China Petroleum Exploration ›› 2016, Vol. 21 ›› Issue (4): 85-92.

• PETROLEUM GEOLOGY • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Hydrocarbon accumulation conditions in Beibu-gulf Basin,northern South China Sea

Yang Xibing   

  1. Zhanjiang Branch of CNOOC Limited
  • Online:2016-07-15 Published:2016-07-15

Abstract: The Beibu-gulf Basin in the northern continental margin of South China Sea is dominated by extensional rifts, which facilitated the formation of depression-rift basin with typical double-layer (rift-depression) structure and controlled the sedimentary sequence of “marine sediment after continental sediment” in this basin. The Cenozoic reservoirs in this basin were generated, distributed, enriched and contiguously accumulated in large scales, and present a complex framework with diverse horizontal and spatial distributions. In this paper, the structural, sedimentary and hydrocarbon accumulation conditions in the Beibu-gulf Basin were systematically analyzed, and the exploration and development practices were also reviewed. It is concluded that the existence of large-medium reservoirs is controlled by the hydrocarbon-rich sags, and the distribution of such reservoirs is controlled by the spatial matching between large sedimentary facies belts and favorable tectonic units in the hydrocarbon-rich sags. The tectonic-sedimentary evolution process of “depression after rifting” and “marine sediment after continental sediment” is essential for the formation of large-medium reservoirs.

Key words: northern South China Sea, Beibu-gulf Basin, hydrocarbon accumulation conditions, large-medium reservoirs, oil and gas distribution