Architectural Element Analysis of Nonmarine Oil and Gas Reservoir in China, the Research History, Progress and Future Trend: A Review

Abstract

Since Miall’s architectural element analysis (AEA) was introduced to China in 1986, the method has been widely applied to studying the heterogeneity of oil and gas reservoirs in China. The development history, research field, research progress, and potential limitations of AEA in China have been reviewed based on 601 Chinese documents retrieved from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database and some English documents retrieved from various databases. The development of sedimentary AEA in China experienced four stages: (1) the conceptual and introduction stage (1985–1995), (2) the test and trial stage (1995–2005), (3) the popularization and application stage (2005–2015), and (4) the innovative stage (2015 to present). The research field covers all reservoir types of continental petroliferous basins in China. Papers published on AEA were distributed in the fields of (1) alluvial fan reservoirs, (2) braided channel reservoirs, (3) meandering channel reservoirs, (4) fan delta reservoirs, (5) braided river delta reservoirs, (6) shallow-water delta reservoirs, (7) large-scale delta reservoirs, (8) beach and bar reservoirs, and (9) lacustrine deepwater gravity flow reservoirs. Among all these fields, the architecture of alluvial fans, braided channels, meandering channels, braided river delta, and fan delta reservoirs was mainly researched. AEAs in China have made outstanding innovations in hierarchical sedimentary boundary surface classification, depositional architectural models, and quantitative reservoir architectural modeling. Combining the hierarchical AEA with geostatistical modeling, big data, and artificial intelligence technology and comprehensively using geology, geophysics, and production information to realize the hierarchical integrated reservoir architectural characterization are the development directions of the AEA in China and around the world.