Unconventional reservoirs have become more significant in worldwide oil and natural gas production. Economic fluid flow in unconventional shale reservoirs can be achieved using innovative exploration and completion strategies.

However, the ability to optimize recovery is tempered by our lack of understanding in hydrocarbon-water-rock interactions in unconventional shales systems. In recent years, novel physical experiments and advanced numerical simulation methods have allowed scientists to investigate the fluid-rock interactions of unconventional resources across nanopore to reservoir scales.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collate original research articles and review articles to understand better hydrocarbon-water-source rock interactions in unconventional reservoirs. Submissions about the physical properties at different scales (e.g., pore-scale modelling and core-scale experiments) are highly encouraged. This Special Issue is also interested in research that explores the connection between experimental work and numerical simulation analysis.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Microfluidic investigation of hydrocarbon-water-rock interactions in nanoporous shale systems
• Hydrocarbon-water-rock interaction experiments across hydrophilic and hydrophobic nanopores of shales
• Molecular simulations of oil adsorption and transport in unconventional shales
• Pore-scale modelling of fluid transport property of shales and tight reservoirs
• Experimental and numerical simulation of fluid transport and phase behaviour in shales
• Single phase/multiphase fluid transport in shales
• Distribution and mobility of oil in nanopores of tight shales
• Hydrocarbon-water-rock interactions in tight reservoirs
• Oil adsorption in shale nanopores and its effect on oil recovery
• Novel methods to characterize the hydrocarbon-water-source rock interactions in tight rocks