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Abstract

AAPG Bulletin, V. 109, No. 8 (August 2025), P. 1081-1105.

Copyright ©2025. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1306/06302521121

Timing of porosity loss and hydrocarbon charging of the Ordovician carbonate reservoirs in the Shunbei oil field, Tarim Basin, northwestern China

Bin Wang,1 Xiaowen Guo,2 Zicheng Cao,3 Tiago M. Alves,4 Yongqiang Zhao,5 Ze Tao,6 Jiaxu Chen,7 and Yi Yang8

1Wuxi Research Institute of Petroleum Geology, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Production, Sinopec, Wuxi, China; Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Education, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China; [email protected]
2Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Education, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China; [email protected]
3Northwest Oilfield Company, Sinopec, Urumuqi, Xinjiang, China; [email protected]
43D Seismic Lab, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom; [email protected]
5Wuxi Research Institute of Petroleum Geology, Sinopec Petroleum Exploration and Production Research Institute, Wuxi, China; [email protected]
6Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Education, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China; [email protected]
7Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Education, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China; [email protected]
8Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Education, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China; [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The Shunbei oil field of the Tarim Basin comprises important Ordovician carbonate reservoirs associated with strike-slip faults. Here, strike-slip fault zones contain sufficient space to accumulate significant hydrocarbon volumes. However, porosity in the carbonate reservoirs near the strike-slip faults zone can be <2.5% due to calcite cementation of pores, karst features, and fractures. In the present study, the timing of porosity loss and hydrocarbon charging are investigated to reveal four stages of calcite veining. The origin of vein-forming fluid was investigated by rare earth element analyses complemented by C, O, and Sr isotope analyses. The results indicate that fluids forming stage II and III calcite veins were derived from middle–lower Ordovician formation water, which interacted with the host rock. Fluid-forming stage I and IV veins originated from Cambrian formation water and deep hydrothermal fluids. The U-Pb dates indicate that stages I, II, and III veins were generated at 460 ± 12 to 464.8 ± 9.5, 440 ± 16 to 449 ± 15, and 420 ± 20 Ma, respectively, which is consistent with results from the minimum homogenization temperatures of the primary aqueous inclusions combined with burial and thermal histories. This research suggests that the porosity of the carbonate reservoir in the Shunbei oil field was lost during the middle–late Caledonian tectonic movements. Two hydrocarbon charging episodes occurred in these carbonate reservoirs after formation of the stage I, II, and III calcite veins. The timings of the two episodes of oil charge were determined as 400–390 and 250–235 Ma, respectively, corresponding to the early Hercynian and late Hercynian to Indosinian tectonic phases. This study concludes that petroleum accumulation in the carbonate reservoirs is mostly associated with the strike-slip faults, resulting from new reservoir pore spaces created during the early Hercynian and late Hercynian to Indosinian tectonic movements.

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