Abstract:

Organic-rich shales are dark-coloured, fine-grained sedimentary rocks characterised by high total organic carbon (TOC) content. They comprise three distinct types of hydrocarbon resources: shale gas, shale oil, and oil shale. In 2025, China’s total domestic oil and gas production reached 420 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe), of which organic-rich shales alone contributed approximately 30 million toe. This substantial share underscores the considerable resource potential of organic-rich shale formations and their growing importance in China’s energy portfolio.Based on a systematic review of domestic and international literature concerning the efficient and environmentally responsible (green) exploitation of organic-rich shales, this paper provides a comprehensive synthesis of the theories and technological advances relevant to the extraction of shale gas, medium to highmaturity shale oil, medium to lowmaturity shale oil, and oil shale. The main findings are summarised as follows.(1) The theoretical framework for the exploration and development of organic-rich shales has undergone a threestage evolution: initially treating organic-rich shales merely as source rocks, then recognising them as reservoir rocks, and most recently creating “artificial hydrocarbon reservoirs” through proactive engineering interventions. Today, a systematic theoretical system has been firmly established. Current research and development efforts are expanding into new frontiers, including deepburied formations, highefficiency green extraction, and intelligent exploration and development. The overall trajectory is clearly moving towards lower thermal maturity, greater environmental compatibility, higher intelligence, and finer operational precision.(2) In China, shale gas extraction has now matured into an industrialscale technological framework centred on horizontal drilling coupled with volumetric fracturing. China has become the largest shale gas producer outside North America. Future advances will focus on more precise reservoir characterisation and production forecasting, adaptation to increasingly complex geological conditions, and the pursuit of safer and cleaner extraction processes.(3) For medium to highmaturity shale oil in China, inherent disadvantages—including unfavourable gas-oil ratios, poor lateral continuity of oil layers, and suboptimal crude oil properties—pose substantial challenges to technically and economically viable extraction. Consequently, ongoing and future research will continue to prioritise strategies for achieving largescale, sustainable production and for improving overall economic feasibility.(4) For medium to lowmaturity shale oil and oil shale, insitu underground conversion is recognised as the most effective and technically feasible approach. Nevertheless, most insitu conversion technologies remain at the pilottesting stage, and a long path lies ahead before economically viable and efficient development can be realised. Future research will remain firmly focused on advancing insitu conversion technologies, accelerating the transition from laboratoryscale experiments to largescale, commercially viable field operations.

Key words: shale gas, shale oil, oil shale, CO₂ EOR, in-situ conversion

摘要：

富有机质页岩是总有机碳含量较高的暗色泥页岩，其赋存的资源包括页岩气、页岩油和油页岩三类。2025年中国油气总产量为4.2亿t油当量，其中富有机质页岩产出油气资源折合成油气当量可达3000万t油当量，资源开发潜力巨大。本文基于国内外富有机质页岩高效绿色开采的相关文献，对页岩气、中高熟页岩油、中低熟页岩油和油页岩的开采理论和技术发展进行系统综述。结果表明：(1)富有机质页岩勘探开发理论，经历了将富有机质页岩视为“烃源岩”到视为“储集层”，再到通过工程技术主动创造“人工油气藏”三个阶段，如今已经形成了系统的理论体系。整体正朝着深层、高效绿色开采和智能勘探开发等新领域拓展，向着更低熟度、更绿色、更智能、更精细的方向跨越；(2)中国页岩气开采目前已形成以“水平井+体积压裂”为核心的工业化技术体系，中国也已成为北美之外全球最大的页岩气生产国。页岩气开采技术未来将向更精细评价预测、更复杂地质条件、更安全清洁的方向发展；(3)中国中高熟页岩油由于在气油比、油层连续性、原油品质等方面存在先天不足，技术经济性开采存在难度，未来技术研究还将继续聚焦如何实现规模建产和提高经济性方面；(4)针对中低熟页岩油与油页岩，地下原位转化技术为最有效、最可行的方法，但目前地下原位转化技术多停留在先导试验阶段，距离经济有效开发还有较长的路要走，未来将继续聚焦于地下原位转化技术，加快从实验室试验向现场规模化、商业化开采的转化。

关键词: 页岩气, 页岩油, 油页岩, CO₂EOR, 原位转化

CLC Number: 

• TE35

• P618.13