The Advancement and Challenges of Seismic Techniques for Ultra-Deep Carbonate Reservoir Exploitation in the Tarim Basin of Northwestern China

Qinghua Wang, Yintao Zhang, Zhou Xie, Yawen Zhao, Can Zhang (), Chong Sun and Guanghui Wu ()
Additional contact information
Qinghua Wang: PetroChina Tarim Oilfield Company, Korla 841000, China
Yintao Zhang: PetroChina Tarim Oilfield Company, Korla 841000, China
Zhou Xie: PetroChina Tarim Oilfield Company, Korla 841000, China
Yawen Zhao: School of Geoscience and Technology, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Can Zhang: College of Electrical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Chong Sun: PetroChina Tarim Oilfield Company, Korla 841000, China
Guanghui Wu: School of Geoscience and Technology, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 20, 1-13

Abstract: The largest ultra-deep (>6000 m) strike-slip fault-controlled oilfield in the world is found in the Tarim Basin of Northwestern China. The localized fractured reservoirs are the major production targets along the strike-slip fault zones. Different from its use in the primary porous-type reservoirs, however, the conventional technology is not favorable for use in oil/gas development in Ordovician carbonate reservoirs. For this reason, high-density seismic acquisition and high-resolution seismic processing were carried out to provide high-precision data for fault and fractured reservoir identification. In addition, the multi-filtering process and the maximum likelihood method are typically used to identify small faults and fault segments along a strike-slip fault zone. Further, seismic facies-constrained inversion and amplitude attributes are favorable for large fracture-cave reservoir description. With the advancements in seismic technology, the high and stable production well ratio has been doubled in the “sweet spots” of fractured reservoir optimization, and the first ultra-deep strike-slip fault-controlled oilfield with an annual oil production of over 1 million tons has been realized, achieving economic development in the ultra-deep fractured reservoirs. However, unstable production and high rates of production decline are still significant challenges in the economic exploitation of the ultra-deep fractured reservoirs. Seismic technology requires further improvement for the description of small fractured reservoirs and matrix reservoirs, as well as reservoir connectivity prediction and hydrocarbon detection in the deep subsurface.

Keywords: fractured reservoir; strike-slip fault zone; ultra-deep exploitation; seismic technology; Tarim Basin (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: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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