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Organic Geochemistry
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Oil families and their source rocks in the Weixinan Sub-basin, Beibuwan
Basin, South China Sea
Baojia Huang a,b, Xianming Xiao a,, Dongsheng Cai b, R.W.T. Wilkins c, Mingquan Liu b
a
State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640 Guangdong, China
Research Institute, CNOOC Ltd., Zhanjiang, 524057 Guangdong, China
c
CSIRO Petroleum, P.O. Box 136, North Ryde, NSW, Australia
b
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 8 June 2010
Received in revised form 11 November 2010
Accepted 2 December 2010
Available online 10 December 2010
a b s t r a c t
Thirty-one crude oils and 15 source rocks were selected for molecular geochemical and isotopic analyses
in order to establish the genetic relationships between discovered oils and petroleum source rocks in the
Weixinan Sub-basin, Beibuwan Basin, South China Sea. Three groups of oils were recognized. Group I oils
are only found in the upper section of the Liusagang Formation, with a moderate abundance of C30
4-methylsteranes, low oleanane contents and lighter d13C values, showing a close relation to the shale
occurring in the upper section of the Liusagang Formation. Group II is represented by the majority of
the discoveries and is distributed in multi-sets of reservoirs having different ages. The oils are characterized by a high abundance of C30 4-methylsteranes, low to moderate abundance of oleanane and heavy
d13C values, and shows a good correlation with the lacustrine shale and oil shale in the middle section
of the Liusagang Formation. Group III oils occurred in the lower section of the Liusagang Formation.
The oils have a lower concentration of C30 4-methylsteranes, relatively high abundance of oleananes
and their d13C values are intermediate. Oils of this group correlated well with the shallow lake-delta
mudstone of the lower section of Liusagang Formation. These oil-source genetic relationships suggest
a strong source facies control on the geographic distribution of oil groups within the Weixinan Sub-basin.
The geochemical data indicate shale in the middle section of the Liusagang Formation has an excellent oil
generation potential and the lower and upper sections contain dark shale and mudstone with good to fair
oil potential. Future exploration or assessment of petroleum potential of the sub-basin could be improved
by considering the proposed genetic relationship between the oil types and source rocks, as well as their
distribution.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The Beibuwan Basin (Fig. 1a) is one of four petroliferous basins in
the northern continental shelf area of the South China Sea. It covers
an area of nearly 40,000 km2. The Weixinan Sub-basin (Fig. 1a) is
located in the north part of the Beibuwan Basin. Over the past
30 years, petroleum exploration has been continuously conducted
in the basin, especially in the Weixinan Sub-basin where a few oil
bearing structures and several commercial oil elds have been discovered, such as the W10-3, W11-4, W11-4N, W11-1, W12-1, W6-8,
W6-9 and W12-8 oil elds (Fig. 1b). Although data from recent
exploration efforts in the sub-basin have greatly enhanced the
understanding of its petroleum system, some key problems are still
unresolved. Previous studies (Zhang and Huang, 1991; Gong and Li,
1997; Liu, 2004) have demonstrated there are several sets of source
rocks with petroleum potential within the Eocene Liushagang
135
CHINA
GUANGZHOU
SOUTH
CHINA SEA
HAINAN
ISLAND
21o
Weixixnan
Leidong
Wushi
Haizhong
en
i-Maich
e
Haitoub
Subbasin
20o
Uplift
Fushan
(a)
Hainan Island
108o
111o
109o
A
W611
W141
W521
W683
W691
W1032
W681
W111N2
W1111
W111N3
W1033
W1224
W10330
W1221
W114N6
W1172
W1231
W1181
W1182
W1283
W114A1
(b)
Fig. 1. Maps showing (a) the structural divisions of the Beibuwan Basin and (b) major structures and sampled wells in the Weixinan Sub-basin.
136
Geological
Age
Q
|
Pliocene
Age
Lithology Source Reservoir Oil
(Ma)
Strata
Depositional
Facises
Wangliugang
5.5
Dengliujiao
U. Miocene
|
M. Miocene
Marine
10.5
Jiaowei
16.5
L. Miocene
Xiayang
25.0
Oligocene
Weizhou
Lacustrine
32.0
Liushagang
U
Eocene
39.5
M
47.5
L
58.5
Paleocene
Changliu
Pre-Tertiary
shale
Oil-shale
Alluvial Fan
62.5
gravel
sandstone
siltstone
limestone
Siliciclastic
rock
Volcanic
rock
oil samples were collected for analysis during drill stem tests in
the Weixinan Sub-basin (Fig. 1b). Selected source rocks were
extracted using dichloromethane in a Soxhlet apparatus for 72 h.
After asphaltene was precipitated and group compositions
fractioned using column chromatography for both oils and rock
extracts, their saturate fractions were analyzed using a Hewlett
Packard 5890II equipped with a 50 m 0.32 mm i.d. HP-5 fused
silica capillary column. The carrier gas was helium at a ow rate
of 1.5 ml/min. The samples were injected using a splitless injector
maintained at 300 C. The GC oven temperature was programmed
from 35 to 300 C at 5 C/min and maintained at the nal temperature for 30 min.
Gas chromatographymass spectrometric (GCMS) analyses
were carried out using a Thermo DSQ II-Trace/MS220-5327.
Helium was used as carrier gas, and the oven temperature was
programmed from 50 to 300 C at 4 C/min. Samples were routinely analyzed in full scan mode (m/z 50500). The stable carbon
isotope (d13C) analysis of whole oils and source rock kerogens was
carried out using a Finnigan MAT-251 mass spectrometer, with an
analytical precision of 0.03 based on the PDB standard.
137
On the basis of the saturated hydrocarbon biomarker distributions and stable carbon isotopic data of the studied oils from the
Weixinan Sub-basin, they can be largely classied into three compositional groups (Table 1, Figs. 46).
4.2.1. Group I oil
The oil samples from the Liushagang-1 section reservoir of W68, W6-9 and W11-1N oil elds belong to this group. The oil is char-
Table 1
Basic data and selected geochemical parameters for crude oils from the Weixinan Sub-basin.a
Sample no.
Depth (m)
Fr.
Density (g/cm3)
Sulfur%
Wax%
Sats.%
Arom.%
Res.%
Aph.%
ol/C30
C27/C29
4MSI
20S/20R
d13Coil%0
Oil group
W1032-5
W1033-3
W10330-1
W1111-4
W111N2-1
W111N3-1
W111N3-2
W111N3-3
W1124-1
W1124-2
W114A1-3
W114A1-2
W114N6-1
W1172-2
W1172-1
W1181-2
W1181-1
W1182-1
W1221-2
W1221-1
W1231-1
W1283-1
W141-2
W521-1
W611-2
W681-1
W683-2
W683-1
W691-4
W691-3
W693-1
19681978
21122127
22082220
27192726
21312177
1945
2021
2102
22082223
1689
885910
967980
2222.52235
2063.6
26392644
31043270
32883383
29693031
27992825
29132988
14091420
936940
840845
830.5901
19672052
28842917
2742
27392747
23762382
29232935
25822618
L3
L3
L3
L3
L1
L1
L1
L1
L1
WZ
JW
JW
L1
L1
L3
L3
L3
L3
L2
L3
WZ
JW
XY
C
C
L1
L1
L1
WZ
WZ
WZ
0.840
0.834
0.866
0.856
0.867
0.888
0.881
0.854
0.889
0.852
0.905
0.881
0.845
0.825
0.820
0.836
0.839
0.829
0.874
0.889
0.855
0.942
0.960
0.969
0.825
0.851
0.880
0.876
0.890
0.890
0.897
0.20
0.01
0.21
nd
0.22
nd
nd
nd
0.28
0.17
0.24
0.18
0.18
0.05
0.05
0.08
0.10
0.06
0.10
0.08
0.10
0.44
0.49
0.51
0.02
0.19
0.21
0.18
0.31
0.33
0.34
29.3
22.6
25.8
28.5
15.2
15.2
19.6
9.3
2.8
19.2
14.4
16.3
15.0
7.2
11.1
10.9
11.4
9.2
16.3
24.6
18.9
3.2
8.3
0.4
20.5
17.7
9.9
8.5
11.2
20.4
23.6
75
76
69
70
56.9
61.6
58
54.4
52.6
68.7
65
71
54.2
88
88.8
76.7
74.1
85.4
74
73
70
33.9
46.5
42
76
64.7
69.1
71.3
49
52
52.6
11
10
10
13
17.2
16.1
16.3
16.9
24.9
19
14
18
22
5.9
6.7
15.8
17.7
9.3
13
14
12
31.9
32.9
26
12
17.9
14.8
14.2
13
15
15.2
10
11
12
6
16.9
13.5
16.3
16
13.7
8.1
11
9
15.5
2
1.7
5
5.3
4.3
8
8
12
16.9
13.4
17
10
10.7
11.5
10.8
19
19
17.4
4
3
9
11
9.1
8.8
9.5
13
8.7
4.3
10
2
8.2
4.1
2.8
2.5
2.9
1
5
5
6
17
7.3
15
2
6.7
4.6
3.6
19
14
15
0.07
0.12
0.12
0.04
0.02
0.02
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.02
0.14
0.15
0.06
0.07
0.31
0.26
0.29
0.35
0.06
0.03
0.09
0.09
0.05
0.07
0.10
0.04
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.03
0.39
0.59
0.27
0.36
0.83
1.19
0.87
0.76
0.74
0.94
0.53
0.63
1.33
1.25
0.49
1.23
1.10
0.80
0.71
0.54
0.62
1.10
0.27
0.69
0.70
1.08
0.99
1.03
0.68
0.74
0.88
4.95
3.42
2.35
4.95
2.34
1.97
2.07
2.10
2.05
2.33
3.99
4.33
1.64
0.72
0.72
1.30
1.50
1.51
3.11
2.45
2.31
3.28
4.27
3.56
3.13
2.24
1.43
1.34
2.34
2.34
2.01
0.51
0.61
0.63
0.53
0.39
0.35
0.39
0.39
0.29
0.43
0.56
0.54
0.28
0.44
0.57
0.69
0.73
0.52
0.70
0.66
0.59
0.60
0.50
0.54
0.62
0.56
0.34
0.36
0.57
0.58
0.64
24.56
nd
24.66
nd
nd
nd
nd
nd
nd
nd
25.99
25.41
28.30
nd
nd
26.40
26.50
nd
nd
28.36
25.91
nd
nd
25.94
24.54
27.20
27.10
27.10
26.88
26.35
26.70
II
II
II
II
II
I
I
I
I
II
II
II
I
I
III
III
III
III
II
II
II
II
II
II
II
I
I
I
II
II
II
a
Fr. = Formation; Sats. = saturates, Arom. = aromatics, Res. = resins, Aph. = asphaltenes. Saturates, aromatics, resins, asphaltenes are normalized percent. ol/C30 = oleanane/
C30 hopane ratio, calculated from the m/z 191 mass fragmentograms; C27/C29 = C27/C29 20R steranes; 4MSI = ratio of C30 4-methylsteranes to C29 regular steranes (20R + 20S),
calculated from the m/z 217 mass fragmentograms; 20S/20R = 20S/(20S + 20R) ratio for aaa-C29 steranes; Formation name: Q = Quaternary, JW = Jiaowei, XY = Xiayang,
WZ = Weizhou, LS1 = Liushagang-1, LS2 = Liushagang-2, LS3 = Liushagang-3, C = Cretaceous. nd = not determined.
138
W521
830 893m
XY Formation
oil
n-C27
n-C17
WZ61S1
1812.1m
WZ Formation
oil
Pr
Ph
Fig. 3. Gas chromatograms of aliphatic fractions of a biodegraded oil and a normal Group II oil from the Weixinan Sub-basin.
content, and low wax content (Table 1). The carbon isotope ratios of
this group of oils vary from 24.56 to 26.88. Although the
ratios are mostly heavier than those of Group III oils, their values
overlap considerably (Table 1, Fig. 5).
Biomarker data are a valuable aid in dening a better group
identication of the oils. Oils of group II without biodegradation
show a Pr/Ph ratio of 1.52.6, indicating an origin from type I/II
kerogen deposited under suboxic conditions. These oils are differentiated from oils of other groups by a high abundance of C30
4-methylsteranes (Fig. 6), with the ratio of C30 4-methylsteranes
to C29 regular steranes of 2.345.2 and a relatively low content of
oleanane which is derived from angiosperms (Peters and
Moldowan, 1993). Thus, Group II oils were most likely derived
from source rocks deposited in a freshwater lacustrine setting.
These source rocks probably reached the peak stage of oil generation based on the ratio C2920S/(20S + 20R) of 0.440.63 (Figs. 4b
and 6, Table 1). It was found that both samples of a shallow oil
(936940 m) and a deep oil (29132988 m) from the W12-8 and
W12-2 reservoirs have a nearly identical composition and thermal
maturation level (Table 1), which suggests the oil generated from
deeply buried source rocks underwent vertical migration to charge
shallow reservoirs.
4.2.3. Group III oil
Four oil samples produced from the Liushagang-3 reservoirs
belong to this group. Similar to most of the Group II oils, these
oils have a low to medium density, high wax and low sulfur
contents (Table 1). The oils have a relatively high content of
oleanane, with ol/C30 ratio (oleanane/C30 hopane) of 0.260.35,
a high pristane/phytane ratio of 2.032.48, and a moderate abundance of C30 4-methylsteranes (Figs. 4 and 6). These oils are
slightly depleted in their 12C values compared to the Group I oil
(Table 1, Fig. 5).
The relatively high pristane/phytane ratio, lesser abundance of
4-methylsteranes and the presence of a relatively high content of
oleanane indicate that the Group III oils were derived from source
139
(a)
(b)
Fig. 4. Cross plots of (a) ol/C30ab-hopane ratio vs. C30 4MSI and (b) ol/C30ab-hopane ratio vs. C29 20S/20(S + R) for oil samples collected from the Weixinan Sub-basin,
illustrating the three different genetic oil groups. ol/C30ab-hop = oleanane/C30ab-hopane ratio, C30 4MSI = C30 4-methylsterane to C29 regular steranes (20R + 20S) ratio.
Fig. 5. Cross plot of C30 4MSI vs. whole oil d13C values, showing three different
genetic oil groups dened by biomarker parameters. 4MSI = C30 4-methylsterane to
C29 regular steranes (20R + 20S) ratio.
deposited nearshore in a lake and deltaic environment with a dominant terrigenous input during deposition.
140
M/Z 191
M/Z 217
C30
Ts
Group I
W1172
2063.6m
LS1 Section
oil
Tm
C30-4m St
OL
WZ114N6
2222.5-2235.0m
LS1 Section
oil
W114A1
899m
JW Formation
oil
Group II
W1032
1968.5-1978m
LS3 Section
oil
W611
1967-2052.4m
Carboniferous
oil
Group III
W1181
3104-3270m
LS3 Section
oil
Fig. 6. m/z 191, 217 and 369 mass fragmentograms of three genetic group of oils in the Weixinan Sub-basin (ol: oleanane; C30: C30 4-methylsteranes; Ts: 18a- trisnorhopane,
Tm: 17a trisnorhopane).
141
40
S1+S2 (mg/g)
30
20
(a) LS Formation
10
LS1
LS2
LS3
0
0
10
TOC (%)
40
S1+S2 (mg/g)
30
20
10
(b) WZ Formation
0
0
10
TOC (%)
Fig. 7. Cross plots of TOC vs. RockEval S1 + S2 values for potential source rocks from the Liushagang (a) and Weizhou formations (b).
900
900
LS1
LS2
LS3
800
700
600
HI (mgHC/gTOC)
HI (mgHC/gTOC)
700
II1
500
400
300
II2
(a)
200
100
0
400
800
600
II1
500
400
300
420
440
460
480
Tmax (oC)
(b)
200
100
III
II2
0
400
III
420
440
460
480
Tmax (oC)
Fig. 8. Modied Van Krevelen diagrams showing the Hydrogen IndexTmax relationships for source rocks from the (a) Liushagang and (b) Weizhou formations.
average value of 0.57%. The kerogen types for most samples are
types III and II2, with a minor portion of type II1 (Fig. 8). Distinctive
biomarker features of the Weizhou Formation rock extracts are the
near absence of C30 4-methylsteranes (Fig. 9) and a relatively high ratio of C29/C27. This indicates that the Weizhou Formation has a greater terrigenous matter input compared to the Liushagang Formation.
142
M/Z 191
M/Z 217
C29
C30
Tm
Ts
W1213
2436m
WZ Formation
shale
C27
C30-4m St
ol
C29
C30
C27
W1121
29222940m
LS1 Section
Ts Tm
ol
C30-4mSt
shale
W111N2
2424m
LS2 Section
shale
W1222
27882790m
LS2 Section
oil-shale
W11-8-1
33923394m
LS3 Section
shale
Fig. 9. Selected m/z 191, 217 mass fragmentograms of source rock extracts from the Liushagang and Weizhou Formations.
and 9 show m/z 191 and 217 mass fragmentograms for the three
oil groups and their correlative source rocks. Group I oils can be
correlated to the shallow lake source facies of the Liushagang-1 section based on their moderate abundance of C30 4-methylsteranes
and relatively low oleanane. Group II oils and the medium-deep
water lacustrine shales and oil shales from the Liushagang-2
section are both high in C30 4-methylsteranes but low to moderate
in oleanane, suggesting a clear genetic relationship. Group III oils
143
Neocene
Paleogene
Q Formation
Q
|
WL
DL
1000
JW
XY
WZ
Depth (m)
2000
LS1
Ro=0.6%
3000
4000
5000
Q=Quaternary
WL=Wangliujiao
DL=Dengliujiao
JW=Jiaowei
XY=Xiayang
WZ=Weizhou
LS1=Liushagang-1
LS2=Liushagang-2
LS3=Liushagang-3
CL=Changliu
LS2
Ro=1.3%
LS3
CL
6000
60
40
20
Age (my)
Fig. 10. Burial history curves for source rocks at the depocenter of the Weixinan Sub-basin. The location of the well used for this modeling work is shown in Fig. 1b. Oil
window is dened as Ro = 0.61.35%. Formation names: CL = Changliu, LS = Liushagang; WZ = Weizhou; XY = Xiayang; JW = Jiaowei; DL = Dengliujiao; Q = Quaternary.
144
Group I oil
Group I oil /
LS1 source rock
Group II oil /
LS2 source rock
-29
-28
-27
-26
-25
-24
13 C%o
Fig. 11. Correlation of three groups of oils with corresponding source rock kerogens based on their d13C values.
NW
Upper Miocene -Q
JW
XY
depth (m)
2000
WZ
LS1
4000
LS2
LS3
CL
6000
Oil
Heavy oil
Fig. 12. Conceptual model of petroleum generation and migration in the Weixinan Sub-basin, showing reservoirs in relation to source rocks and migration pathways. The
location of the section is shown in Fig 1b. See Fig. 10 for abbreviations.
(4) The proposed oil-source relationships indicate a strong control of mature source rocks on the oil distribution within the
Liushagang Formation. Shallow oil accumulations have been
strongly controlled by faults cutting through the source
rocks and reservoirs.
Acknowledgements
The authors are indebted to Dr. Andrew Murray and two
anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions that have signicantly improved the manuscript, and to
CNOOC-Ltd. for making available the data. This work was nancially supported by the Earmarked Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
(Grant No. SKLOG2009A01). This is contribution No. IS1273 from
GIGCAS.
Associate EditorAndrew Murray
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