Sedimentary and Diagenetic Features and Their Impacts on Microbial Carbonate Reservoirs in the Fourth Member of the Middle Triassic Leikoupo Formation, Western Sichuan Basin, China

Yuanchong Wang, Weimin Jiang, Hangyu Liu, Bo Liu, Haofu Zheng, Xiaobo Song, Qiongxian Wang, Wenkai Wang and Yong Li
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Yuanchong Wang: School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Weimin Jiang: School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Hangyu Liu: School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Bo Liu: School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Haofu Zheng: College of River and Ocean Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074, China
Xiaobo Song: Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Southwest Petroleum Branch, SINOPEC, Chengdu 610041, China
Qiongxian Wang: Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Southwest Petroleum Branch, SINOPEC, Chengdu 610041, China
Wenkai Wang: Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Southwest Petroleum Branch, SINOPEC, Chengdu 610041, China
Yong Li: Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Southwest Petroleum Branch, SINOPEC, Chengdu 610041, China

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-31

Abstract: In recent years, the discovery of two gas fields in the fourth member of the Leikoupo Formation in the Western Sichuan Basin of SW China confirmed the exploration potential of microbial carbonates. The aim of the present study is to clarify the formation mechanism of the microbial reservoirs in the Leikoupo Formation. For this purpose, lithofacies, depositional environments, and diagenesis analyses were performed in samples collected from cores of 12 wells. The climate of study area was arid during Anisian time, and the water body was restricted. In such a climate, an evaporitic environment was developed, where ten types of lithofacies, dominated by microbial carbonates and gypsum rocks, were recognized. Thrombolites and stromatolites are the main high-quality reservoirs rock types in the fourth member of the Leikoupo Formation in the Western Sichuan Basin of SW China, which developed as microbial mounds, with reservoir space of microbial inter-clot pores, intra-clot pores, fenestral pores, inter-crystalline pores, and cracks. The microbial inter-clot pores are the main reservoir space, formed by trapping and binding of marls by benthic microbial communities. These pores were partially filled with evaporites because of the arid climate, which were subsequently dissolved (mainly gypsum) in the syn-depositional period, thus greatly improving the quality of reservoirs. Although some pores were occluded by multi-stage cements during the burial stage, major pores were well preserved own to the early dolomitization, rapid burial of the Leikoupo Formation, and early charging of hydrocarbon. The early dolomitization enhanced the anti-compaction ability of microbial carbonates during the burial stage. Rapid burial of the Leikoupo succession slowed down early cementation, and it also accelerated the maturation and expulsion process source rock to promote early charging of hydrocarbon in pores, which created a closed system, inhibiting strong burial cementation.

Keywords: sedimentation; diagenesis; microbial carbonates; reservoir formation; the Middle Triassic Leikoupo Formation; the Western Sichuan Basin of SW China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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