Enhanced oil recovery and flow mechanisms in shale reservoirs: Toward cross-scale, low-carbon, and field-oriented development
Abstract
Shale oil and gas development is shifting from single stimulation methods toward integrated recovery strategies that combine flow-mechanism understanding, enhanced oil recovery, and carbon utilization and storage. Based on the discussions in Session “Shale Oil and Gas Flow Mechanisms and Enhanced Oil Recovery” of the second “International GeoEnergy Frontier Forum”, this work summarizes recent advances in thermally assisted CO2 huff- n -puff, supercritical CO2 flow and multiscale CO2 foam simulation, in-situ upgrading and thermal conversion, micro/nanobubble injection, dual geological-engineering sweetspot identification, and shut-in optimization. The major bottleneck is no longer the lack of individual stimulation methods, but the insufficient integration among porescale mechanisms, fracture-matrix interactions, field-scale simulation, and carbon storage accounting. Future research should focus on mechanism-informed pilot design, lithologyspecific upscaling models, CO2-thermal-chemical coupled processes, and standardized evaluation workflows linking recovery efficiency with carbon sequestration performance.
Document Type: Perspective
Cited as: Li, L., Wang, Y., Wang, X., Zhou X., Zhou R. Enhanced oil recovery and flow mechanisms in shale reservoirs: Toward cross-scale, low-carbon, and field-oriented development. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2026, 20(2): 197-200. https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2026.05.08
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2026.05.08Keywords:
Shale oil and gas, seepage mechanisms, CO2 enhanced oil recovery, in-situ upgrading, micro/nanobubblesReferences
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Copyright (c) 2026 Lei Li, Yu Wang, Xiukun Wang, Xiang Zhou, Runnan Zhou
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