Classification and evaluation of tight sandstone reservoirs based on diagenetic facies: a case study on Chang 6 reservoir in the center-west Ordos Basin

Tight sandstone reservoirs dominated by are developed in the Chang 6 oil layer group of the Yanchang Formation in the central-western part of the Ordos Basin. Featuring the lacustrine delta facies, Chang 6 formation in the center-west area of Ordos Basin shows an increasing petroleum reserve expectation. Its exploitation practice, however, has many problems caused by tight sandstone reservoir features. According to diagenetic and pore analysis, the diagenetic facies in the study area are grouped into four types: chlorite-film-intergranular-pore, feldspar-dissolution, clay-cemented-micropore, carbonate-cemented-tightness for their obvious differences in mineral feature and pore evolution. By introducing the comprehensive classification parameter synthesized from 9 other parameters, the reservoir quality is divided up into four levels: I(Feci > 1), II(3 ≤ Feci ≤ 7), III(-2 ≤ Feci ≤ 3), IV(Feci ≤ -2). The reservoir quality division matches well with the diagenetic facies group. To decide the diagenetic type and reservoir quality division in all wells, the logging data are utilized with the Fisher discriminant method, which has obtained a good performance. The method enables the reservoir quality analysis expanding to all wells from samples, which is helpful for exploitation of the study area.

Control of differential diagenesis of tight sandstone reservoirs on the gas–water distribution: A case study on the Upper Paleozoic He 8 Member in the northern Tianhuan depression of the Ordos Basin

The sandstone reservoirs in the Upper Paleozoic He 8 Member in the northern Tianhuan depression of the Ordos Basin are vastly different and feature particularly complex gas–water distributions. Scanning electron microscopy, fluorescence, Raman spectroscopy inclusions, relative permeability analysis, and nuclear magnetic resonance were utilized in this study based on core data, identification statistics, and various thin-section microscope measurements. Samples from the Upper Paleozoic He 8 Member in the northern Tianhuan depression were collected to study the characteristics of reservoir heterogeneity and gas–water distribution, which were controlled by differential diagenesis. The results indicate that compaction and dissolution are the two most important factors controlling reservoir heterogeneity. Large differences in diagenesis–accumulation sequences and pore structure characteristics affect reservoir wettability, irreducible water saturation, and gas displacement efficiency, thereby controlling the gas–water distribution. The He 8 Member is a gas reservoir that is densified because of accumulation. Reservoirs can be divided into three types based on the relationship between diagenetic facies and gas–water distribution. Type I is characterized by weak compaction, precipitate or altered kaolinite cementation, strong dissolution of diagenetic facies, and high porosity and permeability. This type is dominated by grain-mold pores and intergranular dissolution pores and produces gas reservoirs with high gas yield. Type II is characterized by medium-strength compaction, altered kaolinite or chlorite cementation, weak dissolution of diagenetic facies, and medium porosity and permeability. This type is dominated by residual intergranular pores, a few residual intergranular pores, and dispersed dissolution pores, producing gas reservoirs with low gas yield. Type III is characterized by medium-strength compaction, altered kaolinite cementation, and medium-strength dissolution of diagenetic facies. This type is dominated by kaolinite intercrystal pores and dispersed dissolution pores, producing gas reservoirs with high water yield.

Difference of Microfeatures among Diagenetic Facies in Tight Sandstone Reservoirs of the Triassic Yanchang Formation in the Midwestern Region, Ordos Basin

Based on the background of sedimentary characteristics, a large amount of core and thin section analysis, taking Chang 6 reservoir of Yanchang Formation in the central and western Ordos Basin as an example, through the application of scanning electron microscopy, high-pressure mercury injection, nuclear magnetic resonance and microscopic water drive oil model, and other experimental test methods, the diagenetic facies types and microscopic pore structure characteristics of tight sandstone reservoirs are discussed and analyzed in depth. The results show that the average porosity loss rate caused by early diagenesis compaction in the study area is 50.62%, which is the main reason for reservoir compactness. The cementation further causes porosity loss, and the later dissolution increases the reservoir space in the study area to a certain extent. Different diagenetic facies reservoirs not only have obvious differences in porosity evolution characteristics but also have significant differences in pore throat radius distribution characteristics, movable fluid occurrence characteristics, and water drive oil characteristics. The pore throat distribution with radius greater than R50∼R60 determines the permeability. The difference in movable fluid saturation mainly depends on the connectivity of the relative large pore space corresponding to the relaxation time greater than the cut-off value of T2. The size of pore throat radius has a good control effect on water flooding efficiency.

Seismic characterisation of carbonate platforms and reservoirs: an introduction and review

Improved seismic data quality in the last 10–15 years, innovative use of seismic attribute combinations, extraction of geomorphological data, and new quantitative techniques, have significantly enhanced understanding of ancient carbonate platforms and processes. 3D data have become a fundamental toolkit for mapping carbonate depositional and diagenetic facies and associated flow units and barriers, giving a unique perspective how their relationships changed through time in response to tectonic, oceanographic and climatic forcing. Sophisticated predictions of lithology and porosity are being made from seismic data in reservoirs with good borehole log and core calibration for detailed integration with structural, paleoenvironmental and sequence stratigraphic interpretations. Geologists can now characterise entire carbonate platform systems and their large-scale evolution in time and space, including systems with few outcrop analogues such as the Lower Cretaceous Central Atlantic “Pre-Salt” carbonates. The papers introduced in this review illustrate opportunities, workflows, and potential pitfalls of modern carbonate seismic interpretation. They demonstrate advances in knowledge of carbonate systems achieved when geologists and geophysicists collaborate and innovate to maximise the value of seismic data from acquisition, through processing to interpretation. Future trends and developments, including machine learning and the significance of the energy transition, are briefly discussed.

Diagenetic facies and reservoir porosity evaluation of deep high-quality clastic reservoirs: A case study of the Paleogene Shahejie Formation, Nanpu Sag, Bohai Bay Basin, China

Petrological analysis, thin-section observation and laboratory analysis data were selected to systematically study the physical and diagenetic features of the first member of the Paleogene Shahejie Formation (Es1) in the No. 3 structural belt of the Nanpu Sag, Bohai Bay Basin. The intensities of different diagenetic processes were determined, the diagenetic evolution sequence was reconstructed, the typical diagenetic facies were identified and the effects of different diageneses on the reservoir were quantitatively analyzed. The results show that the main intergranular fillings include authigenic-quartz, quartz secondary enlargement, clay minerals, carbonate cement and matrix. The pore types include intergranular porosity, dissolution porosity and microfractures. The reservoir has experienced compaction, early cementation, dissolution and late cementation, among which compaction is the most important porosity reducer. Compaction was the main diagenetic process involved in porosity reduction, accounting for about 24.4% of the loss of thin-section porosity. The dissolution process clearly improved the porosity, increasing thin-section porosity by 2.7%. Five diagenetic facies were identified on the basis of petrographic analyses, namely, (a) strongly compacted-weakly cemented-weakly dissolved facies; (b) weakly compacted-strongly cemented-weakly dissolved facies; (c) moderately compacted-moderately cemented-weakly dissolved facies; (d) strongly compacted-weakly cemented-moderately dissolved facies; and (e) strongly compacted-weakly cemented-strongly dissolved facies. According to the analysis of diagenesis intensity, the porosity evolution model of various diagenetic facies was reconstructed, and the reservoir quality of various diagenetic facies was quantitatively predicted. The reservoir quality of different diagenetic facies clearly changed with depth. The best reservoir quality was in strongly compacted–weakly cemented–strongly dissolution facies, which have good sorting, contain a large amount of feldspar and soluble debris, and are mainly developed in the main part of the river channel. Our study can provide a reference for the subsequent exploration and development of deep petroleum systems.

Working towards a universal formation model for spheroidal iron (oxyhydr)oxide concretions

<p>Three principal models exist for iron (oxyhydr)oxide concretion formation in the Navajo Sandstone in southern Utah, USA and the most recent model by Yoshida et al. (2018) suggests that calcite concretions are precursors to iron (oxyhydr)oxide concretions. This model could account for the existence of a gradient of carbonate and iron concretions found in both red diagenetic facies (with primary hematite grains coatings retained) and white diagenetic facies (primary hematite grain coatings removed during diagenesis). However, evidence for calcite precursor minerals and an understanding of the fluid chemistries involved in these diagenetic reactions is lacking. This research focuses on spheroidal concretions in the Navajo Sandstone at Coyote Gulch—a site that is down gradient, but upsection from Spencer Flat (the focus of previous work) and tests the hypothesis that calcite concretions are precursors to iron (oxyhydr)oxide concretions. Bulk mineralogy, bulk geochemistry, and petrography provide elemental and mineralogical composition of the concretions and show that the concretions are calcite cemented (~40 wt.%) and the host rock is predominately iron (oxyhydr)oxide cemented (~3 wt.%). The host rock surrounding embedded concretions shows secondary iron (oxyhydr)oxide precipitation and decreases in calcite in transects away from the concretion. These relationships suggest that the calcite concretions formed prior to the precipitation of secondary iron (oxyhydr)oxides and may have provided a localized buffering environment for the precipitation of iron (oxyhydr)oxides. This study also represents an opportunity to determine a universal model for carbonate and iron (oxyhydr)oxide spheroidal concretion formation, and to understand the influence of fluid interactions in the search for subsurface redox reactions to power metabolisms on Earth and Mars.</p>

Diagenetic features and porosity dense evolution of Chang 8 tight sandstone reservoir in Hujianshan area, Ordos Basin

Diagenesis is the main reason for tight reservoir lithology, complex pore-throat structure, strong heterogeneity, and variable occurrence and distribution characteristics of fluid in the pore-throat, which directly restricts the Chang 8 oil layer group in the Ordos Basin. Exploration and development. Based on the analysis of a large number of cores and thin slices, through the application of scanning electron microscopy, high-pressure mercury intrusion and other experimental testing methods, the diagenesis characteristics of the Chang 8 tight reservoir in the Hujianshan area of the Ordos Basin and the mechanism and process of tight porosity evolution are analyzed in depth. The relationship between different diagenetic facies belts, pore structures and their impact on reservoir quality is further explored. The results show that the Chang 8 reservoir in the Hujianshan area is in the mid-diagenetic stage A, which mainly experienced compaction-pressure dissolution, cementation, dissolution and other diagenesis. The compaction caused the loss of a large number of primary pores in the sandstone, which is the most important factor for the densification of the Chang 8 reservoir in the study area, followed by cementation of carbonate and clay minerals. The chlorite clay film formed in the early diagenesis retained the primary particles. The inter-pores maintain good reservoir physical properties, and are affected by the acidic diagenetic environment. The unstable feldspar minerals dissolve. The dissolution pores produced effectively improve the connectivity and permeability of the pores. The compaction reduces the porosity on average by 19.37% and the loss rate reaches 51.86%. The cementation reduces the porosity on average by 11.97% and the loss rate reaches 32.66%. The dissolution increases the porosity by 3.26% on average. In the process of pore evolution, the compaction of the early diagenetic stage A and the authigenic clay minerals and carbonate cementation in the middle diagenetic stage are the main reasons for the substantial decrease in porosity. The early diagenetic stage B is due to its short duration. Less porosity is lost. The secondary pores generated in the early diagenetic stage A are basically filled with microcrystalline calcite, while the organic acid dissolution in the middle diagenetic stage is limited. According to different diagenetic minerals and pore evolution characteristics, combined with logging response characteristics, the whole area is divided into four diagenetic facies. Among them, the residual chlorite-membrane intergranular-pore facies and the feldspar dissolution facies of chlorite film are the most favorable diagenetic facies. The findings of this study can help for better understanding of the diagenetic characteristics and quantitative evolution of pores, reveal the diagenetic-pore evolution rules of Chang 8 sandstone reservoirs in the study area, and provide a basis for reservoir evaluation and prediction in the study area.