A comparative study of salient petroleum features of the Proterozoic–Lower Paleozoic succession in major petroliferous basins in the world

Xiaoping Liu,Ting Li,Ming Guan,Jie Liu,Qinghua Pan,Zhijun Jin,Guoping Bai

doi:10.1177/0144598716680308

Abstract

The Proterozoic–Lower Paleozoic marine facies successions are developed in more than 20 basins with low exploration degree in the world. Some large-scale carbonate oil and gas fields have been found in the oldest succession in the Tarim Basin, Ordos Basin, Sichuan Basin, Permian Basin, Williston Basin, Michigan Basin, East Siberia Basin, and the Oman Basin. In order to reveal the hydrocarbon enrichment roles in the oldest succession, basin formation and evolution, hydrocarbon accumulation elements, and processes in the eight major basins are studied comparatively. The Williston Basin and Michigan Basin remained as stable cratonic basins after formation in the early Paleozoic, while the others developed into superimposed basins undergone multistage tectonic movements. The eight basins were mainly carbonate deposits in the Proterozoic–early Paleozoic having different sizes, frequent uplift, and subsidence leading to several regional unconformities. The main source rock is shale with total organic carbon content of generally greater than 1% and type I/II organic matters. Various types of reservoirs, such as karst reservoir, dolomite reservoir, reef-beach body reservoirs are developed. The reservoir spaces are mainly intergranular pore, intercrystalline pore, dissolved pore, and fracture. The reservoirs are highly heterogeneous with physical property changing greatly and consist mainly of gypsum-salt and shale cap rocks. The trap types can be divided into structural, stratigraphic, lithological, and complex types. The oil and gas reservoir types are classified according to trap types where the structural reservoirs are mostly developed. Many sets of source rocks are developed in these basins and experienced multistage hydrocarbon generation and expulsion processes. In different basins, the hydrocarbon accumulation processes are different and can be classified into two types, one is the process through multistage hydrocarbon accumulation with multistage adjustment and the other is the process through early hydrocarbon accumulation and late preservation.

Highlights

Carbonate rock has rich oil and gas resources
The hydrocarbon accumulation processes are different and can be classified into two types, one is the process through multistage hydrocarbon accumulation with multistage adjustment and the other is the process through early hydrocarbon accumulation and late preservation
The total organic carbon (TOC) of the source rocks of Proterozoic–Lower Paleozoic succession developed in the eight basins is generally greater than 1%, meeting the basic requirement of being effective source rock

Summary

Introduction

Carbonate rock has rich oil and gas resources. it only accounts for 20% of the total sedimentary rocks area of the world, its reserve of oil and gas accounts for 52% of the world’s total reserves, and accounts for about 60% of world oil and gas output (Jiang et al, 2008; Roehl and Choquette, 1985). Some of the important oldest marine carbonate basins are the Tarim Basin, Ordos Basin, and Sichuan Basin in China; the Permian Basin, Williston Basin, and Michigan Basin in North America; the Russia’s East Siberia Basin; and the Oman Basin in the Middle East (Figure 1) In these basins, oil and gas fields have been found in the Proterozoic-Lower Paleozoic succession (Bai, 2006; Halbouty, 2003; Sun, 2015). In Cambrian of Tarim Basin, middle-low Cambrian of Sichuan Basin, upper Ordovician of Williston Basin, Silurian of Michigan Basin, lower Cambrian of East Siberia Basin, and Cambrian of Oman Basin, gypsum-salt cap rocks were developed in evaporitic environment.

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Findings

Conclusions