Abstract:

Practices of petroleum exploration in marine carbonates in China,marked by the exploration and development of Tahe oilfield and Puguang gas field,reveal a prospective exploration field worthy of research.Since there are no practicable exploration theories and mature engineering techniques,petroleum exploration in marine carbonate sequences of China is characterized by large difficulty and high risk,challenging management of exploration and development in marine sequences.An integrated management philosophy,which incorporates theoretical innovation,technical research and advantageous team,is proposed based on a summarization of previous experiences and lessens.In the context of theories,marine petroleum theories are quite different with continental petroleum theories and the marine petroleum theories in China also have large differences with oversea marine petroleum theories.While in the context of engineering techniques,marine carbonates in China are characterized by highly variable topographic and geomorphologic conditions,complexity of subsurface structures due to muhiphase deformation and superimposition and deep burial of targets,challenging oil and gas exploration.Therefore, both theoretical innovation and technical research should be emphasized in exploration of marine sequences. However,attentions should be paid to both general techniques and specific techniques,and equal stress should be laid on both fundamental and applied researches,so as to speed up transferring of science and technology to productivity.Four combinations including production with scientific research,geology with engineering,theory with technique,and research with management,should be realized.It is necessary to summarize the theories and practices of exploration in marine carbonate sequences in China,so as to further promote the advancement of marine petroleum technologies and achieve larger breakthrough in exploration of marine sequences in China.

Key words: integrated management, technique,practice, exploration theory, marine oil/gas, China