What type of gas is shale gas?
methane
Shale gas is a natural gas (predominantly methane) found in shale rock. Natural gas produced from shale is often referred to as ‘unconventional’ and this refers to the type of rock type in which it is found.
What are the characteristics of oil shale?
Oil Shale is organic-rich sedimentary rocks that have contain kerogen (insoluble organic matter in sedimentary rock. When subjected to intense heat, these shales yield oil. Oil shales range from brown to black in color. They are flammable and burn with a sooty flame.
How is shale gas different from natural gas?
Shale gas has the same composition as natural gas. Every shale gas is a natural gas, the difference between the types of gases are the locations of the reservoirs. Natural gas can be found in big amounts, while shale gas is trapped inside the microcracks of a rock.
What is a shale gas well?
Shale gas formations are “unconventional” reservoirs – i.e., reservoirs of low “permeability.” Permeability refers to the capacity of a porous, sediment, soil – or rock in this case – to transmit a fluid. This contrasts with a “conventional” gas reservoir produced from sands and carbonates (such as limestone).
Is shale gas a fossil fuel?
What’s the background? Shale gas was formed hundreds of millions of years ago from decomposing plants trapped by clay and silt. Like coal-bed methane and oil from tar sands, it’s considered an ‘unconventional’ fossil fuel.
Does shale have low or high porosity?
1. adj. [Geology] Shale has a high porosity, but its pores are small and disconnected, so it is relatively impermeable. Impermeable rocks are desirable sealing rocks or cap rocks for reservoirs because hydrocarbons cannot pass through them readily.
What is the difference between shale oil and shale gas?
Shale oil and gas are exactly the same product as oil and natural gas from conventional extraction. Shale gas is natural gas! The first hydraulic fracturing happened in Oklahoma in 1947. Geologists have known about gas from shale for decades, but for many years development was not economically viable.
What is shale gas composition?
Shale gas also includes condensates and water. The gaseous components of raw shale gas include sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, helium, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. Mercury may also be found in smaller concentrations in most reservoirs where natural gas is obtained.
How is shale gas extracted?
Shale gas or unconventional gas is extracted from the impermeable shale through a process called hydraulic fracturing (also known as hydrofracking or fracking). During hydraulic fracturing, a mixture of water, chemicals and sand is pumped down a borehole at high pressure.
What is shale gas made of?
Shale gas resources of the United States By 2035, the EIA predicted, shale gas will account for almost half of U.S. gas production. Shale gas was generated from organic mud deposited at the bottom of ancient bodies of water. Subsequent…
Is shale and fracking the same?
Shale oil refers to hydrocarbons that are trapped in formations of shale rock. Fracking is a process that oil companies use to drill down into the layers of shale and open up the rock formations so that oil can be extracted.
Are there codes and standards for shale-gas-reservoir evaluation?
At present, no unified codes and standards are available for shale-gas-reservoir evaluation. Because shale gas is a natural gas accumulated in-situ at the source rock area, it belongs to source rock retained gas, which thus has self-generating and self-storage characteristics.
What are the characteristics of shale gas?
Because shale gas is a natural gas accumulated in-situ at the source rock area, it belongs to source rock retained gas, which thus has self-generating and self-storage characteristics. Therefore, evaluation of shale-gas reservoirs must consider reservoir-gas generation capacity and storage capacity.
How much shale gas is recoverable in the US?
The total recoverable shale gas in the United States, which was estimated at 862 trillion cubic feet in 2011, was revised downward to 665 trillion cubic feet in 2013. Recoverable shale gas in Canada, which was estimated to be 388 TCF in 2011, was revised upward to 573 TCF in 2013.
What is the geological risk of not finding gas in shale?
The geological risk of not finding gas is low in resource plays, but the potential profits per successful well are usually also lower. Shale has low matrix permeability, and so gas production in commercial quantities requires fractures to provide permeability.