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Hydraulic fracturing has become an important means for shale gas exploration. Understanding the evolution characteristics and influencing factors of pores and micro-fractures during the imbibition process in shale reservoirs is crucial for optimizing post-fracturing production enhancement measures. This study focuses on the black shale at the base of the first section of the first member of the Longmaxi Formation (Long 1-1 sub-member), the main production layer in the Dazu area, western Chongqing area of the Sichuan Basin. Argon ion polishing and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) experiments were conducted at fixed sites to observe the evolution pattern of microscopic pores and fractures in shale reservoirs at various stages of water imbibition process. The findings revealed: (1) After water imbibition for 7 days, organic pores at the edges of organic matter exhibited varying degrees of reduction, while the internal pore shapes and sizes remained largely unchanged. (2) Intragranular dissolution pores and intergranular pores exhibited noticeable dissolution effects, resulting in mineral particle dissolution and detachment, which increased the leakage area for shale gas. (3) The water imbibition did not induce a significant amount of new micro-fractures. Instead, it extended existing micro-fractures, with the fracture width expanding by 5 to 10 times after imbibition for 14 days. (4) The surface porosity of the shale reservoir reached its peak value at day 7 of water imbibition. After 7 days, due to the continuous swelling of clay minerals, micro-fracture widths experienced varying degrees of reduction. (5) The intensity of pore and fracture expansion in shale reservoirs was primarily affected by mineral composition and pore permeability properties. Higher contents of unstable minerals and brittle minerals with larger particle sizes led to more pronounced pore expansion effects, which were conducive to post-fracturing shale gas seepage.

The Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation on the southwestern margin of the Sichuan Basin holds significant shale gas reserves. The characteristics and formation stages of fractures play a crucial role in shale gas accumulation and productivity. Focusing on the Longmaxi Formation in the Tiangongtang area, this study employed core analysis, FMI (Formation Micro-Imager) logging, rock acoustic emission experiments, carbon-oxygen isotope analysis of fracture fillings, fluid inclusion homogenization temperature testing, and burial-thermal evolution history analysis to investigate the development characteristics and formation periods of natural fractures in the shale. The results indicate that the natural fractures in the Longmaxi Formation in the study area are characterized by the coexistence of tectonic vertical and low-angle fractures. The core fractures exhibit high development density, short extension, and high filling degree. Comparison of imaging log fracture dip angles, core fracture cross-cutting relationships, fracture filling fluid inclusion tests, and rock acoustic emission experiments suggested that the fractures in the Longmaxi Formation in the Tiangongtang area were associated with three tectonic events. Combined with burial-thermal evolution history analysis, the formation periods were confirmed as follows: the first stage involved NW-oriented and NNE-oriented planar shear fractures, and NEE-oriented cross-sectional shear fractures formed during the mid-late Yanshanian period (130-62 Ma) with tectonic stress orientation near SN (345°±5°) and inclusion homogenization temperatures of 185-206 ℃; the second stage involved NE-oriented and NW-oriented planar shear fractures, and NNW-trending cross-sectional shear fractures formed during the late Yanshanian to mid-Himalayan period (62-34 Ma) with tectonic stress orientation near EW (80°±5°) and inclusion homogenization temperatures of 165-184 ℃; the third stage involved near SN-oriented and NEE-oriented planar shear fractures, and NE-oriented cross-sectional shear fractures formed from the mid-Himalayan period to present (34 Ma to present) with tectonic stress orientation near NW (315°±5°) and inclusion homogenization temperatures of 125-162 ℃. Based on the geomechanical background, a three-stage tectonic fracture evolution model for the Longmaxi Formation in the Tiangongtang area was established.

Fruitful achievements have been made in shale gas exploration in the middle and deep areas from the Upper Ordovician Wufeng Formation to the Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation in the southeastern Sichuan Basin, and in the research on shale reservoir characteristics and main controlling factors. As the key direction of current shale exploration, the deep and ultra-deep areas are limited by drilling and other factors, and the research on reservoir development characteristics and differences with the middle and deep shale reservoirs is insufficient. In order to clarify the characteristics of the deep and ultra-deep shale reservoirs of the Wufeng-Longmaxi formatiosns, four typical shale gas wells at the depth of 2 000-6 000 m in the southeastern Sichuan exploration area were selected to systematically carry out a comparative study of deep and ultra-deep shale reservoir development characteristics and differences, and the causes of pore development were discussed. The results show that: (1) With a burial depth of less than 6 000 m, the shale reservoirs of the Wufeng-Longmaxi formations are effective reservoirs with high porosity, and the porosity has no obvious change with the change of burial depth. However, there are certain differences in the morphology, structure and connectivity of organic matter pores, that is, with the increase of burial depth, the size of organic matter pores relatively decreases, and the pore connectivity deteriorates; (2) It has been clarified that biogenic silica is the foundation of pore development, and fluid overpressure is the key to maintaining reservoir pores. Under the combined action of biogenic silica and biogenic silica, the deep and ultra-deep shale reservoirs with high porosity and high quality can be developed and maintained; (3) Based on the research of reservoir development, shale gas exploration will be extended to 6 000 m, which provides a clear direction for shale gas exploration in the next step. It is preliminarily assessed that the deep and ultra-deep shale gas (buried depth of 4 000-5 000 m) resources in the Wufeng-Longmaxi formations in the Sichuan Basin and its surrounding areas exceed 2×1012 m3.

Breakthrough of the exploration of deep shale gas in the Sichuan Basin, Southwest China, has been achieved for decades, there are still some controversies about the adsorption performance and occurrence state of shale gas in deep strata. Isothermal adsorption experiments were carried out under high temperature and high pressure with typical shale samples from deep stratum of the Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation in Fuling and Dingshan areas in the southeastern Sichuan Basin. Results show that there is a big difference between absolute adsorption and excess adsorption, thus, it is proposed that the excess adsorption capacity should be corrected to the absolute adsorption capacity when evaluating the adsorption performance of deep shale gas. After correction, the variation of absolute shale adsorption with pressure appeared to have three stages including "rapid rise", "slow rise" and "steady rise". The absolute adsorption capacity of deep shale samples from Fuling and Dingshan areas is higher than 2.0 m3/t at 110℃ and 70 MPa, and combined with the adsorption and free gas ratios of deep shale, the total gas content is more than 4.0 m3/t, indicating that deep shale may still have good adsorption performance under high temperature and high pressure. The evaluation of deep shale adsorption capacity can provide reliable parameters for the study of shale gas content and the evaluation of resource potential and reserve for shale gas. Considering the difference of ratio of free gas to adsorbed gas between deep shale and shallow-medium shale, different exploration and production methods can be adopted to effectively improve the production capacity and production cycle of shale gas.

In this paper, the co-occurring characteristics of pore gas and water in the Longmaxi Formation shales in the Sichuan Basin, South China were investigated. Water vapor and methane adsorption by the means of gravimetric methods were carried out to quantitatively determine the behavior of gas and bounding water in micro-nano pores. The impact of the shale compositions and pore structures on the occurring characteristics were discussed. Results showed that the storage capacity of bound water in different types of shales varied dramatically, and the characteristics of bound water could be described by the water vapor adsorption curve and the GAB model. There is an apaprent positive correlation between the maximum monolayer water molecule adsorption capacity and the clay mineral content in shales, indicating that clay minerals provide the main active adsorption sites for water molecules. The adsorption capacity of shale to water molecule is higher than that of methane molecule overall, and methane molecule mainly exist in pores with the form of monolayer adsorption. Bound water, adsorbed gas and free gas could be stored in different pore ranges of different shales. Pores with diameters lower than 2 nm are occupied by bounding water and adsorbed gas. For shales with TOC < 2.5%, free gas would be stored in pores with diameters larger than 5 nm approximately, while for the shales with TOC>2.5%, free gas would be stored in pores with diameters larger than 3 nm approximately. The higher the TOC content, the higher the proportion of the free-gas storage space.

Based on core, thin section, scanning electron microscopy observations, X-ray diffraction analysis, as well as carbon and oxygen isotopes and energy spectrum analysis of carbonate rocks, the quartz, feldspar, pyrite, carbonate and clay minerals in shale of the Upper Ordovician Wufeng-Lower Silurian Longmaxi formations of Sichuan Basin were effectively characterised and classified, and the influences of their diagenetic evolution sequence on the development of shale reservoir were discussed. The results showed that good material basis and unique diagenetic sequence were the key factors for the formation of high-quality shale reservoirs. (1) Framboidal/euhedral pyrite, bio-quartz and microbial dolomite were mainly formed from the syngenetic stage to the A-substage of early diagenetic stage. They were both destructive and constructive for maintaining the original pores in shale, and the constructive supporting framework of which was critical for the formation of high-quality shale reservoir. The rigid framework formed by these early-formed minerals and terrigenous debris facilitated the maintenance of original pores and the reservoir stimulation of shale gas exploitation. (2) The co-evolution of hydrocarbon generation and diagenesis promoted the development of reservoir spaces. In the A-substage of middle diagenetic stage, the production and consumption of organic acids, the dissolution/alteration of unstable minerals (feldspar and carbonate minerals), clay mineral conversion and oil generation from kerogen were synchronic, which provided favorable space for the charging and retention of liquid hydrocarbons during the oil generation period. From the B-substage of middle diagenetic stage to the late diagenetic stage, the shale gas/organic pore generation and pressure increase of kerogen and retained hydrocarbon cracking promoted the development of organic pores and micro-fractures, which was conducive to the enrichment and high production of shale gas.

Organic matter-hosted pores provide reservoir space and migration pathways for shale gas. The evolution of organic matter-hosted pores (OM pores) of different macerals from Longmaxi shale with a wide variety of thermal maturities has been investigated using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The Longmaxi shale contains rare graptolites which are the main component of structured organic matter. No OM pores occur in graptolite fragments, irrespective of thermal maturity. OM pores locally developed in graptolite fragments are formed from hydrocarbon generation of organic matter which was replaced by macromolecular material from surrounding sediment or in situ polymerized by lipids from the organism itself. Solid bitumen is not only the major organic component in the Longmaxi shale, but also the main host of OM pore development. The diagenesis of fine-grained sediments and thermal evolution of organic matter have been combined with the morphology of solid bitumen to distinguish pre-oil solid bitumen and post-oil solid bitumen. The post-oil solid bitumen is dominant. The evolution of OM pores within solid bitumen is closely related to thermal maturity. Generally, OM pores within solid bitumen become greater as thermal maturity increases. During the mature to early postmature (GRo < 2.3%) stages, OM pores within solid bitumen are not well developed probably due to the masking by oil and bitumen generated from organic matter. OM pores within solid bitumen are well developed during the late postmature to early overmature (2.3% < GRo < 4.5%) stages, with two main types being spongy and bubble-shaped. For organic-rich Longmaxi shale, the contribution of OM porosity to total porosity is more than 50%. During the late overmature (GRo>4.5%) stage, organic matter carbonization will cause intense damage to shale pores so that the exploration risk of shale gas increases.