Influence of tectonic evolution processes on burial, thermal maturation and gas generation histories of the Wufeng-Longmaxi shale in the Sichuan Basin and adjacent areas

The Wufeng-Longmaxi (WL) shale is widely distributed in the Sichuan Basin and adjacent areas in southwest China. The basin experienced multiple-stage complex tectonic movements, whose influences on burial, thermal maturation and gas generation histories in different areas are poorly understood. Based on a detailed study of the denudation stages, strata thickness, and thermal history of the basin, burial and thermal maturation histories of seven wells in different areas were modelled using PetroMod software. Due to the high maturity of the WL shale, a low-maturity Silurian Polish Llandovery shale was used for gold tube closed-system pyrolysis experiments to obtain kinetic parameters for evaluating methane generation history. The Polish shale was selected due to its depositional age, sedimentary environment and organic type, which are similar to the WL shale. The burial history of the WL shale can be divided into five stages: I. Early to Middle Silurian rapid burial; II. Caledonian uplift and denudation; III. Permian to Triassic sustained burial and denudation; IV. sustained burial since the Late Triassic; and V. Late Cretaceous to present sustained uplift and denudation. The thermal maturity of the WL shale in all wells increased with burial depth during stage IV. In addition, high calculated reflectance increments in wells JY1 and N201 during stage III occurred due to the relatively high basal heat flow and deep burial depth, resulting in higher current thermal maturities than in the other wells. The late Permian–Early Triassic and the Middle Jurassic–Early (or Late) Cretaceous were the key methane generation periods for wells JY1 and N201. In contrast, the other five wells had a single methane generation stage, mainly determined by burial and thermal maturation processes. The time of uplift and the amount of denudation during stage V, the current burial depth, the development of faults and fractures, high proportion of retention and the seal capacity of the overlying caprock are key factors for shale gas preservation. Hence, this study will help guide future shale gas development in the Sichuan Basin.