Investigation of Pore Structure and Fractal Characteristics in an Organic-Rich Shale Gas-Condensate Reservoir from the Duvernay Formation

Abstract Interest has spread to potential unconventional shale reservoirs in the last decades, and they have become an increasingly important source of hydrocarbon. Importantly, pore structure of shale has considerable effects on the storage, seepage and output of the fluids in shale reservoirs so that reliable fractal characteristics are essential. To better understand the evolution characteristics of pore structure for a shale gas condensate reservoir and their influence on liquid hydrocarbon occurrences and reservoir physical properties, we conducted high-pressure mercury intrusion tests (HPMIs), field emission scanning electron microscopies (FESEM), total organic carbon (TOC), Rock-Eval pyrolysis and saturation measurements on samples from the Duvernay formation. Furthermore, the fractal theory is applied to calculate the fractal dimension of the capillary pressure curves, and three fractal dimensions D1, D2 and D3 are obtained. The relationships among the characteristics of the Duvernay shale (TOC, organic matter maturity, fluid saturation), the pore structure parameters (permeability, porosity, median pore size), and the fractal dimensions were investigated. The results show that the fractal dimension D1 ranges from 2.44 to 2.85, D2 ranges from 2.09 to 2.15 and D3 ranges from 2.35 to 2.48. D2 and D3 have a good positive correlation. The pore system studied mainly consists of organic pores and microfractures, with the percentage of micropores being 50.38%. TOC has a positive relationship with porosity and D3 due to the development of organic pores. D3 has a positive correlation with gas saturation. With increased D3, median pore size shows a decreasing trend and an increase in permeability and porosity, demonstrating that D3 has a large effect on pore size distribution and the heterogeneity of pore size. In general, D3 has a better correlation with petrophysical and petrochemical parameters. Fractal theory can be applied to better understand the pore evolution, pore size distribution and fluid storage capacity of shale reservoirs.