Origin and enrichment factors of natural gas from the Lower Silurian Songkan Formation in northern Guizhou province, south China

The northern Guizhou area, located near the southwestern margin of the Yangtze Block and south of the Sichuan Basin, is a promising area for shale gas exploration and development. The discovery of a natural gas accumulation in the Lower Silurian Songkan Formation in the study area is the first discovery of natural gas in this stratum in China, marking an exciting breakthrough in natural gas exploration in northern Guizhou area. This paper presents an investigation of this accumulation using gas geochemistry, including gas composition, carbon and hydrogen isotopes, in context with geological information available for the study area.