Characteristics of Hydrocarbon Fluid Inclusions and Their Significance for Evolution of Petroleum Systems in the Dabashan Foreland,Central China

Field investigation combined with detailed petrographic observation indicate that abundant oil,gas,and solid bitumen inclusions were entrapped in veins and cements of sedimentary rocks in the Dabashan foreland,which were used to reconstruct the oil and gas migration history in the context of tectonic evolution.Three stages of veins were recognized and related to the collision between the North China block and the Yangtze block during the Indosinian orogeny from Late Triassic to Early Jurassic（Dl）,the southwest thrusting of the Qinling orogenic belt towards the Sichuan basin during the Yanshanian orogeny from Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous（D2）,and extensional tectonics during Late Cretaceous to Paleogene（D3）,respectively.The occurrences of hydrocarbon inclusions in these veins and their homogenization temperatures suggest that oil was generated in the early stage of tectonic evolution,and gas was generated later,whereas solid bitumen was the result of pyrolysis of previously accumulated hydrocarbons.Three stages of hydrocarbon fluid inclusions were also identified in cements of carbonates and sandstones of gas beds in the Dabashan foreland belt and the Dabashan foreland depression（northeastern Sichuan basin）,which recorded oil/gas formation,migration,accumulation and destruction of paleo-reservoirs during the D2.Isotopic analysis of hydrocarbon fluid inclusions contained in vein minerals shows that δ^（13）C_1 of gas in fluid inclusions ranges from-17.0‰ to-30.4‰（PDB） and δD from-107.7‰ to-156.7‰（SMOW）,which indicates that the gas captured in the veins was migrated natural gas which may be correlated with gas from the gas-fields in northern Sichuan basin.Organic geochemical comparison between bitumen and potential source rocks indicates that the Lower Cambrian black shale and the Lower Permian black limestone were the most possible source rocks of the bitumen.Combined with tectonic evolution history of the Dabashan foreland,the results of this study suggest that oil was generated from the Paleozoic source rocks in the Dabashan area under normal burial thermal conditions before Indosinian tectonics and accumulated to form paleo-reservoirs during Indosinian collision between the North China block and the Yangtz block.The paleo-reservoirs were destroyed during the Yanshanian tectonic movement when the Dabashan foreland was formed.At the same time,oil in the paleo-reservoirs in the Dabashan foreland depression was pyrolyzed to transform to dry gas and the residues became solid bitumen.

Hydrocarbon fluid inclusions and source rock parameters:A comparison from two dry wells in the western offshore,India

Fluid inclusions represent the direct evidence of paleofluids and can provide valuable information on the evolution of sedimentary basins and oil-bearing strata.Hydrocarbon fluid inclusion(s)(HCFIs)are the vestiges of oil from the geological formations.The paper delineates the paleotemperature(T_(h))/oil window,the oil quality of HCFIs and Raman peaks corresponding to hydrocarbon species of HCFIs using fluid inclusion techniques,and source rock potential of hydrocarbon generation,thermal maturity,the quantity of organic matter,and the kerogen types obtained through Rock-Eval pyrolysis data from two dry wells RV-1 well of Mumbai offshore and KKD-1A well of Kerala-Konkan Basin.The present study compares the fluid inclusion parameters as well as the source rock geochemical characteristics of these two dry wells to address the scientific problem of the wells going dry.Further,evaluated whether the results agree with an earlier finding from a case study of two wells named KK4C-Al(Kerala-Konkan basin)and RV-1 well where only a few parameters such as temperature of homogenization(T_(h))&API gravity were utilised,and the chances of getting oil in the nearby areas of these two wells were reported.In the present study,the fluid inclusion parameters such as the palaeotemperature(T_(h)),API Gravity and Raman spectra were obtained from micron sized fluid inclusions at different depths for a quick assessment of nature of oil inclusions within the two dry wells.Along with fluid inclusion parameters,different source rock parameters obtained from Rock-Eval Pyrolysis analysis(secondary data)such as S1,S2,S3,(T_(max)),Hydrogen Index(HI),Oxygen Index(OI),Potential Yield(PY),Production Index(PI)and Total Organic Carbon Content(TOC)were also considered for a detailed source-rock evaluation of two wells(RV-1 and KKD-1A)and the results act as the supporting evidence to address the reason for the wells gone dry.Temperature of homogenisation(T_(h))of hydrocarbon Fluid Inclusion Assemblages(FIAs)from both the wells fall in the oil window(60-150℃)range indicating that there was a conducive thermal condition favourable for oil generation in these two basins.API gravity of oils in RV-1 well of Mumbai offshore(48-53)was lighter when compared to those in KKD-1A(18-22)of Kerala-Konkan basin.Raman spectra of HCFI samples could decipher important hydrocarbon species from RV-1 well samples.Raman spectra of KKD-1A well show less prominent peaks(broad)only.Pyrolysis data shows that Paleocene-Early Eocene source rocks of Panna formation of RV1 well are mature enough to generate hydrocarbons.On the other hand,Paleocene aged source rocks of Kasargod formation of KKD-1A well are immature.Source rock maturity therefore could be considered as crucial in hydrocarbon generation in these two wells even if oil-window was achieved.This study reports that,in RV-1 well,even though it is a dry well in a proven basin,the oil window,API gravity of oils and constituents from HCFIs of RV-1 well and the source-rock maturity opens up a demand for detailed exploration in nearby areas of RV-1 in the Mumbai offshore basin hopeful of finding a high-value prospect for oil,whereas the fluid inclusion studies in the HCFIs of KKD-1A well of Kerala-Konkan basin is showing only a minimal chance of oil generation that too of a heavy nature and the source rock immature characteristics suggesting only minimal generation of hydrocarbons.Due to the heaviness of the available oil in the KKD-1A well impedes migration.Our study suggests that there is no potential for finding oil in the nearby areas of KKD-1A well of Kerala-Konkan basin.

Thermodynamic Modeling of Fluid-Bearing Natural Gas Inclusions for Geothermometer and Geobarometer of Overpressured Environments in Qiongdongnan Basin, South China Sea

It is a very difficult problem to directly determine fluid pressure duringhydrocarbon migration and accumulation in sedimentary basins. pVt modeling of coupling hydrocarbonfluid inclusion of its coeval aqueous fluid inclusion provides a powerful tool for establishing therelationship of formation pressure evolution with time. Homogenization temperature of fluidinclusion can routinely be measured under microthermometric microscopy. Crushing technique has beenemployed to obtain the composition of fluid inclusions, and the commercial software VTFLINC easilyand rapidly completes the construction of p-t phase diagram. The minimum trapping pressure ofhydrocarbon fluid inclusion would be then determined in the p-t space. In this paper, three samplesof YC21-1-1 and YC21-1-4 wells at YC21-1 structural closure, Qiongdongnan basin, South China Sea,were selected for the pVt modeling practice, and the formation pressure coefficient (equals to fluidpressure/hydrostatic pressure) changing trend with time has primarily been established. Themodeling results also indicate that the reservoirs of Ling-shui and Yacheng formations in YC21-1structure are within a very high potential system and would have undergone a discharging of thermalfluids through top seal rupture, which depicts that there is a very high risk for natural gasexploration in this area.

Utility of fluid inclusion paleo-temperature in petroleum system modelling:A case study from western offshore,India

The paleo-temperature(Th)data from fluid inclusions are utilized for thermal history modelling using PetroMod software.Generally,bottom hole temperature(BHT)and vitrinite reflectance(Ro)measurements are widely used in petroleum system modelling(PSM)in the oil industry for calibration purposes.Th representing the minimum temperature of fluid entrapment estimated from fluid-inclusion study provides extra support to build the thermal models for PSM.Fluid inclusion parameters along with Rock-Eval pyrolysis analysis have been used to predict the maturity of oil in terms of API gravity as well as the maturity of source rocks respectively.Two exploratory wells RV-1(Mumbai Offshore Basin)and KK4C-A-1(Kerala-Konkan Offshore Basin),India were examined and the T_(h)from most of the fluid inclusions of wells RV-1 and KK4C-A-1 fell in the oil window range of 60-140℃suggesting thermal conditions favourable for oil generation in both of the wells.T_(h)of coeval aqueous inclusions along with the Hydrocarbon Fluid inclusions(HCFIs)was used to calibrate PSM.Vital parameters show that source rocks of well RV-1 are mature and that of well KK4C-A-1 are immature.Two sets of PSM are created in terms of generation and expulsion for the dry wells RV-1 and KK4C-A-1 and calibrated each well using fluid inclusion Th and BHT.From the fluid inclusion analysis method,it is evident that hydrocarbon generation happened in both wells and the paleo-temperature indicates that the formations of both wells were subjected to temperatures in the oil window range,even though it was designated as dry wells in the present scenario.The present study highlights the application of fluid inclusion paleo-temperature(Th)during calibration instead of commonly used methods.We could obtain desirable and accurate data output from PSM using T_(h) calibration.