Controlling factors on the charging process of oil and gas in the eastern main sub-sag of the Baiyun Sag, Zhujiang River (Pearl River) Mouth Basin

The eastern main sub-sag (E-MSS) of the Baiyun Sag was the main zone for gas exploration in the deep-water area of the Zhujiang River (Pearl River) Mouth Basin at its early exploration stage, but the main goal of searching gas in this area was broken through by the successful exploration of the W3-2 and H34B volatile oil reservoirs, which provides a new insight for exploration of the Paleogene oil reservoirs in the E-MSS. Nevertheless, it is not clear on the distribution of “gas accumulated in the upper layer, oil accumulated in the lower layer” (Gas upper -Oil lower ) under the high heat flow, different source-rock beds, multi-stages of oil and gas charge, and multi-fluid phases, and not yet a definite understanding of the genetic relationship and formation mechanism among volatile oil, light oil and condensate gas reservoirs, and the migration and sequential charge model of oil and gas. These puzzles directly lead to the lack of a clear direction for oil exploration and drilling zone in this area. In this work, the PVT fluid phase, the origin of crude oil and condensate, the secondary alteration of oil and gas reservoirs, the evolution sequence of oil and gas formation, the phase state of oil and gas migration, and the configuration of fault activity were analyzed, which established the migration and accumulation model of Gas upper -Oil lower co-controlled by source and heat, and fractionation controlled by facies in the E-MSS. Meanwhile, the fractionation evolution model among common black reservoirs, volatile reservoirs, condensate reservoirs and gas reservoirs is discussed, which proposed that the distribution pattern of Gas upper -Oil lower in the E-MSS is controlled by the generation attribute of oil and gas from source rocks, the difference of thermal evolution, and the fractionation controlled by phases after mixing the oil and gas. Overall, we suggest that residual oil reservoirs should be found in the lower strata of the discovered gas reservoirs in the oil-source fault and diapir-developed areas, while volatile oil reservoirs should be found in the deeper strata near the sag with no oil-source fault area.