Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 8889 (2012) 8291

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Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

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Tight gas sandstone reservoirs in China: characteristics and recognition criteria

Caineng Zou a,, Rukai Zhu a, Keyu Liu a, b, Ling Su a, Bin Bai a, Xiangxiang Zhang a,
Xuejian Yuan a, Jinhong Wang a
a
b

Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development,PetroChina,Beijing 100083,China

CSIRO Earth Science and Resource Engineering, P.O. Box 1130, Bentley WA 6112, Australia

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 7 June 2011
Accepted 1 February 2012
Available online 10 February 2012
Keywords:
tight gas sandstone reservoir
characteristics
recognition criteria
diagenesis
petrophysical properties
Chinese basins

a b s t r a c t
Tight gas sandstone (tight gas) reservoirs have been widely discovered in a number of basins in China including the Sichuan, Ordos, Turpan-Hami (Tuha), Songliao, Junggar, Tarim, Chuxiong and East China Sea basins.
Genetically they are of either primary or secondary accumulations. The tight gas accumulations are mostly
associated with coal strata. The reservoir rocks are mainly lithic arkosic sandstones and feldspathic lithic
arenite. They are characterized by low compositional maturities, low cement contents and moderate petrological textural maturities. The diagenetic evolution of the reservoirs is generally at a high level, reaching
the mid-late diagenesis stages. Reservoir porosities are dominated by secondary intragranular dissolution
porosity and intergranular dissolution porosity with subordinate primary residual intergranular porosity.
The pore throats are sheet like or bending-ake like in geometry and generally have poor connectivity. The
tight gas reservoirs have poor petrophysical properties and show strong heterogeneities. Locally, some moderately porous and low permeable or low porous and moderately permeable sandstone reservoirs are present. Compaction and cementation appear to be key factors contributing to the formation of the tight gas
sandstone reservoirs. Based on the synthesis of a vast data set obtained from some known tight sandstone
gas accumulations from (1) the upper Palaeozoic sandstones in the Ordos Basin, (2) the Triassic Xujiahe
Formation in the Sichuan Basin, (3) the Jurassic sandstones from the foothill belt in the Tuha Basin and (4)
the Cretaceous deep reservoirs in the Songliao Basin, the criteria for recognizing tight gas sandstone reservoirs in China can be established as an in situ permeability of less than or equal to 0.1 mD and with no natural
commercial production.
2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Tight gas has now become an important component of the wide
hydrocarbon inventory as one of the major unconventional resources.
In 2009 the world annual production of tight gas amounted to 15.3
TCF and one-third of the US gas production for the year was from
tight gas (BP World Energy Statistics, 2009; IEA, 2009). At present
there are over 900 tight gas elds over 40,000 producing wells in
the US with a proven recoverable resource of 459 TCF.
In China tight gas accumulations have been discovered in a number of basins including the Ordos, Sichuan, Tuha, Songliao and Tarim
basins with a total area of 600,000 km 2 and a resource reserve of
over 777 TCF (Jiang et al., 2004; Kang and Luo, 2007; Wang, 2000;
Zou et al., 2010). However, tight gas exploration in China is still in
its infant stage and there are no established criteria for recognizing
and evaluating tight gas sandstone reservoirs. This paper intends
to provide an overview on the major characteristics of the tight gas
sandstone reservoirs in Chinese basins. We also proposed a set of
Corresponding author at: Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and
Development, PetroChina, 20 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China.
Tel.: +86 10 83593456; fax: + 86 10 83593456.
E-mail address: zcn@petrochina.com.cn (C. Zou).
0920-4105/$ see front matter 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2012.02.001

criteria for recognizing and evaluating tight gas resources in Chinese

basins based on a critical review of a large data set accumulated
over past several decades.
2. Denition and characteristics of tight gas sandstone reservoirs
Tight gas sandstone reservoirs refer to low or very low permeable
reservoirs in which the stranded gas cannot be produced naturally to
commercial quantity and requires production intervention. This denition can also be applied to coal bed methane; shale gas and tight gas
carbonate reservoirs (Holditch, 2006). The commonly accepted denition for the commercial tight gas is the gas in low porous and permeable reservoirs that can only be produced commercially through
large scale production intervention such as fracturing and horizontal
or multilateral drilling (Rogner, 1996).
Up to now, there are no universally agreed denitions on tight
gas or a set of criteria for recognizing and evaluating tight gas sandstone reservoirs. The terms tight gas, tight gas sands, or tight
sandstone gas are often used interchangeably in the literature. In
the 1970s the US government proposed to use a permeability of
0.1 mD as the cut-off to dene tight gas reservoirs for taxation purposes. Surdam et al. (1997) dened tight gas as gases produced

C. Zou et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 8889 (2012) 8291

from low permeability reservoirs with porosity b12% and permeability 1 mD. Luo (2007) suggested that tight gas should refer to
those gases that can only be produced commercially via production
intervention such as fracturing and horizontal drilling. Zou et al.
(2010) suggested that tight gas sandstone reservoirs are reservoirs
with porosity less than 10%, in situ permeability of less than 1 mD,
pore throat diameter less than 1 m and gas saturation less than
60%. They also emphasized that tight gas normally cannot be produced naturally to commercial quantity. However, in many countries
tight gas sandstone reservoirs are often dened according to the gas
ow (rates) at well site rather than through the permeability cutoff
values (Schmoker et al., 1996). It has thus been suggested that tight
gas sandstone reservoirs may be best dened from both the petrophysical and economic viewpoints (Holditch, 2006).
Tight gas possesses the following six characteristics: (1) the
source rocks often comprise normally matured coal beds or coal
seam-bearing shale; (2) the reservoirs are usually low porous and
less permeable sandstones with strong heterogeneity and relatively
high water saturation, with the low porosity and permeability being
caused by ne facies, strong compaction and carbonate and siliceous
cementation; (3) sources and reservoirs are in close proximity; (4)
the gas distribution is not entirely controlled by the trap structures
and can occur in structurally low areas; (5) have unique reservoir
migration and accumulation mechanisms complementing the conventional hydrocarbon accumulations; and (6) occur in large scale
with signicant reserves and can have a prolonged sustainable production with proper intervention although there may be low or no
natural production. A number of authors have noticed the uniqueness
of tight gas sandstone reservoirs over the past several decades and
proposed various terms to describe such reservoirs such as deep
basin gas by Masters (1979); tight gas reservoirs by Walls (1982);
basin center gas by Rose et al. (1984) and Law (2002); continuous
gas accumulation by Schmoker et al. (1996); root margin gas by
Zhang and Jin (2005) and continuous hydrocarbon accumulation by
Zou et al. (2009). In this paper the term tight gas sandstone reservoirs
or tight gas is used.
3. Characteristics of tight gas sandstone reservoirs in Chinese
basins
Natural gas occurrence in siliciclastic reservoirs can be classied as
either conventional reservoirs or tight gas sandstone reservoirs.
The two types of reservoirs differ in a number of aspects including
their depositional setting, diagenetic history, pore types, pore throat
structures and pore connectivity and accumulation (Table 1). In
China tight gas sandstone reservoirs are well developed in both the
terrestrial (continental) and marine depositional sequences. Tight
gas sandstone reservoirs can be further classied according to their
formation mechanisms such as (1) primary depositional type or (2)
structurally diagenetically modied type (Zhao et al., 2007; Zou et
al., 2010).
The tight gas sandstone reservoirs in the lacustrine basins in China
are dominated by alluvial fan, uvial and delta front facies. The cause
for the tight nature of the reservoirs is depositional related and due
primarily to the matrix-support nature of the sedimentary facies,
high mud content, poor sorting in the alluvial fan facies, and the
ne grained nature, poor sorting and high mud content in the delta
front facies.
The tight gas sandstone reservoirs of terrestrial origin in China
have generally undergone strong structural-diagenetic alteration
due to their relatively deep burial and high diagenetic evolution
stages (Ying et al., 2004). Most of the tight gas sandstone reservoirs
reached the late diagenetic stage (Lv and Liu, 2009; Zhao et al., 1999)
and are characterized by strong compaction, and the occurrence of
widespread pressure dissolution and cementation. Mechanical compaction and dissolution are widespread in all tight gas sandstone reservoirs

83

Table 1
Differences between conventional and tight gas sandstone reservoirs. Q: quartz; F: feldspar;
R: rock fragment.
Parameters

Conventional sandstone
reservoirs

Rock constituents
Diagenetic
evolution
Type of porosity

High Q, low F and R

Before mid diagenesis
B stage
Primary and secondary
porosity
Connectivity of pore Shot-like and good
throats
connectivity
Porosity (%)
1230
In situ permeability > 0.1
(mD)
Water saturation
2550
(%)
b 2.65
Rock density
(g/cm3)
Capillary pressure
Low
Reservoir pressure
Normal
Stress sensitivity
Weak
In situ recovery
7590
factor (%)

Tight gas sandstone

reservoirs
High F and R
Mid-late diagenesis
stages
Secondary
porosity
Sheet like, bending-ake like,
poor connectivity
312
0.1
4570
2.652.74
High
Over-pressured
Strong
1550

Q: quartz; F: feldspar; R: rock fragments.

and primarily occurred during the early evolution stage. This process
reduces the intergranular porosity signicantly through graingrain or
grainline contacts and compaction. With increasing burial depth mineral dissolution commences when the vertical loading (overburden)
pressure and the lateral tectonic stress become greater than the pore
pressure. With increasing loading and compression the grain contacts
begin to transform from pointpoint contact, through pointline contact, to concaveconvex or sutured contact. Mineral dissolution during
this stage also provides the essential silica solution for cementation.
For example, in the Sichuan Basin, the tight gas sandstone in the
Upper Triassic Xuejiahe Formation is characterized by typical concaveconvex grain contacts with well developed sutures between
quartz grains and exures in some plastic minerals such as lithic fragments and plagioclase (Liu et al., 2011).
The marine tight gas sandstone reservoirs of the structuraldiagenetic origins in China are primarily distributed in the Silurian
sequences of the Tarim Basin, Sichuan Basin and the Carboniferous
Permian sequences of the Ordos Basin (Table 2). They are characterized by braided deltaic, tidal at and offshore bar sedimentary facies.
For example, in the Sichuan basin, the Silurian tight gas sandstone
reservoir is dominated by very ne lithic arenite and arkosic lithic
sandstone with quartz as the predominant lithology. The lithic fragments consist of shale, siliceous materials, schist and eruptive igneous
rock fragments. In the Tarim Basin, the lithology of the Silurian tight
gas sandstone reservoir in the Tadong area comprises very ne, ne
and medium sandstones that have been strongly compacted and
tightly cemented. Carbonate cementation is the predominant process
with some silica cementation. Quartz overgrowth is well developed.
Clay content is relatively high (Dong et al., 2007; Lv and Liu, 2009).

3.1. Petrographic characteristics

One of the major characteristics of the terrestrial tight gas sandstone reservoirs is their low compositional and textural maturity.
Generally speaking the tight gas sandstones in China consist of relatively high abundance of feldspars and lithic fragments, often arkoses,
arkosic arenite and rarely quartz arenite (Table 2). The sandstone
usually has a large size range, is poorly sorted, and angular to subangular with high mud content. These unique sedimentary and lithological features are conducive for compaction, resulting in low porosity
and permeability and thus poor reservoir quality.

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C. Zou et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 8889 (2012) 8291

Table 2
Major characteristics of tight gas sandstone reservoirs from main oil and gas bearing basins in China.
Basin

Ordos

Sichuan

South
Songliao

North
Songliao

Tuha

Junggar

Tarim

Stratigraphic
interval

C-P

Xujiahe Fm

Denglouku
Fm

Denglouku
Fm

Shuixigou
Fm

Badaowan Fm

S, Eastern
part

J, Foothill belt

Sedimentary
facies
Rock Type

Fluvial, BS, MS
delta, coastal
Lithic sst, lithic
Qz sst, Qz sst

BS, MS delta, FD,

coastal bar
Ar-lithic sst and
lithic sst, lithic
Qz sst

Fluvial, BS,
MS delta
Ar-lithic sst,
lithic sst

BS, delta, MS
delta
Lithic arkose,
ar-lithic sst
and arkose

BS, delta

BS, delta, MS
delta
Ar-lithic sst and
lithic sst

Shoreline,
BS, delta
Mesograin,
ne grain
lithic sst

Fluvial, MS, BS,

delta, FD
lithic sst, ar-lithic
sst

Depth (m)
Area (103 km2)
Production
(103 m3/d/well)
Diagenetic stage*

20005200
180
2681a

22003500
50
4150

22003300

30003650
15
4.597.9/39

42004800
45

48006500
240
2956.5

38004900

Pore type

Mesogenetic
A2 to B
RI, interG, intraG
DP, kaolinite
intercrystal pore

20005200
60
Minimum, 2.3
pressurized
Mesogenetic
A to B
RI pore, DP grain
DP, micropore,
microfracture

Mesogenetic
A2
RI, interG
DP,intraG
DP

Mesogenetic
A to late
Miniature
interG,
micropore,
intraG DP

Median (%)
Mean (%)
Sample nos.
Median K (mD)
Mean K (mD)
Sample nos.

6.695
6.93
6015
0.2291
0.6042
5849

4.1998
5.65
39,999
0.0567
0.351
32,351

3.1994
3.35
61
0.0342
0.224
52

5.0121
5.16
25
0.0469
0.1058
25

9.1
9.04
51
0.455
1.25
43

6.5133
6.98
1019
0.2047
3.572
988

2.78
6.49
4720
0.393
1.126
4531

740

1.5110.8

0.011.44

Ar-lithic sst

Bashijike Fm,
west Kuche
deep zone
BS,, BS, delta,
FD
limy ne lithic
sst,
anisomerous
lithic sst
55007000

Minimum66

178.3
(Dabei 1010)
Mesogenetic Mesogenetic
Mesogenetic mesogenetic A to B mesogenetic
B to late
A1A2
A to B
A to B
IntraG and
InterG, grain DP, RI, intraG DP interG, intraG DP,
RI, grain and
interG DP
matrix shrinkgrain DP, microintraG DP, maage, micropore
pore, microfracture trix micropore

3.36

0.06

Qz: quartz; sst: sandstone; ar-lithic: arcosic lithic; sandstone; BS: braided stream; MS: meandering stream; FD: fan delta; RI: residual intergranular pore; DP: dissolution pore;
interG: intergranular; intraG: intragranular.
a
After Ying et al. (2004).

In the Sichuan Basin for example, the Upper Triassic Xujiahe Formation is characterized by a low compositional maturity, low cementation and moderate textural maturity (Fig. 1a). The compositional
maturity indices are around 0.322.45 with a maximum value of up
to 6.14. The quartz content is around 2470% and occasionally up to
86%. Feldspar accounts for 0.518%, while the lithic fragments account for 1265% with a maximum of 75.5%. The lithic fragments
are dominated by igneous rock type and metamorphic quartz arenite
fragments with minor sedimentary fragments or low grade metamorphic rock fragments. The reservoirs are moderately well sorted and
are primarily grain supported, subrounded with the matrix content
being less than 2%. The total amount of authigenic cement and/or diagenetic minerals is low, less than 56%, although they may occasionally take up to 15%. The authigenic minerals include chlorite, silica,
calcite, Fe-bearing calcite,dolomite, siderite and pyrite. Among the
authigenic minerals, chlorite, silica and calcite appear to have the

most effects on the petrophysical properties of the tight gas sandstone reservoirs (Zhu et al., 2009). In the lithic rock fragments, quartz
mineral is the strongest mechanically (Pittman and Larese, 1991).
When the content of quartz falls below 35%, the mechanical strength
of the lithic fragments will be reduced sharply, resulting in poor
reservoir quality (e.g. the Xu-6 interval in the Guangan-102 well).
However, the reservoir quality does not always improve with increasing quartz content (Zhu et al., 2009). When the quartz content
exceeds 75%, the amount of silica cement is doubled, causing extensive cementation and thus reducing the porosity and permeability
(e.g. in the Xu-6 interval of the Guangan-12 well). The mechanic
strength of the feldspar is next to that of quartz. When the feldspar
content is less than 1%, the reservoir quality is poor (e.g. the Xu-6 interval of Well Guangan-102). However, dissolution pores can often be
developed in feldspar grains. There are two contrasting types of lithic
fragments, namely the rigid type and plasticity type (Pittman and

b
1
2 3

N=5643

N=6132

Fig. 1. Ternary plots showing the lithological difference of sandstones from two well known tight gas sandstone reservoirs. Classication scheme after Folk (1968). Q: quartz; F: feldspar;
R: rock fragment; K1q: Cretaceous Qingshankou Fm; K1d: Donglouku Fm; K1y: Yingcheng Fm; K1s: Shahezi Fm.(a). The Upper Triassic Xujiahe Fm in the Sichuan Basin. Data from the
Southwestern Oileld Company, PetroChina. (b) The deep tight gas sandstone reservoirs in the Songliao Basin. Data from the Daqing Oileld Company, PetroChina.

C. Zou et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 8889 (2012) 8291

Larese, 1991). The plastic lithic fragments such as low-grade metamorphic rocks, shale fragments and mica akes, have low mechanic
strength and may affect the reservoir quality greatly. In addition,
the amount of plastic rock fragments of a reservoir is often inversely
related to grain sizes. The ner the grainsize is, the higher the plastic
fragment content will be (e.g. the Xu-6 interval of the Guangan-101
well). The rigid lithic fragments usually comprise metamorphic
quartzose, igneous lithic fragments, silicate and sandstone, among
which the metamorphic quartzose fragment has the highest mechanic strength, while the volcanic lithic fragments have the least
strength. Silicate fragments and sandstone fragments have moderate
mechanic strengths somewhere in between.
In the deep part of the Songliao Basin, the tight gas sandstone reservoirs are characterized by arkosic lithic sandstone and lithic sandstone and arkosic arenite (Fig. 1b; Table 2). The lithic fragments are
dominated by quartz, feldspar and rock fragments with quartz accounting for 9.438.6% (average: 21.833.9%), feldspar accounting
for 15.046.1% (average: 26.738.2%) including orthoclase, microcline and plagioclase. The rock fragments, primarily of igneous rocks
including acidic eruptive rocks and andesite, account for 20.9% to
70.0% with an average content of 28.044.4%. The sizes of the rock
fragments vary from 0.01 mm to 0.25 mm. The cementation is primarily of pore lling type and secondary cementation. The pore lling
material consists primarily of clay and authigenic cements. The clay
matrix is dominated by illite, accounting for 2.329.4%. The authigenic cements consist predominantly of silica (25%), occasionally
up to 10%. The calcite cements are dominated by calcite with minor
amount of limy micrite accounting for 2.28.4% and occasionally up
to 20%. Zeolite cement accounts for 2.37.2% and is often heterogeneously distributed, forming local patches.
In the Ordos Basin, the tight gas sandstone reservoirs are mainly
distributed in the oil bearing He-8 and the Shan-1 reservoir intervals
within the Sulige giant gaseld (Table 2). The main lithology is lithic
quartz arenite. The lithology of the He-8 interval is dominated by lithic quartz arenite with quartz content of 5283%, rock fragment content of 1748% and feldspar content of b1%. The reservoir grains are
moderately well sorted, subrounded to rounded. The grain contact
is primarily of pointpoint contact or pointline contact. The cementation is dominated by pore lling type. The cement consists of clay
with volcanic ashes (412%) with minor calcite (125%) including
Fe-bearing calcite, often in residual forms. Quartz overgrowth is
well developed. The total cement amounts for 528%, while the
poresurface ratio averages around 310%. The Shan-1 interval is
dominated by lithic quartzose arenite with subordinate lithic sandstone. The quartz content is 5987%, while the lithic fragments
account for 1742%. The feldspar content is similar to that of the
He-8 interval, but the sorting is much better. Grain contacts are typical of concaveconvex styles, suggesting a much stronger diagenesis
compared with He-8. The clay content is 48% and the amount of
the calcite is 12%, less than that of He-8 interval. The total cement
accounts for 711%.
In the deep part of the Kuche Depression, northern Tarim Basin, the
Cretaceous tight gas sandstone reservoirs consist of limy ne grained
lithic sandstone, variable grainsized lithic sandstone (Table 2).
Quartz accounts for 4184% (average: 72.2%), feldspar accounts for
1017% (average: 9.6%) and the lithic rock fragments account for
2842% (average: 28.4%). The pore lling materials are dominated
by clay and calcite cement and zeolite, totally accounting for 14
57% (average: 23.2%). Among the pore lling minerals calcite and
zeolite account for 512% (average: 8.5%) and 28% (average: 3%),
respectively. Locally porosities are well developed, consisting of
intergranular pores, intergranular dissolution pores with pore sizes
being mainly around 0.010.1 mm in dimensions (Table 2). The
Palaeogene tight gas sandstone reservoirs consist of limy, limy ne
lithic and medium lithic sandstone or arkosic lithic arenite with
quartz content of 5664%, feldspar of 1118% and lithic fragments

85

of 2129%. The cement, totaling 6.3%, is dominated by clay and calcite with minor quartz overgrowth. The cement calcite accounts for
1028% (average: 20.7%) of the total cement.

3.2. Reservoir storage space and accumulation potential

The pore types of tight gas sandstone reservoirs in China are dominated by secondary pores including intergranular and intragranular
pores, intergranular micropores and microfractures with rare primary
pores. In general, the reservoir qualities are poor with low porosity
and permeability as the main characteristics (Table 2; Fig. 2a, b).
In the Sichuan Basin, for example, the Upper Triassic Xujiahe Formation, a typical tight gas sandstone reservoir, comprises predominantly secondary pores with fractures and minor amount of primary
pores. The secondary pores consist primarily of intragranular dissolution pores in feldspars and volcanic lithic fragments with minor
intergranular pores. The primary pores are mainly residual intergranular pores and micro pores in clay matrix (mixture of illite and
illite/smectite). Petrographic point counting indicates that secondary
pores account for 85% with minor amount of residual intergranular
pores (7%) and micro pores in clays (8%). The reservoir quality is poor
overall (Fig. 2c, d) and the relationship between porosity and permeability is poor with a correlation coefcient (R2) of 0.27, suggesting
that the permeability is unrelated to the total porosity but rather
controlled by pore structures and the presence of microfractures.
The tight gas sandstone reservoir in the He-8 interval of the
Suligemao Gaseld, Ordos Basin, is dominated by micro pores with
minor dissolution intergranular and intragranular pores and local
fractures. In the Shan-1 interval the poresurface ratio is 19%, with
predominantly micro pores (Table 2). Overall, the reservoir is of low
permeable tight gas sandstone (Fig. 2e, f).
In the deep part of the Songliao Basin, northeastern China the pore
types in the tight gas sandstone reservoirs can be categorized into
eight groups (Table 2): (1) normal intergranular pores, (2) contracted
intergranular pores, (3) enlarged intergranular pores, (4) cement dissolution pores, (5) dissolution pores in volcanic ash, (6) intragranular
pores, (7) fractures and (8) clay intercrystalline pores. The reservoir
quality is poor overall and the pore types can be broadly associated
to two types: normal pore and porefracture combination.
The Jurassic sequence in the foot hill belt of the Tuha Basin, western China (Table 2) with a maximum thickness of 1600 m is dominated by uvial and lacustrine sedimentary facies. The porosity of the
target reservoirs ranges from 2.27% to 6.28% (average porosity:
4.01%). The permeability ranges from 0.05 mD to 0.2 mD with an average permeability of 0.12 mD.
The tight gas sandstone reservoir in the Kuche area, northern
Tarim Basin is of Cretaceous to Palaeogene in age (Table 2). The
pore types are dominated by residual intergranular pores with subordinate grain dissolution pores and intragranular dissolution pores.
The micro pores in the matrix only account for a small proportion.
Petrographic analyses indicate that the fractures are dominated by
structural types and contraction cracks in mud pebbles. The main reservoir units in the area have experienced moderate to strong compaction with the reservoir grains predominantly being of pointpoint or
pointline contacts. The pore throats are primarily of short-neck type
with minor ake-like pore throats. In areas with high proportion of
matrix inlls the pore throats are dominated by pipe-like. In the
northern Tubei area the tight gas sandstone reservoir in the Bashijiqike
Formation has a porosity range of 4.3618.26% (average: 9.11%), with
the majority around 410%. The permeability range is 0.1451.77 mD
(average: 1.77 mD) and appears to be unrelated to the porosity. In the
Dabei-1 well the Bashijiqike Formation has a porosity range of 2.64
4.12% (average: 3.36%) and a permeability range of 0.0360.119 mD
(average: 0.06 mD). The correlation between the porosity and permeability is poor.

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C. Zou et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 8889 (2012) 8291

b
43839

N=52495

d
N=10643

10643

f
N=1680

1680

Fig. 2. Porosity and permeability ranges of the tight gas sandstone reservoirs in China.(a) and (b) for all tight gas sandstone reservoirs studied in China. (c) and (d) for the upper
Triassic tight gas sandstone reservoirs from the Xujiahe Fm in the Sichuan Basin. (e) and (f) for the upper Palaeozoic tight gas sandstone reservoirs in the Ordos Basin.

4. Methods used for determination of pore throat structures

As described in Sections 2 and 3, the tight sandstone reservoirs
in China consist of a range of pore sizes and pore types. In this investigation a number of methods were chosen to characterize the tight
sandstones including mercury injection capillary pressure (MIPS),
scanning electron microscope (SEM), backscattered (BSE) SEM and
eld emission (FE) SEM to achieve the resolution required for optimal
characterization of pore size, geometry and pore throat structures.
4.1. Pore throat structure determination using MICP
Mercury injection capillary pressure (MICP) analyses were performed on a range of core samples to characterize the pore structures
and pore size distribution (Table 3; Fig. 3).
Tight gas sandstone reservoirs in Chinese basins are characterized
by small pore throats and high capillary pressure and a median pore
throat radius of less than 1 m. Because the micro pores from the
matrix and authigenic minerals occupy a signicant proportion of
the total porosity, in addition to the pore sizes, the permeability of
the tight gas sandstone is heavily affected by the pore throat connectivity, i.e. the pore throat radius, geometry and structure. The pore
throat types for the tight gas sandstones include contracted throats,
shot-like, ake-like and curved, and pipe-like throats. The pores consist of both large and small pores with the former being primarily of

residual primary pores, while the latter being intergranular pores

and intergranular dissolution micro pores. The pore throats in the
large pores are relatively large and dominated by narrow neck type
and narrow ake-like; whereas the pore throats in the small pores
are relatively narrow with a low pore-throat ratio and is dominated
by pipe-like, thin-pipe shaped throats.
The MICP curves of the samples from the Upper Triassic Xuejiahe
Formation in the Sichuan Basin (Fig. 3) show that the maximum
pore throat is 0.325.04 m and the average pore throat is 1.82 m.
The median pore throat diameter is between 0.03 m and 0.7 m
with an average pore throat diameter of 0.18 m (Table 2). Overall,
the pore throats are quite small (Fig. 3a). The sorting coefcients
(adopted from the sorting coefcient for sediments, Folk and Ward,
1957; see nomenclature) of the pore throats are around 2.053.97

Table 3
Classication of pore structures of the tight gas sandstone reservoirs in the deep part of
the Songliao Basin based on MICP data.
Pore structure type

Type I

Type II

Type III

Type IV

Porosity (%)
Permeability (mD)
Maximum pore throat radius (m)
Displacement pressure (MPa)
Maximum mercurial saturation (%)

8.0
1.0
>2.0
b 2.5
>60

8.05.5
1.00.06
2.50.4
2.03.5
8050

5.54.0
0.20.05
0.50.1
3.010.0
7040

4.0
b0.08
b0.10
> 10.0
b 60

C. Zou et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 8889 (2012) 8291

87

c
N=330

N=336

Fig. 3. Characteristics of the pore throat structures of the Xujiahe Fm reservoirs in the Sichuan Basin. a) Pore throat size distribution. b) Correlation between the diameters of pore
throats and permeability. c) Correlation between the diameters of pore throats and porosity.

with an average sorting of 2.73 (sorting coefcient is inversely proportional to and sorting quality). The median displacement pressure
and median saturation pressure are high around 1.20 MPa and
13.2 MPa, respectively, suggesting that oil or gas cannot enter into
the reservoirs easily. For samples with porosity ranges b10% and K
ranges b1 mD, there appears to be a relatively poor correlation between the pore throat diameter, porosity and permeability (Fig. 3b,
c). In general, the Xujiahe Formation in Sichuan Basin is characterized
by narrow and less effective pore throats and a poor pore throat
distribution.
On the basis of the pore structures of the tight gas sandstone reservoirs from the Songliao Basin we have grouped the MICP curves
into four categories: (1) good pore structure; (2) moderately good
pore structure; (3) poor pore structure; and (3) very poor pore structure (Table 3).
4.2. Pore characterization using SEM and BSE imaging
Scanning electron microscope (SEM) with backscattered electron
(BSE) beam has recently been increasingly applied to characterize
micro pore structures in tight gas sandstone. The method enables
the direct observation of the spatial distribution of various micro
pores and their geometries in the rock matrix. The method is able to
detect micro pores in the matrix, within clay minerals and other diagenetic minerals lling micro pores such as dissolution pores in feldspars or lithic fragments and calcite cements. The combined SEM and
BSE capability allows the observation with continuous zooming from
a few tens of magnication to up to a few tens of thousands of magnication. In our work ow, we rstly used the SEM/BSE to acquire
images at magnication of 200010,000. The images were then processed to obtainn the various parameters relating to the micropores
including the porematrix surface ratio, pore diameters, pore throat
sizes, the perimeter of the pores, specic surface area, uniformity coefcient, pore size distribution parameters (Table 4).
The electron microscope used in the investigation is the LEO435VP model with the following operational settings: 20 kV, 100 Pa.
Thirty-nine samples from the Upper Triassic Xujiahe Formation,
Sichuan Basin were analyzed for their micro pore structures using
SEM/BSE image analysis (Table 4; Fig. 4).
The results indicate that the samples are primarily characterized
by micro pores and pore throats (Fig. 4a, b), and the porosity can be

somehow correlated with the average pore size but does not seem
to correlate with the average pore throat size (Fig. 4c, d, e).
4.3. Micro and nano pore characterization using FE-SEM imaging
Field emission SEM (FE-SEM) has the advantage of having extremely high magnication and detection resolution. With the advanced image processing software FE-SEM is able to detect and
characterize nano pores. The technique has recently been widely
used in the pore structure characterization of shale gas reservoirs
(Golab et al., 2010; Zhu et al., 2009). In this investigation FE-SEM
was used to detect and characterize the micro and nano pores developed in the reservoir grains, in the intergrain minerals, pore lling
matrix due to diagenesis or dissolution, which are key storage space
for the tight gas reservoirs (Fig. 5). A variety of sub micro pore
types were observed including (1) Intercrystalline cracks in clay mineral; (2) micro pores and dissolution micro pores in the clay minerals;
(3) micro cracks between chlorite and (4) micropores in mineral
grains.
5. Criteria for recognizing tight gas sandstone reservoirs in China
The criteria for recognizing and evaluating tight gas sandstone reservoirs vary greatly among countries and regions as the amount of
resources and the advancement of technology to produce the tight
gas are different. At present there are yet any agreed criteria for categorizing tight gas sandstone reservoirs. In 1980 in referencing the
NGPA (1978), the US Federal Energy Resource Commission (FERC)
dened that the registration for tight gas reservoirs should be that
the reservoir permeability is less than 0.1 mD for taxation purposes.
Elkins (1981) proposed a threshold value of an in situ permeability
of 0.1 mD to differentiate conventional from the unconventional sandstone reservoirs. Spencer (1989) dened that tight gas should be gasbearing reservoirs with less than 0.1 mD permeability. Surdam et
al. (1997) proposed that the tight gas should refer to the unconventional gases produced from low permeability reservoirs with porosity of b12% and permeability of b1 mD. Nelson (2009) dened the
pore throat diameter for the tight gas sandstone around 20.03 m.
Some authors further divided tight gas sandstone reservoirs into
tight, very tight and ultra tight categories (Table 5). There are
no agreed criteria in China for recognizing tight gas sandstone

88

C. Zou et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 8889 (2012) 8291

Table 4
Summary of the pore structure data and parameters derived from SEM/BSD analysis for the Upper Triassic Xuejiahe Formation, Sichuan Basin.
Well

Strata Depth
(m)

Ying 21

Xu 2

Ying 21

Xu 2

Ying 21

Xu 2

Ying 21

Xu 2

Ying 21

Xu 2

Ying 21

Xu 2

Ying 21

Xu 4

Ying 21

Xu 4

Ying 21

Xu 4

Ying 21

Xu 4

Zhe 2

Xu 2

Zhe 2

Xu 2

Zhe 2

Xu 2

Zhe 2

Xu 2

Zhe 2

Xu 2

Zhe 2

Xu 2

Zhe 2

Xu 2

Long 9

Xu 2

Long 9

Xu 2

Long 9

Xu 2

Long 9

Xu 2

Long 9

Xu 2

Long 9

Xu 4

Yue 2

Xu 4

Yue 2

Xu 4

Yue 2

Xu 4

Yue 2

Xu 4

Yue 2

Xu 4

Yue 2

Xu 4

Yue 2

Xu 4

Yue 2

Xu 2

Yue 2

Xu 2

Yue 2

Xu 2

Yue 2

Xu 2

QiongXi Xu 2
1
QiongXi Xu 2
1

Reservoir
lithology

2590.2 m-f lithic

sst
2581.3 m-f lithic
sst
2578.0 m-f lithic
sst
2502.0 m-f felsic
arenite
2807.7 c-m felsic
arenite
2497.5 m-f felsic
arenite
2344.9 c-m felsic
arenite
2335.9 c-m lithic
sst
2293.6 c-m lithic
sst
2289.2 m felsic
arenite
4157.9 m lithic
sst
4176.4 m lithic
sst
4358.0 m lithic
sst
4376.6 m-f lithic
sst
4400.0 m lithic
sst
4448.2 m lithic
sst
4476.9 ne lithic
sst
3444.0 m-f lithic
sst
3462.4 m-f lithic
sst
3489.2 m lithic
sst
3564.8 m lithic
sst
3610.9 m-f lithic
sst
3529.2 m lithic
Qz sst
1789.4 ne lithic
sst
1802.3 ne lithic
sst
1812.6 m-f lithic
sst
1821.7 m lithic
sst
2059.7 m lithic
sst
2113.1 m lithic
sst
2125.5 m-f
arenite/
arkose
2184.3 m-f lithic
sst
2193.2 m felsic
arenite
2204.9 m lithic
sst
2208.5 m lithic
sst
3298.9 lithic sst
4186.0 m felsic
arenite

(%)

Planar
(%)

Max
Ap
(m)

Min
Ap
(m)

mean
Ap
(m)

Max
neck D
(m)

Min
neck D
(m)

Mean
neck D
(m)

P
throat
ratio

Uniform Shape
Grade
coeff
constant factor

Bias
angle

Sharpness

6.33 0.64

58.83

3.42

17.33

10.93

1.52

2.26

7.66

0.30

2.29

1.34

0.24 0.81

7.54 1.74

137.05

5.13

48.51

23.18

2.27

6.63

7.32

0.35

2.00

1.12

0.16 1.14

7.48 2.99

217.60

5.13

55.41

28.75

2.27

6.18

8.97

0.25

1.86

1.32

0.07 1.05

11.63 7.77

180.76

5.13

65.98

27.65

2.27

8.29

7.96

0.37

1.92

0.86

0.21 1.15

7.35 3.19

114.57

5.13

36.08

27.27

2.27

5.94

6.07

0.31

1.81

1.08

0.11 0.62

13.88 8.55

212.34

5.13

71.52

29.11

2.27

7.13

10.02

0.34

1.97

0.99

0.14 1.12

5.82 2.73

128.63

5.13

42.90

22.73

2.27

6.17

6.95

0.33

1.84

1.23

0.28 0.92

4.25 2.97

142.97

5.13

52.22

28.75

2.27

6.95

7.52

0.37

2.00

0.98

0.13 1.16

4.31 1.92

180.61

5.13

45.68

26.50

2.27

6.11

7.47

0.25

1.98

1.11

0.05 1.42

7.98 1.57

152.93

5.13

46.93

28.75

2.27

7.57

6.20

0.31

2.13

1.07

0.09 1.28

3.83 2.44

95.48

3.13

35.25

21.15

1.39

5.33

6.62

0.37

1.98

1.32

0.24 0.87

0.93 1.61

52.81

2.56

21.88

20.33

1.14

6.54

3.35

0.41

1.45

0.65

0.01 1.19

6.86 1.01

55.92

4.34

23.82

25.80

1.92

4.03

5.92

0.43

2.20

0.98

0.46 0.88

9.81 3.74

118.41

5.13

47.41

29.11

2.27

9.74

4.87

0.40

1.73

0.91

0.21 0.93

11.33 4.39

173.89

4.70

57.42

29.46

2.08

7.27

7.89

0.33

1.76

1.01

0.15 1.34

9.65 3.21

128.77

4.51

43.35

25.61

2.00

5.39

8.05

0.34

1.87

1.11

0.26 0.97

1.03 0.34

53.21

4.51

21.26

2.00

2.00

2.00

10.63

0.40

1.52

1.07

0.15 1.22

2.06 1.23

150.83

5.37

63.48

25.64

2.38

6.73

9.43

0.42

1.95

1.05

0.26 1.20

0.96 1.88

75.34

2.56

15.57

11.36

1.14

3.58

4.35

0.21

1.49

1.17

0.34 1.84

1.63 0.31

46.99

2.45

22.35

6.52

6.52

6.52

3.43

0.48

1.35

1.07

0.24 2.04

6.54 1.49

88.21

2.69

36.75

12.82

1.19

4.72

7.79

0.42

1.52

1.15

0.03 1.92

6.40 2.64

156.75

5.37

33.36

28.57

2.38

4.73

7.05

0.21

1.82

1.24

0.10 1.06

1.93 0.57

72.35

5.13

11.86

4.55

2.27

2.39

4.96

0.16

1.97

1.55

0.16 0.70

3.30 0.59

99.45

5.13

38.39

14.37

2.27

7.34

5.23

0.39

1.79

0.34

1.14 0.22

5.91 2.46

143.61

5.13

56.52

28.75

2.27

7.42

7.62

0.39

2.08

1.21

0.28 1.03

4.86 2.06

196.84

6.27

58.36

27.78

2.78

8.72

6.69

0.30

1.88

1.36

0.22 1.19

6.16 1.98

127.81

5.13

50.53

29.11

2.27

9.46

5.34

0.40

1.92

1.05

0.21 1.36

5.64 1.21

125.42

5.13

46.52

14.37

2.27

3.81

12.20

0.37

2.05

1.14

0.07 1.07

5.20 1.58

125.00

5.13

24.89

29.11

2.27

4.31

5.77

0.20

1.80

1.26

0.02 1.15

4.80 0.82

77.14

3.42

19.38

25.71

1.52

7.38

2.63

0.25

1.79

1.36

0.27 0.91

8.72 5.73

210.89

5.94

73.93

26.84

2.63

6.32

11.69

0.35

2.14

1.13

0.19 1.04

7.72 5.27

200.27

5.64

61.87

29.15

2.50

6.72

9.21

0.31

2.12

1.12

0.19 1.17

8.39 5.37

148.92

5.13

53.85

27.65

2.27

6.62

8.13

0.36

2.10

1.15

0.30 1.10

8.04 6.27

147.35

5.37

45.52

28.57

2.38

5.96

7.64

0.31

2.15

1.11

0.22 1.17

0.77 0.60

72.90

5.13

16.37

9.09

2.27

4.82

3.39

0.22

1.73

1.19

0.14 0.96

3.11 0.90

82.86

5.13

28.23

9.09

2.27

5.30

5.32

0.34

1.62

1.00

0.04 1.11

C. Zou et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 8889 (2012) 8291

89

Table 4 (continued)
Well

Strata Depth
(m)

QiongXi Xu 2
1
QiongXi Xu 2
1
QiongXi Xu 2
1

Reservoir
lithology

4230.2 m felsic
arenite
4267.0 m felsic
arenite
4287.4 m felsic
arenite

(%)

Planar
(%)

Max
Ap
(m)

Min
Ap
(m)

mean
Ap
(m)

Max
neck D
(m)

Min
neck D
(m)

Mean
neck D
(m)

P
throat
ratio

Uniform Shape
Grade
coeff
constant factor

Bias
angle

Sharpness

4.41 1.90

45.15

2.56

16.71

8.19

1.14

2.64

6.32

0.37

2.04

1.06

0.29 1.12

3.05 0.94

38.24

2.56

10.19

7.19

1.14

4.16

2.45

0.27

1.65

1.13

0.16 1.04

2.02 0.46

30.99

2.56

8.85

2.27

2.27

2.27

3.89

0.29

1.71

1.15

0.11 0.89

f: ne; m: medium, c: coarse; D: diameter; felsic: feldsparthic; sst: sandstone; Ap: aperture; Uniform coeff: uniformity coefcient.

reservoirs. In the Chinese National Standards for resource exploration such as the Evaluation Methods for Natural Gas reservoirs
(SY/T 560193), the Evaluation Methods for Hydrocarbon Reservoirs (SY/T 62851997) and the Manual for Estimating Hydrocarbon Reserves (DZ/T 02172005), it has been proposed that air
permeability of 101 mD is referred as low permeable reservoirs
and air permeability of less than 1 mD as ultra low permeable reservoirs. In the Natural Gas Classication Manual (SY/T 61681995)
moderately and low porous and permeable reservoirs are dened as
with porosities of 15%10% and effective permeability of 100.1 mD or
absolute permeability of 201 mD. The tight gas sandstone was dened

as reservoirs with porosity of b10%, effective permeability of b0.1 mD

or absolute permeability of b1 mD.
Permeability is one of the key criteria for recognizing tight gas
sandstone reservoirs. In the practical application, however, permeability is often being used in many different ways and accordingly
different threshold values have been used, such as formation permeability, gas permeability, effective permeability and absolute permeability and etc. It is well known that there is a large difference
between the in situ formation permeability and the laboratory derived gas permeability. With increasing water saturation and overburden pressure the gas permeability of the reservoir rocks will be

b
14
3298.85m

30
25
20
15
10
5
0

10

30

20

40

50

60

12

Long-9

10

Yue -2

Qiongxi-1

6
4
2
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

8
6
4
2
24

36

48

60

72

84

96

108 120 132

16

Average Porosity (%)

Average Porosity (%)

Zhe-2

10

12

Ying-21

14

2581.3 m
12

70

16

Average Porosity (%)

Average Porosity (%)

35

Ying-21

14

Zhe-2

12

Long-9

10

Yue -2
Qiongxi-1

8
6
4
2
0

10

12

12
10
8
6
4
2

Ying-21

Zhe-2

Long-9

Yue-2

Qiongxi-1

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Fig. 4. Summary of the distribution of pore throat structures of the Upper Triassic tight gas sandstone reservoirs from the Xujiahe Fm in the Sichuan Basin. (a) Pore throat size distribution
for Sample 3298.85 m. (b) Pore throat size distribution for Sample 2581.3 m. (c) Average porosity vs average pore diameters. (d) Average porosity vs average pore throat diameters.

90

C. Zou et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 8889 (2012) 8291

Fig. 5. Field emission SEM images of some typical tight gas sandstone investigated. (a), (b): Micro pores in tight sandstone from Hechuan-1 at 2124.88 m. The sandstone has a porosity of 5.25% and permeability of 0.0361 mD. (c), (d): Micropores and dissolution pores in clay minerals of tight sandstone from Long-13 at 3541.93 m. The tight sandstone has
porosity of 1.96% and permeability of 0.00231 mD. (e): Microcracks in chlorite mineral from Laoshen-1-10 at 2567.5 m. The tight sandstone has porosity of 7.1% and permeability of
0.388 mD. (f): Micropores within mineral grains in tight sandstone from Laoshen-1-10 at 2567.5 m. The tight sandstone has porosity of 7.1% and permeability of 0.388 mD.

decreased signicantly (Shanley et al., 2004). It has been documented

that when the water saturation reaches 55% the gas permeability is
only of 1/3 to 1/7 of the original gas permeability in dry rocks (Zhu
et al., 2009). With increasing overburden pressure the formation permeability will also decrease. For formation pressures at 3.5 MPa and
35 MPa, the corresponding formation permeability values are 1/2
and 1/25 of the Klinkinberg gas permeabilities, respectively (Zhu et
al., 2009). Therefore the most common parameters for characterizing
tight gas sandstone reservoirs should be the formation permeability,
in situ stress, water saturation and porosity (Shanley et al., 2004;
Zhu et al., 2009).
In summary the denition of tight gas sandstone reservoir should
refer to the gas bearing sandstone reservoirs with an in situ formation
permeability of 0.1 mD. In addition, individual wells are not capable
of producing commercially without production intervention including
hydraulic fracturing, horizontal and multilateral drilling, etc.
According to their geological conditions tight gas sandstone reservoirs may be further classied into sub-categories as (1) near sourced
and (2) far sourced. They can also be classied according to their
water saturation levels as (1) low water saturated, (2) moderately
water saturated and (3) high water saturated. They may be also classied according to the reservoir permeability as (1) tight gas sandstone
reservoir, (2) very tight gas sandstone reservoir and (3) ultra tight gas
sandstone reservoir.
We propose the following three hierarchies for categorizing tight
gas sandstone reservoirs including: (1) rstly if the median in situ
permeability of the target reservoir interval is 0.1 mD; (2) secondly

if the target reservoir interval has no natural commercial production

but can reach commercial production via production intervention
such as hydraulic fracturing, horizontal and multilateral drilling;
and (3) thirdly if the core permeabilities from the target interval
have median values of 0.1 mD and the ratio between the tight gas
wells over the total wells in a particular eld is over 80%.
The evaluation of tight gas sandstone reservoirs should include
four components: resource assessment, reservoir assessment, reserve
assessment and producibility assessment.
(1) Resource assessment should be based the knowledge of the regional geology and through the integration of seismic and well
log data, and results of drilling and core analyses. This aims (1)
to delineate the regional and basin scale tectonic movement,
basin evolution and regional sequence stratigraphic framework and sedimentary facies distribution including the source
rocks and reservoir rocks, (2) to determine the petroleum system element combination and trap types, (3) to predict the
play types and to provide exploration risk assessment and
prospect ranking, and (4) to ultimately evaluate the tight gas
potential by determining tight gas leads and prospects.
(2) Reservoir assessment refers to the evaluation of the overall reservoir quality through the characterization of the petrography,
petrophysics, reservoir heterogeneity, the nature of the microstructures, clay mineralogy and fracture abundances. The evaluation needs to consider the overall reservoir geometry and
distribution and reference to the reservoir produciability.

Table 5
Various classication schemes for tight gas sandstone reservoirs.
Elkins (1981)

Alberta Bluesky
Sandstone

Zhao et al. (1999)

Li et al. (1996)

Zhao et al. (2007)

Reservoirs

Fm K (mD)

Res

R50 (m)

Res

K (mD)

R50 (m)

Res

K (mD)

Res

Conventional
Almost tight
Tight
Very tight
Ultra-tight

>1
10.1
0.10.005
0.0050.001
b 0.001

I
II
III

>2.3
2.30.77
b 0.77

Med K
Low K
AlTt
Tight
VTt
UTt

50010
101
10.5
0.50.05
0.050.01
b 0.01

31
10.303
0.3030.137
0.1370.022

Low K
Very low K
Ultra-low K
Tight
U/C tight
Ultra-tight

5010
101
10.1
0.10.01
0.010.001
0.0010.0001

Low K
Very low K

b 0.022

Fm, formation; Res, Reservoir; Tt, tight; AlTt, almost tight; VTt, very tight; U/C, unconventional.

Ultra-low K
Tight

I
IIa
IIb
IIIa
IIIb
IV

Zou et al. (2008)

K (mD)

Res

K (mD)

5010
105
51
10.3
0.30.1
b0.1

Low K
V low K

1.010
b 1.0

C. Zou et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 8889 (2012) 8291

(3) Reserve assessment is to evaluate factors controlling tight gas

sand accumulation and the size of the reserve after the initial
discovery through the integration of various geological data.
(4) Producibility assessment is to determine the probable producible gas by evaluating the producibility of the tight gas through
the integration of the reservoir characteristics and the production data and history.
6. Conclusions
1. The reserve of the tight gas sandstone resource in China is huge
with an estimated geological reserve of around 777 TCF.
2. The tight gas sandstone reservoirs in China, which consist of both
marine and terrestrial reservoirs, can be categorized into two
major types: primary sedimentary origin and secondary structuraldiagenetical origin.
3. The tight gas sandstone reservoirs in most Chinese basins are characterized by low lithological and textural maturity. The pores are
primarily dominated by intergranular and intragranular dissolution pore types, and as well as microfractures with rare primary
pores preserved. The tight gas sandstone reservoirs are characterized by narrow and less effective pore throats, poor pore size distribution and overall poor reservoir quality.
4. The reservoirs are often inlled with crystallized clay minerals and
other matrix, usually with widespread occurrence of microfractures, micropores and dissolution pores in the reservoir grains,
which can be important storages for the tight gas accumulation.
5. The criteria for recognizing the tight gas sandstone reservoirs
in China are (1) having an in situ permeability of b0.1 mD and
(2) having no natural commercial gas ow. It is recommended
that the workow for evaluating tight gas sandstone reservoirs
should include four components: resource assessment, reservoir
assessment, reserve assessment and producibility assessment.
Acknowledgments
This project was funded by the Chinese National Major Initiative
on Energy on Stratigraphic and Lithological Hydrocarbon Reservoirs.
We thank Dr. Reem Freij-Ayoub and two anonymous reviewers for
their constructive comments, which improve the paper signicantly.
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Glossary
FERC: Federal Energy Resource Commission.
NGPA: Natural Gas Policy Act.
IEA: International Energy Agency.
MICP: Mercury injection capillary pressure.
SEM: Scanning electron microscope.
BSE SEM: Backscattered electron SEM.
FE-SEM: Field emission scanning electron microscope.
Effective permeability: The ability to preferentially ow a particular uid when other
immiscible uids are present in the reservoir.
Absolute permeability: The ability to ow uids through a rock, conducted when a
single uid is present in the rock (e.g. air permeability).
In situ permeability: Permeability measured under reservoir PTX conditions (e.g.
through DST or interference testing).
Pore throat: In an intergranular rock, the small pore space at the point where two
grains meet, which connects two larger pore volumes.
Pore throat sorting coefcient (Sp): Adopted from the sorting parameter used for characterizing sediments (Folk and Ward, 1957), Sp = (D84 D16) / 4 + (D95 D5) / 6.6
with D84 corresponding to pore throat size at 84% mercury saturation.
TCF: trillion cubic feet.
MPa: mega Pascal.
mD: 10 3 m2.