Characteristics of hydrocarbon migration and accumulation in the Lower Jurassic reservoirs in the Tugerming area of the eastern Kuqa Depression, Tarim Basin

Abstract The hydrocarbon migration and accumulation process in the Kuqa Depression are complex. In recent years, the Jurassic strata have recorded hydrocarbon discoveries in the Tugerming area of the eastern Kuqa Depression. However, it is a new exploration area, and the characteristics of hydrocarbon accumulation are unclear, restricting oil and gas exploration and development. In our study, the deeply-buried and shallow-buried Jurassic strata in the Tugerming area are the research objects. Quantitative fluorescence technique and the observation of fluid inclusions are implemented on the selected samples of Jurassic reservoirs to determine the stages and times of hydrocarbon charging. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis for saturated hydrocarbons is used to identify the origin of organic matter in oils. Combined analytical data with the reconstructed histories of burial, thermal evolution and tectonic evolution, allow simulating the hydrocarbon migration and accumulation process in the Tugerming area. The results show that two categories of hydrocarbon accumulation mechanisms (Burnham and Sweeney, 1989). The first type is acted as the type of “self-generation and self-storage and late accumulation”. Three stages of hydrocarbon charging have occurred in the deeply-buried Lower Jurassic reservoirs, represented by two wells (Tudong 2 and Tuge 4). The charging time is the early-middle stage of Miocene Kangcun Formation (18–9 Ma), forming the yellow or yellow-green fluorescent oil inclusions and paleo-oil reservoir. During the sedimentary period of the late Kangcun Formation to the early Kuqa Formation (9–5 Ma), the reservoir experienced massive condensate oil migration, corresponding to blue-white fluorescent oil inclusions. Large-scale natural gas was expelled into the reservoirs since the deposition stage of Kuqa Formation (5–0 Ma), and then accumulated in the trap controlled by the late Himalayan movement, forming the current gas reservoir. Moreover, the hydrocarbons are generated from Jurassic coal measure source rocks in the Well Tudong 2 based on the characteristics of biomarkers (Burruss et al., 1991). The second type is characterized by “lower source rock and upper reservoir and accumulation in the late or recent period”, developed in the shallow-buried Lower Jurassic reservoirs containing two wells (Tuxi 1 and Mingnan 1). In this case, there are two stages of crude oil charging: mature oil charging in the early-medium Miocene (18–12 Ma) and condensate oil migration in the late Miocene (8–5 Ma). The strata suffered denudation due to the stratigraphic uplifting in the orogenic movement, resulting in the leakage of the early oil reservoir. In both categories, it suggests that the Lower Jurassic reservoirs in the Tugerming area have the favorable potential for oil and gas exploration. The understanding of hydrocarbon migration and accumulation in the Lower Jurassic reservoirs in the Kuqa Depression of Tarim Basin can contribute to the knowledge of the potential to form large oil and gas reservoirs Tugerming Area, and reservoirs of basins with a similar tectonic settings, such as the Jungar Basin.