Oil & Gas Geology ›› 2023, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (3): 637-650.doi: 10.11743/ogg20230309

• Petroleum Geology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Factors controlling the formation and distribution of Mesozoic buried hill reservoirs in the Qiongdongnan Basin

Mingcai HOU1(), Xiaohu HE2, Qiuyue JIN2, Haiyang CAO1, Liwen HE2, Youyuan QUE1, Anqing CHEN1   

  1. 1.State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation,Chengdu University of Technology,Chengdu,Sichuan 610059,China
    2.Hainan Branch,CNOOC,Haikou,Hainan 570311,China
  • Received:2023-02-15 Revised:2023-03-20 Online:2023-06-01 Published:2023-06-05
  • Contact: Xiaohu HE E-mail:houmc@cdut.edu.cn

Abstract:

Buried hills are emerging as an important exploration target in the sedimentary basins offshore China. Despite the successful drilling of several gas-bearing prospects in the Mesozoic buried hills in Qiongdongnan Basin, there is a lack of research on the primary factors controlling oil and gas accumulation, and no large-scale gas reservoirs have been discovered so far. Clarifying the development characteristics and genetic mechanisms of these reservoirs is crucial for advancing buried hill exploration in this region. This paper examines the development characteristics of buried hill reservoirs across different structural belts in the Qiongdongnan Basin using existing drilling, core, thin section, and geophysical data. The results indicate that structural fractures are the primary reservoir space, with thrusting event of the pre-Cenozoic Indosinian and Yanshanian playing a key role in fracture formation. The presence of preexisting main faults provided the foundation for the formation of the buried hills and the Cenozoic extension activities reshaped the fracture systems. Bedrocks dominated by felsic minerals are the favorable reservoir rocks, with multi-stage fluid action effectively improving the quality of buried hill reservoirs and contributing to their vertical zoning. The Mesozoic buried hill structural belt of Qiongdongnan Basin can be classified into a double-layer type of buried hill intensively modified by tectonism in the south, a three-layer type of buried hill modified jointly by weathering and tectonism in the middle, and a single-layer type of buried hill weakly modified by weathering in the north. The study also shows that ancient bedrocks that experienced the Indosinian tectonic activity are more favorable for the development of high-quality buried hill reservoirs, while the buried hills near the periphery of the depression are more conducive to the formation of large gas reservoirs.

Key words: tectonic evolution, reservoir feature, bedrock buried hill, Mesozoic, Qiongdongnan Basin

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