Discussion on key issues of shale oil/gas resource assessment

The potential of shale oil/gas resources has become the focus of social attention. In order to better understand the shale oil/gas resources potential, it is necessary to constantly improve the methodology and strengthen the work of shale oil/gas resources assessment. Shale oil/gas belongs to unconventional resources, the geological characteristics of which are obviously different from those of conventional oil/gas, and the assessment methods for conventional oil and gas resources are thereby not fully applicable. Developing resources assessment method suitable for shale oil/gas is a must. Shale oil and gas resources are usually large-size in place, though with quite low recovery factor. Therefore, the specific resources assessment is supposed to stress both resources in-place and recoverable resources. At present, there are two main basic methods for shale oil/gas resources assessment, namely resource in-place assessment based on shale oil/gas content per unit volume and technically recoverable resource assessment based on shale oil/gas EUR per well. The factors that affect shale oil/gas resources assessment mainly include geological understanding, technology progress and economic factors, with geological evaluation as the foundation and key. © 2022, OIL & GAS GEOLOGY Editorial Board. All right reserved.