Development patterns of source rocks in the depression lake basin and its influence on oil accumulation: Case study of the Chang 7 member of the Triassic Yanchang Formation, Ordos Basin, China

During the Mesozoic, the T-J1 oil system of the Ordos Basin, whilst the degree of oil enrichment, main production layer, and source rock distribution exhibit strong regional differences, no systematic study has been conducted to investigate these differences. At this time, the total organic carbon abundance and vertical distribution of the eight long core wells in different areas of the basin within the Chang 7 member source layers were calculated by means of the ΔLogR method. According to the industrial oil well and the low production well, the favorable oil distribution areas of the Chang 8, Chang 7, and Chang 6 reservoirs are demarcated. The current study confirmed five distribution styles and strong regional differences in the longitudinal direction of source rocks. To be more specific, the Jiyuan area in the northwestern part of the lake basin is dominated by the bottom rich type and the full section rich type. The northeastern Shaanxi region is mainly dominated by the middle rich type and the top rich type. Meanwhile, the central area of the basin is mainly the interlayered type, and the southwestern Longdong region is mainly the bottom rich type. The comprehensive analysis of source rock type and oil favorable zone revealed that source rock type has a controlling effect on the crude oil distribution. The bottom rich type and full section rich type dominate the Jiyuan area and multiple layer oil production. In northern Shaanxi, the top rich type and middle rich type accumulate on the upper portion. Also, the Chang 6 reservoir was the main production layer. The bottom rich type of the Longdong area accumulates under the source, while the Chang 8 reservoir is the main production layer. The central parts of the lake basin are dominated by the interlayered type with multiple layers of production oil. The close relationship between the distribution pattern of source rocks and oil accumulation indicates an improvement on the distribution law of the continental lake with significance practical implication on the optimization of the field of near-source-in-source oil and gas exploration.