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Abstract

AAPG Bulletin, V. 89, No. 1 (January 2005), P. 81-100.

Copyright copy2005. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

DOI:10.1306/07300403125

The upper Paleozoic coalbed methane system in the Qinshui basin, China

Xianbo Su,1 Xiaoying Lin,2 Mengjun Zhao,3 Yan Song,4 Shaobo Liu5

1Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo City, Henan 454000, People's Republic of China; [email protected]
2Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo City, Henan 454000, People's Republic of China; [email protected]
3Central Laboratory, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina, Beijing 10083, China; [email protected]
4Central Laboratory, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina, Beijing 10083, China; [email protected]
5Central Laboratory, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina, Beijing 10083, China; [email protected]

AUTHORS

Xianbo Su is a professor at the Henan Polytechnic University. His teaching and research interests include coal geology, coalbed methane geology, and petroleum geology. He holds a B.S. degree in coal geology from the Jiaozuo Institute of Technology and an M.S. degree in coal and petroleum geology from the China University of Mining and Technology.

Xiaoying Lin is a graduate student of the Jiaozuo Institute of Technology. She holds a B.S. degree in coal and petroleum geology from the said institute.

Mengjun Zhao is a senior geologist in the Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina. His research interests include petroleum geology and geochemistry. He holds a Ph.D. in petrology, geology, and geochemistry from the Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina (1994).

Yan Song is a professor at the Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina. She holds a B.A. degree in petroleum geology from the Petroleum University (1982) and a Ph.D. in geochemistry from the Chinese Academy of Science (2002). Her research interests include conventional and unconventional natural gas geology. She is the chief scientist of the national 973 program in coalbed methane.

Shaobo Liu is a senior geologist in the Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina. He holds a Ph.D. in petroleum geology from Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He specializes in petroleum geology and geochemistry, and his study fields include Tarim, Qaidm, Jungar, Sichuan, and Erdos basins.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank the Ministry of Science and Technology of China for financially supporting the 973 project under contract number 2002CB211705 and the Science and Technology Administration of Henan Province. This article benefited from reviews by W. G. Dow, G. Hu, and J. C. Pashin.

ABSTRACT

The coalbed methane resource is very abundant in Qinshui basin (3.28 times 1012 m3; 114 tcf). The investigation on the upper Paleozoic coalbed methane system is a guide to the exploration and development of coalbed methane. The upper Paleozoic coalbed methane system in the Qinshui basin is sealed by a low-permeability roof and floor strata comprising mudstone, siltstone, and bauxite of the Carboniferous Benxi Formation and the Permian Shanxi and Xiashihezi formations. The overburden is the Lower Permian Xiashihezi Formation and the Upper Permian, Triassic, and Middle Jurassic clastic deposits. The source and reservoir rocks are the Carboniferous–Permian coal seams. The hydrocarbon generation of the source rocks reached its first peak in the Late Triassic. The highest maturity was about Ro = 1.2% under a normal paleogeothermal gradient (2–3degC/100 m; 1.1–1.7degF/100 ft). A tectonic thermal event during the Jurassic and Cretaceous Yanshanian orogeny enhanced the coal maturity and caused a second peak of hydrocarbon generation. Varying igneous intrusions caused the coal maturity to be higher in the southern, northern, and eastern parts of the Qinshui basin instead of the central and western parts. The highest maturity was greater than Ro = 4% in the Jincheng area. The migrated thermogenetic coalbed methane accumulated in the reservoirs in which abnormally high reservoir pressure exists locally under the hydrodynamic drive. Because of the different hydrodynamic background and sealing condition, the distribution of coalbed methane content is inhomogeneous. The reservoir is undersaturated with gas in most areas. Based on the coalbed methane system investigation, we assessed the coalbed methane producibility in different parts of the Qinshui basin, and the major producibility area is in the southern part of the basin.

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