Discovery and geological significances of black carbon in Yanchang Formation in Ordos Basin and its influences on source rock evaluation, NW China

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  • 1. PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, Beijing 100083, China;
    2. Research Institute of Exploration and Development of PetroChina Changqing Oilfield Company, Xi’an 710018, China

Received date: 2023-09-28

  Revised date: 2024-11-01

  Online published: 2024-11-08

Abstract

Through investigating the Triassic Yanchang Formation in the Ordos Basin, black carbon has been found for the first time in the seventh member of the Middle Triassic Yanchang Formation (Chang 7 Member). This study fills the gap in black carbon record in the Middle Triassic in terrestrial basins in in the East Tethys, and suggests that the oxygen content in the East Tethys during the Middle Triassic was beyond 15% and that plants had recovered from the Late Permian mass extinction. The results show that the distribution of black carbon in the Chang 7 Member is heterogeneous in the basin. In the southeastern part, the black carbon content is the highest (possibly ˃6%) in shale, with the proportion in TOC up to 20%, which is lower than 10% in the northwestern and northeastern parts. It is intriguing that the proportion of black carbon in the organic matter can reach to this high level during the Middle Triassic when black carbon was stunted. Therefore, it is postulated that black carbon could account for great proportion in organic matter after vegetation on land in the Silurian. The traditional practice needs to be caution when TOC is set as a critical proxy in source rock evaluation and shale oil and gas sweet spot screening. Source rock bearing high TOC but high proportion in black carbon may not be good target for unconventional oil and gas exploitation, while shale bearing low TOC with low or no black carbon may become promising option. The TOC in the source rock can be fractioned into black carbon (wb), active carbon (wa), residual carbon (wr), and maturated oil carbon (wo). TOC subtract wb or TOC-wb is recommended for evaluation of source rock, wa for screening the in-situ recovery area of low to medium maturity shale oil, and wo of matured shale oil for appraisal of the favorable exploration area of medium to high matured shale oil. These results allow for the quantitative evaluation of organic matter composition of shale, hydrocarbon generation potential, maturation stage, and expulsion and retention of shale oil, and also guide the reconstruction of paleoclimate in the source rock development period and the shale oil and gas sweet spot screening.

Cite this article

CUI Jingwei, ZHU Rukai, LI Yang, ZHANG Zhongyi, LI Shixiang, LIU Guanglin, QI Yalin, HUI Xiao . Discovery and geological significances of black carbon in Yanchang Formation in Ordos Basin and its influences on source rock evaluation, NW China[J]. Petroleum Exploration and Development, 0 : 20241209 -20241209 . DOI: 10.11698/PED.20230534

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