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Topic · Mechanics of Materials

Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis

Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis is a research topic within Mechanics of Materials. Science Explorer counts 82k research works in it since 1950. 9.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the characterization and analysis of shale gas pore structure, including topics such as gas permeability, thermal maturity effects, nanopores, organic matter influence, and the impact of diagenesis. It also explores the geological controls on methane storage capacity in organic-rich shales and the development of organic porosity in shale formations.

  • Shale Gas
  • Pore Structure
  • Mudstones
  • Gas Permeability
  • Thermal Maturity
  • Nanopores
  • Organic Matter
  • Fracture Permeability
  • Tight Reservoirs
  • Geochemical Evolution
Research works
82k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
8.1k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+14%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
60% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis

Which countries lead Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (8.2k and 1.8k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 8.2k works
  2. 2 United States 1.8k works
  3. 3 Russia 956 works
  4. 4 Canada 442 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 441 works
  6. 6 India 410 works
  7. 7 Iran 390 works
  8. 8 France 331 works
  9. 9 Australia 296 works
  10. 10 Saudi Arabia 289 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 60.4%United States: 13.5%Russia: 7.0%Canada: 3.2%6 others listed: 15.8%60%largest
China8,234 · 60.4%United States1,845 · 13.5%Russia956 · 7.0%Canada442 · 3.2%6 others listed2,157 · 15.8%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis research?

By volume in 2022-now, China National Petroleum Corporation (China) publishes the most Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis research, followed by China University of Petroleum, Beijing and China University of Petroleum, East China.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China National Petroleum Corporation (China)China 1k works
  2. 2 China University of Petroleum, BeijingChina 573 works
  3. 3 China University of Petroleum, East ChinaChina 451 works
  4. 4 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 435 works
  5. 5 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 401 works
  6. 6 Sinopec (China)China 398 works
  7. 7 Chengdu University of TechnologyChina 337 works
  8. 8 China University of Mining and TechnologyChina 277 works
  9. 9 Southwest Petroleum UniversityChina 267 works
  10. 10 China University of Geosciences (Beijing)China 255 works

Who are the leading researchers in Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis include Zhong Lin Wang, Rob Knight and Kostya S. Novoselov.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  2. 2 Rob Knight United States 468k citations
  3. 3 Kostya S. Novoselov United Kingdom 331k citations
  4. 4 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  5. 5 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  6. 6 Omar M. Yaghi United States 254k citations
  7. 7 Philippe Ciais France 237k citations
  8. 8 P. Jackson France 230k citations
  9. 9 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  10. 10 Lei Jiang China 214k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis?

The most cited paper in Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis is "The continental crust: its composition and evolution" (Brian Frederick Windley, 1986), with 11,005 citations. Next come "Dynamics of Fluids in Porous Media" (9,834) and "Composition of the Continental Crust" (6,466).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The continental crust: its composition and evolution Brian Frederick Windley · Physics of The Earth and Planetary Interiors Feb 1986 11,005
2 Dynamics of Fluids in Porous Media Jacob Bear · Soil Science Aug 1975 9,834
3 Composition of the Continental Crust Roberta L. Rudnick, Shan Gao · Treatise on Geochemistry Book chapter 2003 6,466
4 Petrology of the sedimentary rocks Earle F. McBride · Geomorphology Jun 1991 3,689
5 Fundamental principles and applications of natural gas hydrates E. Dendy Sloan · Nature Nov 2003 3,511
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis research done?

The largest centres of Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Chengdu (China), Qingdao (China) and Xi'an (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Daqing, Panjing and Xinjiang.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 3.2k works
  2. 2 ChengduChina 670 works
  3. 3 QingdaoChina 655 works
  4. 4 Xi'anChina 377 works
  5. 5 MoscowRussia 365 works
  6. 6 DaqingChina 358 works
  7. 7 WuhanChina 299 works
  8. 8 XuzhouChina 279 works
  9. 9 TehranIran 204 works
  10. 10 DhahranSaudi Arabia 199 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Daqing22.2 works194×
  2. PanjingCN · 22.6 works135×
  3. XinjiangCN · 39.0 works115×
  4. XichengCN · 44.9 works83×
  5. DaqingCN · 357.5 works77×
  6. ArbroathGB · 24.4 works56×
  7. Road TownVG · 23.8 works50×
  8. Des PlainesUS · 26.1 works46×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis than the world average.

See Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis on the map

Where is the best place to study Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis?

Among universities, judged by research, Edith Cowan University, China University of Petroleum, East China and China University of Mining and Technology score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%60%mean 22.57%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Edith Cowan UniversityChina University of …China University of …China University of …
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Edith Cowan UniversityAustralia 67.049.3%6.8×14 +43.3%
2China University of Petroleum, East ChinaChina 60.614.1%63.7×451 +38.0%
3China University of Mining and TechnologyChina 59.520.3%23.3×277 +9.2%
4China University of Petroleum, BeijingChina 59.411.8%96.9×573 +23.5%
5King Fahd University of Petroleum and MineralsSaudi Arabia 56.317.0%25.3×132 +64.3%
6China University of Geosciences (Beijing)China 55.714.3%58.4×255 +39.9%
7China University of GeosciencesChina 55.715.7%30.9×212 +40.8%
8Chengdu University of TechnologyChina 55.311.8%58.2×337 +53.3%
9Dalian University of TechnologyChina 53.330.5%3.6×51 +10.5%
10Ilam UniversityIran 53.040.9%11.8×9 +367.0%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis, country by country

Is Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 14% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.082% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%0.15%Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis0.074% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis9.8% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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