Oil Mobility Evaluation of Fine-Grained Sedimentary Rocks with High Heterogeneity: A Case Study of the Lucaogou Formation in the Jimusar Sag, Junggar Basin, NW China

The oil mobility in unconventional tight/shale oil reservoirs is complex because of the high heterogeneity in the matrix pore structure and connectivity. Thus, it is difficult to evaluate hydrocarbon exploration potential precisely. In this study, multistep temperature pyrolysis (MTP) Rock-Eval and 1D (dimensional) as well as 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques were employed to systematically characterize the oil mobility in lacustrine fine-grained sedimentary rocks from the Lucaogou Formation in the Jimusar Sag, Junggar Basin, NW China. The results show that the Lucaogou Formation fine-grained sedimentary rocks can be subdivided into six types of lithofacies. With the increase of organic matter richness, the content of adsorbed oil increases, whereas the content of movable oil increases first and tends to stabilize (when total organic carbon (TOC) > 4%). This is because when TOC is low, the fine-grained sedimentary rocks need to self-adsorb before oil production; when TOC increases further, the generated oil will break through the absorption limit and charge into the adjacent reservoirs; therefore, the movable oil ceases to increase. Permeability is found to have a greater impact on movable fluid saturation than porosity. Meanwhile, good throat radius and pore connectivity are conducive to oil flow as movable oil is more sensitive to throats rather than pores. Furthermore, a higher content of brittle minerals is not necessarily favorable for oil flow; alternatively, more clay minerals are easy to from cements causing pore blockage, which will essentially hinder oil mobility. Overall, the organic matter content, reservoir pore structure, and rock mineral composition are the main factors affecting tight/shale oil mobility. On the basis of the above research, a conceptual model of oil mobility in different lithofacies' reservoirs is established. These results have a reference significance for evaluating oil recoverability in fine-grained sedimentary rocks.

Automated summary

In this study, the oil mobility in fine-grained sedimentary rocks from the Lucaogou Formation was systematically characterized using various techniques. The results showed that the content of adsorbed and movable oil varied with organic matter richness. Permeability had a greater impact on movable fluid saturation than porosity. Good throat radius and pore connectivity were found to be conducive to oil flow.