Petroleum migration and mixing in the Pearl River Mouth Basin, South China Sea

Two oil groups have been investigated in the Pearl River Mouth Basin using their geochemical characteristics. In combination with source data, the two oil groups may be extrapolated into two end-member oils: petroleum populations A and B. The oil population A with abundant 4-methylsteranes, derived from the deeper Wenchang source rocks, migrated and accumulated earlier. The oil population B with absent 4methylsteranes was expelled from the Enping source rocks and is associated with a relatively later phase of migration and accumulation. The two distinctive oil populations migrated updip through the marine blanket-like sandstone carriers within the Zhuhai Formation to accumulate in a series of traps along the main migration pathways at different times. Most of the accumulations are mixtures of the two end-member oils. The variations of 4-methylsterane concentrations in the accumulations can be related to the contributions from the two sources: the oils, which migrated furthest, contain greater contributions from the Wenchang source rocks, whereas those with shorter migration paths have greater contributions from the Enping sources. The later migrated oils closer to the depression areas are highly mature and the former oils in the Liuhua oil fields are of relatively low maturity, which may indicate the main migration direction along the Hui-Liu Structure Ridge (HLSR). Oils with abnormally high maturity in the middle of the HLSR may suggest oil-filling points, from which branch conduits connected the source kitchens to the main migration pathway. Oils with abnormally low maturities may reveal minor contributions from some small sags in the Dongsha Massif in a latest phase. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.