Strike-Slip Faults and Their Control on Differential Hydrocarbon Enrichment in Carbonate Karst Reservoirs: A Case Study of Yingshan Formation on Northern Slope of Tazhong Uplift, Tarim Basin

Objective Oil and gas are abundant in the Ordovician Yingshan Formation carbonate karst reservoirs on the northern slope of Tazhong uplift in the Tarim Basin, and have extremely complicated oil-gas-water distribution, however. The difference in burial depth of the reservoirs between east and west sides is up to 1000 m. Water-bearing formations exist between oil- and gas-bearing formations vertically and water-producing wells are drilled between oil- and gas-producing wells. Macroscopically, oil and gas occur at low positions, while water occurs at high positiona on the northern slope of Tazhong uplift. The mechanism of differential hydrocarbon enrichment in heterogeneous reservoirs is by far not clarified, which has affected the efficient exploration and development of oil and gas fields in this area.

Seismic Acquisition Parameters Analysis for Deep Weak Reflectors in the South Yellow Sea

The Mesozoic-Paleozoic marine residual basin in the South Yellow Sea(SYS) is a significant deep potential hydrocarbon reservoir. However, the imaging of the deep prospecting target is quite challenging due to the specific seismic-geological conditions. In the Central and Wunansha Uplifts, the penetration of the seismic wavefield is limited by the shallow high-velocity layers(HVLs) and the weak reflections in the deep carbonate rocks. With the conventional marine seismic acquisition technique, the deep weak reflection is difficult to image and identify. In this paper, we could confirm through numerical simulation that the combination of multi-level air-gun array and extended cable used in the seismic acquisition is crucial for improving the imaging quality. Based on the velocity model derived from the geological interpretation, we performed two-dimensional finite difference forward modeling. The numerical simulation results show that the use of the multi-level air-gun array can enhance low-frequency energy and that the wide-angle reflection received at far offsets of the extended cable has a higher signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) and higher energy. Therefore, we have demonstrated that the unconventional wide-angle seismic acquisition technique mentioned above could overcome the difficulty in imaging the deep weak reflectors of the SYS, and it may be useful for the design of practical seismic acquisition schemes in this region.

Genetic mechanisms of secondary pore development zones of Es_4~x in the north zone of the Minfeng Sag in the Dongying Depression,East China

The genetic mechanisms of the secondary pore development zones in the lower part of the fourth member of the Shahejie Formation（Es_4／6x） were studied based on core observations,petrographic analysis,fluid inclusion analysis,and petrophysical measurements along with knowledge of the tectonic evolution history,organic matter thermal evolution,and hydrocarbon accumulation history.Two secondary pore development zones exist in Es_4~x,the depths of which range from 4200 to 4500 m and from 4700 to 4900 m,respectively.The reservoirs in these zones mainly consist of conglomerate in the middle fan braided channels of nearshore subaqueous fans,and the secondary pores in these reservoirs primarily originated from the dissolution of feldspars and carbonate cements.The reservoirs experienced ‘‘alkaline–acidic–alkaline–acidic–weak acidic＇＇,‘‘normal pressure–overpressure–normal pressure＇＇,and‘‘formation temperature increasing–decreasing–increasing＇＇ diagenetic environments.The diagenetic evolution sequences were ‘‘compaction/gypsum cementation/halite cementation/pyrite cementation/siderite cementation–feldspar dissolution/quartz overgrowth–carbonate cementation/quartz dissolution/feldspar overgrowth–carbonate dissolution/feldspar dissolution/quartz overgrowth–pyrite cementation and asphalt filling＇＇.Many secondary pores（fewer than the number of primary pores） were formed by feldspar dissolution during early acidic geochemical systems with organic acid when the burial depth of the reservoirs was relatively shallow.Subsequently,the pore spaces wereslightly changed because of protection from early hydrocarbon charging and fluid overpressure during deep burial.Finally,the present secondary pore development zones were formed when many primary pores were filled by asphalt and pyrite from oil cracking in deeply buried paleoreservoirs.