Abstract
There is a lack of systematic study on geochemical characteristics and the source of crude oil in Shenhu uplift area of the Pearl River Mouth Basin (PRMB). Under such circumstances, the Rock–Eval, gas chromatography (GC), and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) experiments were carried out. The results show that the following: (1) The medium-deep lacustrine source rocks of the Wenchang Formation (MWC) in the Wenchang-B depression have the highest organic matter abundance. The shallow lacustrine source rocks of the Wenchang Formation (SWC) in Wenchang-B depression and the shallow lacustrine source rocks of the Enping Formation (SEP) in the Wenchang-A depression have relatively low organic matter abundance, but three sets of hydrocarbons have reached the mature stage and have good hydrocarbon generation potential. (2) The n-alkanes of crude oil in the Shenhu uplift have pre-peak characteristics, and the Pr/Ph > 2.00. The tricyclic terpene (TT) content is relatively low, and C19-C20-C21-C23TT presents a “low–high-low” distribution characteristic. Meanwhile, the content of rearranged sesquiterpanes is higher in bicyclic sesquiterpanes. In addition, ααα20RC27-ααα20RC28-ααα20RC29 regular steranes are “L”-shaped, C30-4 methyl sterane (C30-4MSt)/C29 regular sterane values are between 0.24 and 0.34, and dicadinane (W + T)/C30H values are 1.08–1.61. By comparing these biomarkers with source rocks one by one, it is finally found that the crude oil has the closest genetic relationship with the SEP in well WA4.
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(modified from Cheng et al. 2015)
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Acknowledgements
Funding for this research was provided by the development mechanism of high-quality source rocks and hydrocarbon accumulation regularity in Zhusan depression (NO. CCL2020ZJFN0226) and National Natural Science Foundation of China: Study on the Control Mechanism of the Formation of Terrestrial Tight Oil (Low Permeability Reservoir) by the Mud/Calcium Interval between Source and Reservoir (NO.41872165). Appreciation is expressed to the Hainan Branch of China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd, predecessors for all of their previous researches and AG for providing a platform to publish my paper, and thank editors and reviewers for taking their time to review this paper.
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Xiaoyan Fu: conceptualization, methodology, writing, and editing. Junjun You and Shijia Chen: guidance, review. Xin He: drawing. Hui Li and Mingzhu Lei: supervision, project administration, and funding acquisition. All of the authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
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Fu, X., Chen, S., He, X. et al. Geochemical characteristics and source of crude oil in the Shenhu uplift, Pearl River Mouth Basin, South China Sea. Arab J Geosci 15, 39 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-08574-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-08574-2