Impact of sedimentology, diagenesis, and solid bitumen on the development of a tight gas grainstone reservoir in the Feixianguan Formation, Jiannan area, China: Implications for gas exploration in tight carbonate reservoirs

Abstract Tight gas grainstone reservoirs in the third member of the Feixianguan Formation, Jiannan area, evolved from a paleo-oil accumulation as evidenced from abundant solid reservoir bitumen. Porosity evolution of the grainstones was studied by evaluating relative influences of sedimentology, diagenesis, and solid bitumen formed during cracking of accumulated oils. Grainstones exhibited regional-distinct effectiveness for paleo-oil and present-gas accumulations during oil window and subsequent gas window diagenesis. In the southern zone where grainstones were not subjected to subaerial exposure and meteoric diagenesis in the early diagenetic stage, paleoporosity at the time of oil charge was mainly controlled by sedimentologic factors (e.g., grain size, sorting, and grain type), and paleo-oil reservoirs only occurred in the ooid-dominated grainstones with good sorting and coarse grain size. In contrast, in the northern zone meteoric diagenesis was responsible for paleoporosity preservation due to the early mineral stabilization of grains and meteoric calcite cementation, which caused grainstones greater resistance to compaction. Hence, most of the grainstones in the northern zone, regardless of textural variables, formed effective reservoirs for paleo-oil accumulation. As the oil cracked to gas with increasing depth and temperature during the late oil window and initial gas window, solid bitumen occluded reservoir pores to varying degrees and caused paleo-oil reservoirs to be significantly heterogeneous or completely ineffective for gas accumulation. In contrast, most grainstones that were once ineffective oil reservoirs transformed into effective gas reservoirs due to no or minor influence of solid bitumen precipitation. The model of reservoir transformation development of tight grainstones provides a plausible explanation for key observations concerning the diagenetic and distribution differences between paleo-oil and present-gas reservoirs. It is useful in predicting the distribution of potential reservoirs in carbonate strata in future exploration.