Adjustment and alteration of hydrocarbon reservoirs during the Late Himalayan Period, Tarim Basin, NW China

Abstract

Abstract To figure out the oil and gas distribution pattern in the Tarim Basin, the adjustment and reformation of oil and gas reservoirs under the background of late Himalayan Orogeny are analyzed. Strongly affected by the tectonic movement, the oil and gas reservoirs in the Tarim Basin experienced secondary actions in physical adjustment and chemical alteration: on the one hand, during the course of physical adjustment, reversed strata caused the early-formed oil to seep vertically and to migrate laterally along the sandstone in large scale with long distance; on the other hand, in the process of chemical alteration, the deposition of massive strata accelerated the thermal evolution of organic matter, generating large amounts of cracking gas, which went into the pre-existing reservoirs and led to big change in oil and gas properties and the coexistence of heavy oil, light oil, waxy oil and condensate gas in the same area. The physical adjustment and chemical reformation of oil and gas reservoirs in late Himalayan period resulted in the lateral differential distribution of oil and gas in large area and multiple vertical oil-bearing layers with complex and diverse oil and gas properties.