A review on shale oil and gas characteristics and molecular dynamics simulation for the fluid behavior in shale pore

•The paper provided a comprehensive review on the characteristic of shale reservoir, characterization methods for nanopore.•The adsorption behavior and influencing factors under various nanopore and multiple component fluid were discussed.•The diffusion behavior affected by various factors and the anisotropy of self-diffusion coefficient were elaborated.•The flow characterization parameters, two-phase flow characteristics and the enhancing recovery methods were explained.•How to simulate infinite close to the actual shale and fluid components is a challenge for MDS in future research.