Geological characteristics and resource potential of shale gas in Nima Basins,central Tibet

The Tertiary Nima Basin in central Tibet covers an area of some 3000km² and is closely similar to the nearby Lunpola Basin from which commercial volumes of oil have been produced.By field geological survey,shale with thickness of 20m were discovered in Nima Basin;Organic geochemistry date indicate that the shale have excellent shale gas potential.The Nima Basin shale gas reserves reach 100~200×10⁸m³ by analogy method.A number of Tertiary continental basins are located on the approximately east-west surface trace of the Bangong suture in central Tibet,including the Lunpola Basin,the Nima Basin,the Dongco Basin and the Avengco Basin,which have similar geological setting and evolutionary history.These basins may have great shale gas potential and should be given much more attention.