Mineralogy and Gas Content of Upper Paleozoic Shanxi and Benxi Shale Formations in the Ordos Basin

To directly measure the gas content in the Benxi and Shanxi subformations of the Ordos Basin in NW China, a series of canister desorption tests were carried out on 33 over-mature Lower Permian to Upper Carboniferous fresh shale cores (>3000 m) at both the reservoir temperature (75–80 °C) and an elevated temperature of 95 °C. Organic chemistry and X-ray diffraction analyses of 33 replicate samples were used to establish relationships between the...