Oil & Gas Geology ›› 2021, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (2): 309-324.doi: 10.11743/ogg20210205

• Petroleum Geology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Exploration directions on the Kelasu and East-Qiulitag fault hanging walls, Kuqa Depression, Tarim Basin

Shiwei Yi1(), Mingpeng Li1, Tuzhi Fan2, Fan Yang2, Hui Fang2, Fuxi Huang1, Wudi Jin2   

  1. 1. Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina, Beijing 100083, China
    2. PetroChina Exploration & Production Branch Company, Beijing 100007, China
  • Received:2019-11-19 Online:2021-04-28 Published:2021-04-21

Abstract:

The foreland thrust belts come in favorable accumulation conditions in the Kuqa Depression, Tarim Basin.Of the belts, the Kelasu and East Qiulitag belts, in particular, contain a giant gas field of over trillion-cubic-meter reserve consisting of Keshen, Kela 2 and Zhongqiu 1 gas reservoirs.Horizontally, most of the reservoirs concentrate on the footwalls of Kelasu and East-Qiulitag Faults, only Kela 2 is on the hanging wall.Vertically, the reservoirs mainly occur in the Cretaceous Bashijiqike Formation.Analyses show that the somehow continuous gas reservoir on the footwall of Kelasu Fault were trapped by rows or belts of large-scale anticlines and faulted anticlines formed by a series of nearly EW-trending thrust faults.The faults that get connected to hydrocarbon source rocks downward and to gypsum-salt cap rocks upward without cutting them through, serve as effective migration channels while keeping the integrity of the trap untouched, thus making a perfect pooling combination.While on the hanging walls, gas traps with similar condition were mostly destroyed by the Kelasu and East-Quilitag Faults cutting through the gypsum-salt cap rocks, leaving only the Kela 2 reservoir preserved by salt on the top-up structure.Meanwhile, analysis of the Kelasu and East-Qiulitag Faults' control on the reservoirs shows various impact upon different reservoir-cap assemblages and strata in a vertical direction.In all, the study dissected the accumulation model on the hanging walls of the Kelasu and East-Qiulitag Faults through composite hydrocarbon accumulation theory while considering the abundant surplus resources and the exploration imbalance of the hanging walls and the foot walls, and suggested that the hanging walls of the Kelasu and East-Qiulitag Faults have great exploration potential and the Jurassic and Paleogene strata are targets of future exploration on the foot walls of the faults.

Key words: hanging wall of fault, accumulation model, target for exploration breakthrough, foreland thrust belt, Kelasu Fault, East-Qiulitag Fault, Kuqa Depression, Tarim Basin

CLC Number: