Oil & Gas Geology ›› 2022, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (3): 542-552.doi: 10.11743/ogg20220305

• Petroleum Geology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Characteristics and distribution pattern of late hydrocarbon accumulation in northern Xinjiang, China

Dongming Zhi1,2(), Jian Cao3, Jingkun Zhang3, Menglin Zheng1, Zhijun Qin1   

  1. 1.Xinjiang Oilfield Branch Company Ltd. ,PetroChina,Karamay,Xinjiang 834000,China
    2.Tuha Oilfield Branch Company Ltd. ,CNPC,Hami,Xinjiang 839000,China
    3.School of Earth Sciences and Engineering,Nanjing University,Nanjing,Jiangsu 210023,China
  • Received:2021-08-17 Revised:2022-03-08 Online:2022-06-01 Published:2022-05-06

Abstract:

The late hydrocarbon accumulation serves as an important feature for the formation of large-scale oil and gas field. To improve the understanding of the research front in petroleum geology, we investigate the characteristics and general patterns of the late hydrocarbon accumulation in northern Xinjiang from the perspective of far-field response during the Cenozoic Qinghai-Tibet Plateau uplifting, while integrating current understanding and latest geological and geochemical data. The results indicate that the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau uplifting is likely to have a significant influence on the late hydrocarbon accumulation from far away in northern Xinjiang in terms of hydrocarbon generation evolution, primary-secondary reservoir adjustment, and oil reservoir destruction. As for the evolution of hydrocarbon generation, the southern margin of the Junggar Basin came into being with Tian Shan mountain range getting rapidly uplifted and strongly denuded, accompanied by thick piedmont deposits, which serves for necessary geothermal gradient for the hydrocarbon generation evolution of multiple underlying source rock sequences. A large amount of hydrocarbon got generated thereby. As for primary-secondary reservoir adjustment, the central Junggar Basin has undergone south-to-north structural uplifting during the Himalayan movement period; as a result, shallow faults are developed, multi-source oil and gas mixing and secondary adjustment occur frequently, and a large-scale complex petroleum system with primary and secondary reservoirs superimposed is formed stretching hundreds of kilometers from south to north. As for structural destruction of oil and gas reservoirs, the Junggar Basin margin has experienced strong structural deformation caused by far-field response of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau uplifting, resulting in piedmont fold and fault development and widely exposure of structural oil and gas seeps, the “living fossils” for hydrocarbon accumulation. In all, it is suggested that the basins in northern Xinjiang including the Junggar and Turpan?Hami Basins, should be considered in a unified total petroleum system of super basin in the future, where a holistic view on the petroleum exploration is supposed to be promoted.

Key words: Qinghai-Tibet Plateau uplifting, total petroleum system, super basin, hydrocarbon accumulation effect, late hydrocarbon accumulation, northern Xinjiang

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