Geochemical characteristics of natural gas in the hydrocarbon accumulation history, and its difference among gas reservoirs in the Upper Triassic formation of Sichuan Basin, China

Abstract The analysis of hydrocarbon generation, trap formation, inclusion homogenization temperature, authigenic illite dating, and ESR dating were used to understand the history of hydrocarbon accumulation and its difference among gas reservoirs in the Upper Triassic formation of Sichuan Basin. The results show the hydrocarbon accumulation mainly occurred during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods; they could also be classified into three stages: (1) early hydrocarbon generation accumulation stage, (2) mass hydrocarbon generation accumulation stage before the Himalayan Epoch, (3) and parts of hydrocarbon adjustment and re-accumulation during Himalayan Epoch. The second stage is more important than the other two. The Hydrocarbon accumulation histories are obviously dissimilar in different regions. In western Sichuan Basin, the gas accumulation began at the deposition period of member 5 of Xujiahe Formation, and mass accumulation occurred during the early Middle Jurassic up to the end of the Late Cretaceous. In central Sichuan Basin, the accumulation began at the early Late Jurassic, and the mass accumulation occurred from the middle Early Cretaceous till the end of the Late Cretaceous. In southern Sichuan Basin, the accumulation began at the middle Late Jurassic, and the mass accumulation occurred from the middle of the Late Cretaceous to the end of the Later Cretaceous. The accumulation history of the western Sichuan Basin is the earliest, and the southern Sichuan Basin is the latest. This paper will help to understand the accumulation process, accumulation mechanism, and gas reservoir distribution of the Triassic gas reservoirs in the Sichuan Basin better. Meanwhile, it is found that the authigenic illite in the Upper Triassic formation of Sichuan Basin origin of deep-burial and its dating is a record of the later accumulation. This suggests that the illite dating needs to fully consider illite origin; otherwise the dating results may not accurately reflect the hydrocarbon accumulation history.