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Encyclopedia of Petroleum Geoscience pp 1–11Cite as

Production of Liquid Hydrocarbons from Shales

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Definition

Shale and mudstone are sedimentary rocks composed of clay-sized particles. These clayey rocks are excellent candidates for petroleum source rocks because they are relatively rich in organic matter (kerogen) dispersed in the rock pore space. Kerogen is thermally cracked to oil and gas at depths under temperatures of 60–150 °C over geologic time scales (millions of years). Some of the generated oil and gas migrates to porous reservoirs enclosed by traps where they create conventional prospects. However, a considerable amount of hydrocarbon remains within the source rock, thus making shale and mudstone a source rock as well as a reservoir. Liquid hydrocarbons refer to light and heavy crude oils and condensates. Liquid condensate is obtained from wet gas and gas-condensate reservoirs. Appropriate drilling and stimulation technologies are essential to achieve economic rates of production from shales due to the ultralow permeabilities and very low porosities found in these rocks....

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Energy & Geoscience Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Palash Panja & Raul Velasco

Authors
  1. Palash Panja
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  2. Raul Velasco
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Correspondence to Palash Panja .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Energy and Geoscience Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

    Rasoul Sorkhabi

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Panja, P., Velasco, R. (2018). Production of Liquid Hydrocarbons from Shales. In: Sorkhabi, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Petroleum Geoscience. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02330-4_297-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02330-4_297-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-02330-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-02330-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

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