Shale Gas Formations and Their Potential for Carbon Storage: Opportunities and Outlook

Shale gas resources are proving to be globally abundant and the development of these resources can support the geologic storage of CO₂ (carbon dioxide) to mitigate the climate impacts of global carbon emissions from power and industrial sectors. This paper reviews global shale gas resources and considers both the opportunities and challenges for their development. It then provides a review of the literature on opportunities to store CO₂ in shale, thus possibly helping to mitigate the impact of CO₂ emissions from the power and industrial sectors. The studies reviewed indicate that the opportunity for geologic storage of CO₂ in shales is significant, but knowledge of the characteristics of the different types of shale gas found globally is required. The potential for CO₂ sorption as part of geologic storage in depleted shale gas reservoirs must be assessed with respect to the individual geology of each formation. Likewise, the introduction of CO₂ into shale for enhanced gas recovery (EGR) operations may significantly improve both reservoir performance and economics. Based on this review, we conclude that there is a very good opportunity globally regarding the future of geologic storage of CO₂ in depleted shale gas formations and as part of EGR operations.