Qingshankou-Putaohua/Shaertu and Jurassic Coal-Denglouku/Nongan total petroleum systems in the Songliao Basin, China

Abstract

The Qingshankou-Putaohua/Shaertu petroleum system involves the generation of oil and gas from a mature pod of lacustrine source rock near the center of the Songliao Basin in northeastern China. The primary source rock is the Lower Cretaceous Qingshankou Formation, and a secondary source rock is Member 1 of the Lower Cretaceous Nenjiang Formation. The most productive of six sandstone reservoirs are the Putaohua reservoir (Member 1 of the Lower Cretaceous Yaojia Formation) and the Shaertu reservoir (Members 2 and 3 of the Yaojia Formation and Member 1 of the Nenjiang Formation). Most oil and associated gas generated from the Qingshankou Formation and Nenjiang Formation (Member 1) are trapped in large faulted anticlines, fault blocks, and faulted anticlinal noses in combination with facies-change and (or) diagenetic stratigraphic traps. Two assessment units are defined in the petroleum system: (1) an anticlinal assessment unit; and (2) a subtle-traps assessment unit consisting of (a) anticlinal noses in combination with fault or stratigraphic traps, (b) stratigraphic traps, and (c) unconventional reservoirs. Undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources are expected in both assessment units in small (5–10 million barrels of oil; 30–60 billion ft gas) and medium (10–25 million barrels of oil; 60–150 billion ft of gas) fields. Also, undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources are expected in several large fields (25–73 million barrels of oil; 150–173 billion ft of gas). The Jurassic coal–Dengloukou/Nongan petroleum system involves the generation of natural gas from multiple pods of mature source rock in graben structures at the base of the Songliao Basin. Sandstone and conglomeratic sandstone in the Lower Cretaceous Denglouku Formation and the Lower Cretaceous Quantou Formation are the major reservoir rocks. Most of the known natural gas is trapped in anticlines, anticlinal noses, and fault blocks. This petroleum system is largely unexplored in comparison to the QingshankouPutaohua/Shaertu petroleum system and has good potential for undiscovered gas in the structural traps assessment unit. Undiscovered conventional gas is expected in small (30–60 billion ft of gas), medium (60–150 billion ft of gas), and large (150–395 billion ft of gas) fields. The U.S. Geological Survey World Energy Assessment Team (2000) estimated that the Songliao Basin has, at a mean value, about 1.03 billion barrels of undiscovered conventional oil resources and 5.71 trillion ft of undiscovered conventional gas resources.