Petroleum source rocks of the Junggar, Tarim, and Turpan basins, northwest China

Conference · Tue May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA)

OSTI ID:6755046

Graham, S A; Brassell, S; Carroll, A R; McKnight, C L; Chu, J; Hendrix, M S ^[1]; Xiao, X ^[2]; Demaison, G ^[3]; Liang, Y ^[4]

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1. Stanford Univ., CA (USA)
2. Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing (China)
3. Chevron Overaseas Petroleum, Inc., San Ramon, CA (USA)
4. Xinjiang Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Urumqui (China)

The sedimentary basins of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, are poorly explored for petroleum. Volumetric adequacy of petroleum source rocks is a critical exploration risk in these basins, particularly because source rock data are limited. However, recent studies provide new source rock data and permit speculative assessment of source rock potential of Xinjiang basins. The Junggar basin, best explored of Xinjiang basins and containing a giant oil field, is underlain over much of its extent by an Upper Permian lacustrine oil-shale sequence that is known for its organic richness and oil source quality. Depending on position in the basin, the Permian section ranges from immature to overmature and is inferred to be the principal source of oil in the basin. Upper Triassic-Middle Jurassic coal measures, including lacustrine rocks, constitute a secondary source rock sequence in the Junggar basin. The smaller intermontane Turpan basin contains a very similar Upper Triassic-Middle Jurassic sequence, which, where sufficiently deeply buried, probably comprises the only significant oil source sequence in the basin. The vast Tarim basin offers the greatest potential variety of petroleum source rocks of all Xinjiang basins, but remains the least well documented. From limited, but geologically planned and focused sampling, Cambrian, Carboniferous, and Permian strata are considered unlikely to be major oil source contributors in the dominantly shallow-marine Paleozoic section of the northern Tarim basin. Only Ordovician black shales appear to have significant oil source potential, and a lower Paleozoic source is confirmed for some Tarim oils by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. The Upper Triassic-Middle Jurassic sequence of northern Tarim basin, similar to that of the Junggar and Turpan basins in comprising a section rich in coal and lacustrine shale, constitutes another, potentially significant oil source.

• OSTI ID: 6755046
• Report Number(s): CONF-900605--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA) Journal Volume: 74:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
58 GEOSCIENCES
580000 -- Geosciences
ASIA
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CAMBRIAN PERIOD
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD
CHINA
CHROMATOGRAPHY
COAL DEPOSITS
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPLORATION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
JURASSIC PERIOD
MATERIALS
MESOZOIC ERA
MINERAL RESOURCES
OIL SHALES
PALEOZOIC ERA
PERMIAN PERIOD
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RESOURCES
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOURCE ROCKS
TRIASSIC PERIOD