About this Research Topic
The unconventional oil and gas reservoirs that will be covered in this research topic include shale oil and gas, deep-water fine-grained sediments, fracture-type, karst cave-type, fracture-dissolved pore type tight reservoirs, fault-fracture body, volcanic-metamorphic rock basement reservoirs, tuff reservoirs, etc. The formation mechanism and controlling factors of high-quality reservoirs are hot topics in unconventional oil and gas geology and are important supplements to the basic theories of classical oil and gas geology.
The development of unconventional reservoirs has benefited from new hydrocarbon accumulation theories and the rapid development of reservoir space evaluation techniques at different scales (from macro to micron-nano level). New evaluation techniques have enabled accurate and dynamic characterization of unconventional reservoir rocks from loose material to solid rock, porous elastic reservoir, and completion of hydrocarbon aggregation. In this process, the formation mechanism of different unconventional reservoirs is different, and the controlling factors of reservoir quality are also varied. Therefore, the study of the full range of all characteristics in lithology, diagenetic evolution, genetic mechanisms, controlling factors and hydrocarbon accumulation patterns of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs has become a new trend in the efficient exploration and development of oil and gas resources. The systematic publication on these types of research has important theoretical guidance and scientific value for promoting and guiding the construction of improved models and understanding of the whole oil and gas system.
This research topic aims to introduce the latest developments in the formation, evolution mechanism, controlling factors of unconventional reservoirs and their effects on hydrocarbon accumulation. We invite researchers to contribute their new work, which will be extended to explore as many aspects as possible in the evaluation of unconventional reservoirs.
Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:
• High-resolution sedimentary cycles in unconventional system domains
• Characteristics and identification of lithology and lithofacies of unconventional reservoirs
• Formation mechanism of unconventional reservoir sweet spots
• Formation mechanism and controlling factors of reservoir densification
• Controlling factors and development models of deep-water fine sediment
• Sedimentary mode and reservoir control of deep water turbidite flow
• Diagenesis of unconventional reservoirs
• Logging, seismic and geomechanical evaluation techniques for unconventional reservoirs
• Thermal evolution mode of hydrocarbon generation in unconventional reservoirs
• Discontinuous hydrocarbon accumulation patterns in unconventional reservoirs
• Heterogeneity of strike-slip faults controls hydrocarbon accumulation
• Fine quantitative characterization of pores/fractures at different scales
• Formation mechanism of the fault-fracture body or fractured reservoir
• Integration of geology and engineering in fractured reservoir
Keywords: Unconventional reservoirs, control factors, quantitative characterization, prediction techniques, high-quality reservoirs
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.