Shale for oil and gas recovery, CO2 and hydrogen storage, and hydrocarbon conversion

As conventional oil and gas reserves are depleted, it has become necessary to explore alternative energy resources to meet the growing global demand for energy. Shales are fine-grained sedimentary rocks containing a significant amount of kerogen, a naturally occurring, solid, and insoluble organic substance that can yield oil and gas when subjected to thermal processes. For this reason, shale reservoirs are considered a highly promising potential source of unconventional oil and gas.

Shales are characterized by their low permeability, which limits the flow of oil and gas within the reservoir. These reservoirs require careful and precise manipulation of capillary forces in order to successfully extract the desired amount of fluid. In this regard, compressed or supercritical carbon dioxide possesses great potential for use in enhancing oil and gas recovery from shales. Furthermore, current global efforts to reduce anthropogenic CO2 necessitate the consideration of storing the greenhouse gas in geological formations via so-called Geological Carbon Storage (GCS). The aforementioned reasons make the coupling of CO2-EOR and GCS an attractive option for achieving a net-zero carbon economy. All governing mechanisms and relevant thermophysical and transport properties are currently under investigation. Additionally, the storage capacity and storage integrity of shales with respect to hydrogen and the H2-supported conversion of organic matter are being investigated.