Unconventional Petroleum Sedimentology: A Key to Understanding Unconventional Hydrocarbon Accumulation

The commercial exploitation of unconventional petroleum resources (e.g., shale oil/gas and tight oil/gas) has drastically changed the global energy structure within the past two decades. Sweet-spot intervals (areas), the most prolific unconventional hydrocarbon resources, generally consist of extraordinarily high organic matter (EHOM) deposits or closely associated sandstones/carbonate rocks. The formation of sweet-spot intervals (areas) is fundamentally controlled by their depositional and subsequent diagenetic settings, which result from the coupled sedimentation of global or regional geological events, such as tec- tonic activity, sea level (lake level) fluctuations, climate change, bottom water anoxia, volcanic activity, biotic mass extinction or radiation, and gravity flows during a certain geological period. Black shales with EHOM content and their associated high-quality reservoir rocks deposited by the coupling of major geo- logical events provide not only a prerequisite for massive hydrocarbon generation but also abundant hydrocarbon storage space. The Ordovician-Silurian Wufeng-Longmaxi shale of the Sichuan Basin, Devonian Marcellus shale of the Appalachian Basin, Devonian-Carboniferous Bakken Formation of the Williston Basin, and Triassic Yanchang Formation of the Ordos Basin are four typical unconventional hydrocarbon systems selected as case studies herein. In each case, the formation of sweet-spot intervals for unconventional hydrocarbon resources was controlled by the coupled sedimentation of different glo- bal or regional geological events, collectively resulting in a favorable environment for the production, preservation, and accumulation of organic matter, as well as for the generation, migration, accumulation, and exploitation of hydrocarbons. Unconventional petroleum sedimentology, which focuses on coupled sedimentation during dramatic environmental changes driven by major geological events, is key to improve the understanding of the formation and distribution of sweet-spot intervals (areas) in unconven- tional petroleum systems.(c) 2022 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier LTD on behalf of Chinese Academy of Engineering and Higher Education Press Limited Company. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

The commercial exploitation of unconventional petroleum resources has significantly transformed the global energy structure. Sweet-spot intervals, consisting of deposits with high organic matter content or closely associated sandstones/carbonate rocks, are the most productive unconventional hydrocarbon resources. The formation of sweet-spot intervals is controlled by depositional and diagenetic settings influenced by global or regional geological events. Understanding the formation and distribution of sweet-spot intervals is crucial for unconventional petroleum systems.