The lower Ordovician mid-assemblage Formations in the central Ordos Basin of China host prolific gas resources,and most hydrocarbon reserves are stored in naturally-fractured reservoirs.Thus,fracture pathway systems m...The lower Ordovician mid-assemblage Formations in the central Ordos Basin of China host prolific gas resources,and most hydrocarbon reserves are stored in naturally-fractured reservoirs.Thus,fracture pathway systems may have a significant impact on reservoir performance.This article focuses on the core-and laboratory-based characterization of fractures.Through the developmental degrees,extended scale,output state and filling characteristics of various types of fractures,the results show that there are three distinct fracture types:1)nearly vertical fractures,2)oblique fractures,and 3)horizontal fractures.Based on a systematic study of the characterization of reservoir space,the main geologic setting of natural gas accumulation and the regional tectonic background,type 1 is mainly driven by the tectonic formation mechanism,and type 3 and parts of low-angle fractures in type 2 are induced by the diagenetic formation mechanism.While recovered paleopressure for methane-rich aqueous inclusions trapped in fracture-filling cement indicates that the fracture opening and growth are consistent with gas maturation and charge and such high-angle fractures in type 2 are caused by the compound formation mechanism.The fractures to hydrocarbon accumulation may play a more significant role in improving the quality of reservoir porosity.Furthermore,connected fractures,dissolved pores and cavities together constitute the three-dimensional pore-cave-fracture network pathway systems,with faults serving as the dominant charge pathways of highly pressurized gas in the study area.Our results demonstrate that protracted growth of a pervasive fracture system is not only the consequence of various formation mechanisms but also intrinsic to quasi-continuous accumulation reservoirs.展开更多
基金Project (2011ZX05007-004) supported by the National Sciences and Technologies,ChinaProject (41502132) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
文摘The lower Ordovician mid-assemblage Formations in the central Ordos Basin of China host prolific gas resources,and most hydrocarbon reserves are stored in naturally-fractured reservoirs.Thus,fracture pathway systems may have a significant impact on reservoir performance.This article focuses on the core-and laboratory-based characterization of fractures.Through the developmental degrees,extended scale,output state and filling characteristics of various types of fractures,the results show that there are three distinct fracture types:1)nearly vertical fractures,2)oblique fractures,and 3)horizontal fractures.Based on a systematic study of the characterization of reservoir space,the main geologic setting of natural gas accumulation and the regional tectonic background,type 1 is mainly driven by the tectonic formation mechanism,and type 3 and parts of low-angle fractures in type 2 are induced by the diagenetic formation mechanism.While recovered paleopressure for methane-rich aqueous inclusions trapped in fracture-filling cement indicates that the fracture opening and growth are consistent with gas maturation and charge and such high-angle fractures in type 2 are caused by the compound formation mechanism.The fractures to hydrocarbon accumulation may play a more significant role in improving the quality of reservoir porosity.Furthermore,connected fractures,dissolved pores and cavities together constitute the three-dimensional pore-cave-fracture network pathway systems,with faults serving as the dominant charge pathways of highly pressurized gas in the study area.Our results demonstrate that protracted growth of a pervasive fracture system is not only the consequence of various formation mechanisms but also intrinsic to quasi-continuous accumulation reservoirs.
