Characteristics and evaluation of the Upper Paleozoic source rocks in the Southern North China Basin

Abstract

The Upper Paleozoic coal measure strata in the Southern North China Basin have good potential for unconventional oil and gas exploration. However, there has been no systematic evaluation of potential source rock in this area; this affects the estimation of potential resources and the choice of exploratory target layers. In this study, full core holes ZK0901 and ZK0401, which perfectly reveal Upper Paleozoic strata in the study area, systematically collected and analyzed the samples for total organic carbon, rock pyrolysis, chloroform bitumen “A,” organic maceral, vitrinite reflectance, and kerogen carbon isotopes. The results showed that in addition to coal rocks, mudstones and carbonate rocks are also potential source rocks in the Upper Paleozoic strata. Vertically, the source rocks are continuous in Taiyuan Formation, the lower part of Shanxi Formation, and Lower Shihezi Formation. The organic matter type in the Upper Paleozoic coal rocks and mudstone source rock belong to type III or II. This phenomenon is mainly attributed to the special transgressive–regressive sedimentary environment of the carbonate rocks. The higher degree of thermal evolution in the Upper Paleozoic source rocks may be related to the structure or a higher paleogeothermal gradient in this area. The coal layer and its upper and lower mudstone of the Shanxi Formation and Lower Shihezi Formation are the main target layers of unconventional oil and gas exploration. The results from this study can be used as a reference for the study on potential source rock for unconventional oil and gas exploration in the Southern North China Basin.

Keywords

• hydrocarbon generation potential
• upper paleozoic
• source rocks
• evaluation
• southern north china basin