Executive Summary
The project GASH, standing for Gas Shales in Europe (www.gas-shales.org) began in 2008, its vision being to understand how and where gas is formed and located within European shales, and to determine which shale fabrics are best suited for yielding their hydrocarbons (both gas and oil) upon fracking. It was the first and biggest project of its kind.
Sponsors are here being sought for GASH-2 Central Europe’s Shale Gas Systems in Time and Space. The project starts September 2013. Eight companies are required to make GASH-2 viable in its present form. Contact us now to join GASH-2, or if you have any questions: Jasper@gfz-potsdam.de

GASH-2 Geographic Coverage
The geographic focus in GASH-2 has switched to central Europe. It is here that the exploitation of new resource plays is still at a pioneer stage, as in all of Europe, but accompanied by a political will that is largely assisting in developing shale gas. We have selected the broad swathes of Lower (Ordovician-Silurian) and Upper (Lower Carboniferous) Palaeozoic shales, running from Denmark through Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine and Romania, for study because ostensibly they have the highest overall and widespread potential.

GASH-2 Team
The GASH-2 team has been drawn from leading specialist groups from across Europe plus regional experts from Central Europe.
Durham University (DUR); Energy & Mineral Resources Group RWTH Aachen (EMR); Geological Survey of Denmark Copenhagen (GEUS); Montan University of Leoben (MUL); Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam (GFZ); Institut français du pétrole Energies nouvelles Paris (IFPen); Nederl. Organis. voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek Utrecht (TNO); Polish Geological Institute Warsaw (PGI); Akademia Górniczno-Hutnicza/ Univ. of Science and Technology Krakow (AGH); Polish Academy of Science Warsaw (IGS); Geological Survey of Lithuania, Vilnius (GSL); Ukrainian State Geological Research Institute, Chernigiv Department (USGRI); Geological Insitute of Romania, Bucarest (GIR); Czech Geological Survey Brno (CGS)

GASH-2 Project Structure
The project has two basic parts: the first, termed Central Europe Gas Shale Plays, is the compilation and evaluation of existing data and samples, accompanied by the generation of new data for two natural laboratories, and the second, termed Rock-Fluid Properties - Tool and Concept Development, consists of new approaches and targeted technological developments that will take us a major step forward in understanding the rock and fluid properties of shale resource plays. The framework of the regional studies will be used to optimally select samples for the specialist projects. Concerning the specialist projects, a broad range of scientific expertise and industry experience has been assembled for multidisciplinary studies. The novel use of FT-ICR-MS and SIMS for polar compound characterisation and micrometre-scale isotopical variability, respectively, is noteworthy at this juncture.

GASH-2 Project Listing
A: Central Europe Shale Gas Play Silurian-Ordovician, coordinated by Niels Schovsbo (GEUS)
B: Central Europe Shale Gas Play Lower Carboniferous, coordinated by Reinhard Sachsenhofer (MUL)
C: Rock-Fluid Properties – Tool and Concept Development

• C-1 Petrophysics of gas storage and fluid flow, coordinated by Andy Aplin (DUR) 
• C-2 Paleozoic shale-oil and shale-gas potential in Eastern Europe: Fluid properties and mobility in lower Paleozoic sequences, coordinated by Rolando di Primio (GFZ)
• C-3 Factors controlling gas shale heterogeneities from metre- to nanometre scale, coordinated by Hans-Martin Schulz (GFZ)
• C-4 Rock mechanics: behaviour during and after fluid injection and modelling, coordinated by Hiroki Sone (GFZ)
• C-5 Seismic characterization of shale gas reservoirs - seismic mapping of lateral facies and TOC variations of the Lower Palaeozoic shales in Poland, coordinated by Piotr Krzywiec (IGS) 

GASH-2 Targeted Research Topics
The heterogeneous physical, chemical and mechanical properties which control shale reservoir and fluid quality at a range of spatial scales will come under scrutiny via this matrix. Combining both sophisticated measurement approaches with modern modelling methods, major outcomes will include methods for gas in place evaluation, fraccability assessment and delineation of shale heterogeneity. Addressing open questions and future opportunities, GASH-2 will include the following topics:

• Reservoir structure: sedimentology, geochemistry and mineralogy
• Gas Storage: characterization and evolution of organic and inorganic pore systems
• Gas Storage: competitive sorption at reservoir conditions
• Fluid flow: controls on permeability and capillary pressure
• Fraccability: micro- to macroscale geomechanical properties
• Upscaled properties: core-log integration
• Upscaled properties: definition of effective flow and mechanical properties