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Abstract

AAPG Bulletin, V. 94, No. 9 (September 2010), P. 13791399.

Copyright copy2010. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

DOI:10.1306/12140909115

Quantitative evaluation of synsedimentary Previous HitfaultNext Hit opening and sealing properties using hydrocarbon connection probability assessment

Likuan Zhang,1 Xiaorong Luo,2 Qianjin Liao,3 Wan Yang,4 Guy Vasseur,5 Changhua Yu,6 Junqing Su,7 Shuqin Yuan,8 Dunqing Xiao,9 Zhaoming Wang10

1Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources Research, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China; [email protected]
2Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources Research, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China; [email protected]
3Petroleum Exploration and Development Research Institute of Dagang Oilfield Company Ltd., Tianjin 300280, China
4Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, IGG, Beijing 100029, China; present address: Department of Geology, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas 67260
5SISYPHE, UMR7619, University Pierre et Marie Curie, 75252 Paris Cedex, France
6Petroleum Exploration and Development Research Institute of Dagang Oilfield Company Ltd., Tianjin 300280, China
7Petroleum Exploration and Development Research Institute of Dagang Oilfield Company Ltd., Tianjin 300280, China
8Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, IGG, Beijing 100029, China; present address: Petroleum Exploration and Development Research Institute of Dagang Oilfield Company Ltd., Tianjin 300280, China
9Petroleum Exploration and Development Research Institute of Dagang Oilfield Company Ltd., Tianjin 300280, China
10Research Institute of Exploration and Development, PetroChina, Beijing 100083, China

ABSTRACT

Hydraulic behaviors of faults in sedimentary basins have been paid close attention in studies of hydrocarbon migration and accumulation because of their important functions in basin hydraulic circulations. In previous studies, however, the function of faults in hydrocarbon migration is characterized by the sealing capacity of faults. In fact, sealing is only an impressive and time-dependent aspect of the hydraulic behavior of faults, which may act as seals during some periods and as pathways some time later. Therefore, in hydrocarbon migration studies, sealing indices may successfully be used in some cases but not in others. In this article, we introduce an empirical method (termed the Previous HitfaultNext Hit-connectivity probability method) for assessing the hydraulic connecting capacity of a Previous HitfaultNext Hit for hydrocarbon migration over geological time scales. The method is based on the recognition that observable hydrocarbon in reservoirs should result from the opening and closing behavior of the Previous HitfaultNext Hit during the entire process of hydrocarbon migration. In practice, the cumulative petroleum migration through a segment of the Previous HitfaultNext Hit zone is identified by the presence (or not) of hydrocarbon-bearing layers on both sides of the segment. Data from the Chengbei step-Previous HitfaultNext Hit zone (CSFZ) in the Qikou depression, Bohai Bay Basin, northeast China, were used to develop this method. Fluid pressure in mudstones, normal stress perpendicular to Previous HitfaultNext Hit plane, and shale gouge ratio are identified as the key factors representing Previous HitfaultNext Hit-seal capacity. They are combined to define a nondimensional Previous HitfaultNext Hit opening index (FOI). The values of FOI are calculated from the measured values of the key factors, and the relationship between FOI and Previous HitfaultNext Hit-connectivity probability on any Previous HitfaultNext Hit segment is established through statistical analysis. Based on the data from the CSFZ, when the FOI is less than 0.75, the Previous HitfaultNext Hit-connectivity probability is 0; when FOI ranges from 0.75 to 3.25, the corresponding Previous HitfaultNext Hit-connectivity probability increases from 0 to 1 following a quadratic polynomial relationship; when FOI is greater than 3.25, the Previous HitfaultNext Hit-connectivity probability is 1. The values of Previous HitfaultNext Hit-connectivity probability can be contoured on a Previous HitfaultNext Hit plane to characterize the variations of hydraulic connective capacity on the Previous HitfaultNext Hit plane. The applicability of this concept for other oil fields (in particular, the quantitative relationship between FOI and Previous HitfaultTop-connectivity probability) has still to be ascertained.

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