocrepis III ammonite range...

Figure 1 features locations of shale basins across the U.S. that bear natural gas. There are many reasons to pursue the development of natural gas. First, the supply of natural gas in the U.S. is very reliable, and the delivery system is less subject to interruption compared to imported fossil fuel. Second, the high energy content of natural gas (about 30 kJ/m3 [1000 Btu/ft3]) and a well-develo...