Generation Potential and Kinetics of Gaseous Hydrocarbons from Upper Paleozoic Carboniferous Benxi Formation Mudstone in Ordos Basin, China.

Industrial quantities of tight gas from the Carboniferous Benxi Formation have been found in the southern Ordos Basin. The source and contributions from mudstone and coal in the Benxi Formation to the tight gas are still unclear, and the hydrocarbon generation potential and kinetics of the Benxi Formation mudstone have rarely been reported, which has halted resource evaluation of tight gas. Confined pyrolysis experiments were performed to determine the yields and kinetic parameters for gaseous hydrocarbon formation for a representative sample of a Benxi Formation mudstone from the Ordos Basin, with a hydrogen index (HI) of 137 mg/g TOC and of 434 °C.