Variation of sediment provenance at the 09 - 1 Block, Cuu Long Basin: their significance in assessing the Oligocene - Miocene reservoir quality

Abstract

The Cuu Long Basin is one of the Tertiary sedimentary basins situated on the continental shelf of Vietnam, which demonstrates the high potential of oil and gas. Apart from fractured granite reservoirs, the Oligocene - Miocene sand bodies are thought to have significant potential for forming non - structural traps. The results of the study on the composition and physical properties of the sediments derived from wells "X" and "Y", block 09 - 1, Cuu Long Basin show that there is a clear difference between the Late Oligocene and Early Miocene sandstone in the well "X", namely the Miocene sandstone shows larger particle size, higher roundness and sortness (TB: 434.2; Ro: 0.69; So: 2.22) than those of the Late Oligocene sandstone (TB: 104.28; Ro: 0.64; So: 1.46). This difference is likely attributed to the fact that the Miocene sandstone was influenced by the marine environment, which intensified the roundness and sortness. Meanwhile, the well "Y" did not show much difference in the physical parameters of the sediments between the Late Oligocene and Early Miocene age ranges. However, the grain size was slightly increased and the roundness was less during the Early Miocene. It is possible that the “Y” well is located closer to the local source. The variation in the physical parameters of the sediments, proportion of sand grains and clay minerals shows that the quality of late Oligocene reservoir is better than that of Early Miocene reservoir, and the Late Oligocene reservoir quality in the "X" well is better than that in the borehole "Y".