Yuhong Liao

Organic geochemical characteristics, mineralogy, petrophysical properties, and shale gas prospects of the Wufeng–Longmaxi shales in Sanquan Town of the Nanchuan District, Chongqing

Thick marine shales occur in the Wufeng Formation and Longmaxi Formation of Sanquan Town of the Nanchuan District, Chongqing Municipality, which is located on the southeast margin of the Sichuan Basin. However, few details of the characteristics of the Wufeng–Longmaxi shales in this area have been reported. In this study, a well approximately 100 m (∼328 ft) deep was drilled. A high-quality shale (total organic carbon [TOC] >2.0 wt. %, clay <40%) interval that was approximately 24 m (∼79 ft) thick with an average TOC value of 3.0 wt. % mainly occurs in the Ordovician Wufeng Formation (Katian and Hirnantian) and base of the Silurian Longmaxi Formation (Rhuddanian). Shales with higher TOC values commonly have a higher porosity and specific surface area. Tectonic movements may also have been very important factors that influenced the petrophysical properties of the shales. For example, a detachment layer that resulted from complex tectonic movements is extensive in the Wufeng Formation. The cracks and microcracks in the detachment layer can result in good pore connectivity. Consequently, the detachment layer can be an effective migration pathway. The Longmaxi–Wufeng shales of Sanquan Town are also compared with those of the famous Jiaoye 1 well in the Jiaoshiba shale gas field in the eastern Sichuan Basin. Although the shales in Sanquan Town have considerable shale gas generation potential, the shale gas resource potential in Sanquan Town is probably poor because the escape of shale gas may be accelerated by the detachment layer in destroyed anticlines and synclines.

Oil-source correlation of Lower-Triassic oil seepages in Ni＇erguan village, Southern Guizhou Depression, China

There are abundant bitumens and oil seepages stored in vugs in a Lower-Triassic Daye formation (T1d) marlite in Ni’erguan village in the Southern Guizhou Depression. However, the source of those oil seepages has not been determined to date. Multiple suites of source rocks of different ages exist in the depression. Both the oil seepages and potential source rocks have undergone complicated secondary alterations, which have added to the difficulty of an oil-source correlation. For example, the main source rock, a Lower-Cambrian Niutitang Formation (Є1n) mudstone, is over mature, and other potential source rocks, both from the Permian and the Triassic, are still in the oil window. In addition, the T1d oil seepages underwent a large amount of biodegradation. To minimize the influence of biodegradation and thermal maturation, special methods were employed in this oil-source correlation study. These methods included catalytic hydropyrolysis, to release covalently bound biomarkers from the over mature kerogen of Є1n mudstone, sequential extraction, to obtain chloroform bitumen A and chloroform bitumen C from the T1d marlite, and anhydrous pyrolysis, to release pyrolysates from the kerogen of T1d marlite. Using the methods above, the biomarkers and n-alkanes released from the oil samples and source rocks were analysed by GC–MS and GC-C-IRMS. The oil-source correlation indicated that the T1d oil seepage primarily originated from the Є1n mudstone and was partially mixed with oil generated from the T1d marlite. Furthermore, the seepage also demonstrated that the above methods were effective for the complicated oil-source correlation in the Southern Guizhou Depression.