Fluid Occurrence and Transport in Shale: The State of the Art

Compared to conventional fossil fuels, natural gas has the characteristics of low carbon emissions, good economics, and large reserves. In recent decades, natural gas, especially unconventional natural gas such as shale gas, tight gas, and coalbed methane, has gradually gained attention. The United States began large-scale commercial development of shale gas in the early twenty-first century (International Energy Agency (IEA), 2015). Due to the successful development of shale gas, the United States achieved a historic shift from a natural gas importing country to an exporting country in 2017. In recent years, China has also achieved large-scale commercial development of shale gas reservoirs, represented by Fuing and Changning-Weiyuan gasfields. In 2022, China’s annual shale gas production exceeded 24 billion cubic meters, making it the largest shale gas production area outside of North America. According to the reported data, China’s recoverable shale gas resources are estimated to be between 15 × 1012 and 25 × 1012 cubic meters, which is the largest unconventional natural gas resource (Dong et al., 2012). It can be expected that shale gas will play an increasingly important role in China’s energy components.