Oil & Gas Geology ›› 2018, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (3): 454-471.doi: 10.11743/ogg20180304

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Research status and development trend of the reservoir caprock sealing properties

Fu Xiaofei1,2, Wu Tong1,2, Lyu Yanfang1,2, Liu Shaobo3, Tian Hua3, Lu Mingxu4   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory Base of Unconventional Oil and Gas Accumulation and Exploitation, College of Earth Science, Northeast Petroleum University, Daqing, Heilongjiang 163318, China;
    2. Science and Technology Innovation Team of Universities of Fracture Deformation, Sealing Properties and Fluid Migration, Daqing, Heilongjiang 163318, China;
    3. Laboratory of Geological Sciences, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, PetroChina, Beijing 100083, China;
    4. No. 4th Oil Production Plant of Daqing Oilfield Limited Liability Company, PetroChina, Daqing, Heilongjiang 163511, China
  • Received:2016-09-19 Revised:2018-03-12 Online:2018-06-28 Published:2018-06-21

Abstract: Caprock directly determines the scale of oil-gas accumulation.The lithology of caprock in large-medium oil and gas fields is mainly mudstone,gypsolyte/saline rock and carbonate rock.In recent decades,we have made great progress in the sealing mechanism and evaluation methods for sealing property study.Scholars have proposed the capillary,hydraulic,overpressure,and hydrocarbon concentration sealing mechanisms through the years.For different sealing mechanisms,the sealing property evaluation criteria were set up,which played an important role both in the evaluation of hydrocarbon plays and the selection of exploration targets.Conventional study on the sealing properties of caprock is mainly based on static evaluation,but in fact,its sealing properties may change during multi-stage burial-uplift tectonic evolution.Jin(2013)established a quantitative evaluation method for the dynamic evolution of caprock sealing properties,which was based on the relationship between the porosity and capillary pressure during burial,the permeability and capillary pressure during uplift,and the OCR,a quantitative prediction method for the evolution of capillary sealing properties.And the method provides a reasonable basis for the study of oil and gas accumulation in multi-stage tectonic evolution basin.Thus,based on the study of the above-mentioned mechanisms and methods,it was pointed out that faults,tectonic fractures and hydraulic fractures were the key factors to the integrity of caprock,and the condition for the oil and gas to break through caprock was clarified,which provided a new way to find the secondary reservoir.The formation and evolution process of faults and fractures and their destruction to the caprock integrity depend on the seal's mechanical characteristics,that is,the caprock brittle-deformation prone or ductile-deformation prone.Based on the density and rock mechanics of mudstone,a method for distinguishing brittle and ductile deformation of mudstone was established.According to Byerlee's friction law and Goetes's criterion,a method for distinguishing brittle-ductile deformation of gypsolyte/saline rock is formulated.Therefore,the mechanisms for destruction of faults and fractures on brittle,brittle-ductile or ductile cap-rocks were clarified.Nowadays,there are still many problems necessary to be explored further,including the effects of different caprocks on hydrocarbon preservation,the effects of regional geologic factors on the sealing properties of caprock,the division of diagenesis stages and the dynamic evolution of sealing properties of shale,the brittle-ductile transition of caprocks and quantitative characterization of fracture conditions,the effect of deep faults on oil and gas migration and preservation,quantitative evaluation of caprock integrity,etc.

Key words: dynamic evolution, brittle-ductile deformation, capillary pressure, rock mechanical characteristics, sealing mechanism, caprock, superposed basin

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