PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Volume 45, Issue 6, December 2018

Online English edition of the Chinese language journal

Cite this article as: PETROL. EXPLOR. DEVELOP., 2018, 45(6): 1166–1176. RESEARCH PAPER

Development and exploration practice of the concept of

hydrocarbon accumulation in rifted-basin troughs: A case
study of Paleogene Kongdian Formation in Cangdong sag,
Bohai Bay Basin
ZHAO Xianzheng*, ZHOU Lihong, PU Xiugang, JIN Fengming, JIANG Wenya, XIAO Dunqing, HAN
Wenzhong, SHI Zhannan
PetroChina Dagang Oilfield Company, Tianjin 300280, China

Abstract: Based on the merged 3D seismic data, well logging, formation testing, analysis and testing data, the structural evolution,
sedimentary reservoirs, thermal evolution of source rocks were investigated of Paleogene Kongdian Formation in the trough area of Cangdong
sag, Bohai Bay Basin. A conventional-unconventional hydrocarbon accumulation pattern in the trough area of rifted basin was revealed.
The reservoir forming elements in the trough area of Cangdong sag have a zonation feature in terms of reservoirs and source rocks. There are
two types of reservoir forming models, primary trough and reformed trough. The formation and evolution of trough controlled the orderly
distribution of conventional oil to unconventional oil in the trough. Particularly, structural reservoirs occur in the upper part of the trough,
stratigraphic-lithologic reservoirs are likely to form in the delta front deposits at the outer ring of trough, the middle ring transitional belt
is the favorable site for tight oil reservoirs, while the fine grain deposits zone in the inner ring is shale oil and gas exploration area. The
study has pointed out the new domains and directions for searching reserves in the secondary exploration of mature oilfields.

Key words: rifted basin; trough hydrocarbon accumulation; stratigraphic-lithologic reservoir; shale oil; orderly accumulation; Bohai
Bay Basin; Cangdong sag; Paleogene Kongdian Formation

Introduction carbon accumulation conditions and enrichment rules in

The rifted basin is one important type of petroliferous ba-
sins in China, and the Bohai Bay Basin is a typical representa-
tive of this kind of basin. The basin is characterized by sin-
gle-rift or dual-rift slope structures, and the middle and low
parts of the slope and the deep rifted areas (generally corre-
sponding to the trough during sedimentation) account for
more than 60% of the slope. After more than 50 years of
large-scale exploration and exploitation, China’s continental
oil and gas fields have all entered middle-late stage of explo-
ration, naturally, it is increasingly difficult to find large scale
oil and gas fields in the shallow positive structural belts there,
and the exploration is gradually turning to negative structures
such as troughs deeply buried, thus, the trough has become a
hot spot of hydrocarbon exploration and research[18]. The
trough refers to a secondary negative structural unit separated
by local bulges within a sedimentary sag and is the secondary
depocenter within the sag. Based on summarizing the hydro-
troughs of the Jizhong depression and the Erlian basin, the
hydrocarbon accumulation rules of “multi-factors controlling
sand body distribution, dominant hydrocarbon accumulation,
three-principal factors controlling hydrocarbon enrichment,
and symbiotic complementarity of multi-type oil and gas res-
ervoirs” in the trough have been put forward[45], which have
played a guiding role in discovering hundreds of millions of
tons of reserves in the trough areas of the rifted basin in the
Huabei Oilfield. Statistics shows that in the past 10 years, of
the controlled and predicted reserves newly added annually,
reserves in stratigraphic-lithologic oil and gas reservoirs ac-
count for more than 60% in the oil-rich troughs of the Bohai
Bay Basin. CNPC has found hundreds of millions of tons of
reserves in the slope belts in the troughs such as Qibei,
Chengbei, Wen'an, etc., and SINOPEC has found 10 oil and
gas fields in the northern steep slope of the Dongying sag,
with proven reserves of 11.2×108 t. Exploration of beach-bar
sandstone reservoirs in gentle slopes is fruitful too, with re-

Received date: 29 Jul. 2018; Revised date: 11 Sep. 2018.

* Corresponding author. E-mail: xzzhao@petrochina.com.cn
Foundation item: Supported by the China National Science and Technology Major Project (2016ZX05006-005); PetroChina Science and Technology Major Project
(2018E-11).
Copyright © 2018, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, PetroChina. Publishing Services provided by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Com-
munications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
 ZHAO Xianzheng et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2018, 45(6): 1166–1176
serves of 2.25×108 t proved cumulatively to date. Taking the
second member of the Paleogene Kongdian Formation of the
Cangdong sag, the Bohai Bay Basin (hereinafter referred to as
Kong-2 Member, Ek2) as an example, this study has probed
further into the distribution and enrichment pattern of oil and
gas reservoirs in the trough areas of rifted basins, in the hope
to provide guidance for hydrocarbon exploration.
1. Formation and evolution of Cangdong sag
Located in the middle of the Bohai Bay Basin, the Cang-
dong sag has an exploration area of 1 800 km2 and is one of
“small and high production” oil-rich sags in the Bohai Bay
Basin. After more than 40 years of exploration, 9 sets of hy-
drocarbon-bearing strata in the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Ce-
nozoic have been discovered, with cumulative proven oil re-
serves of 4.08×108 t and proven gas reserves of 10.3×108 m3.
During sedimentation of Ek2, the lake basin of Cangdong sag
covered a large area, and the trough accounted for more than
85% of the sag (Fig. 1).
The pro-type trough of Ek2 has undergone differential
transformation in the late stage. Before Ek2 sedimentation, the
Cangdong sag was in depression stage with an original lake
basin area of 2 000 km2, when nearly 1 000 m thick stratum of
the third member of the Kongdian Formation (hereinafter
referred to as Kong-3 Member, Ek3) and Ek2 deposited.
Since the sedimentation of the first member of the Kongdian
Formation (hereinafter referred to as Kong-1 Member, Ek1),
the lake basin evolution transited from depression to rift stage,
when the fault activities in the northern and southern parts of
the trough were quite different[910]. During the superposition
of the lake basin in two stages in the northern part of the
Cangdong sag, the early lake basin edge was denuded, and the
basin center was inversed to form the Kongdian structural belt,
experiencing strong reconstruction. Thus, during sedimenta-
tion of Ek2, the remaining lake basin area was only 60% of the
prototype basin, the trough had features of inverse slope
Fig. 1. Location of the Cangdong sag and paleo-geomorphology
of Ek2.
 1167 
structure (A-A' profile of Fig. 2), which is called the Kongxi
slope on the west side and the Kongdong slope on the east
side. The superposition of the lake basins in the two stages
was relatively stable in the southern part of the Cangdong sag.
After sedimentation of Ek2, the slope inherited the shape be-
fore, showing features of inherited slope (see B-B' profile of
Fig. 2), which is called the Nanpi slope.
Both profiles of inversed and inherited slopes are composed
of high, middle and low belts[7] (Fig. 2). The high slope belt,
shallow in burial depth, is generally located at the edge or the
internal uplift area of the trough, where the source rock is in
an immature stage, and the reservoirs are mostly structural or
stratigraphic ones. The middle slope is in the middle ring zone,
where the organic matter is in the mature stage, and the reser-
voirs are largely lithologic or tight oil ones. The low slope is
located in the trough center with deep burial depth, where
organic matter has entered massive oil generation stage and
produced some gas, so it is a favorable area for searching tight
oil and shale oil.
2. Hydrocarbon accumulation characteristics in
the trough of the Cangdong sag
Controlled by Ek2 trough, an oil-bearing system with Ek2 as
the source rock and multiple sets of Kongdian Formation as
reservoirs has formed.
2.1. Sedimentation and reservoir differentiation
characteristics
Previous studies[1112] show that the Kongdian Formation is
the sediment of the Paleogene lake basin during early rift and
is a complete second-order sedimentary sequence, which can
be subdivided into 4 third-order sequences. Among them, Ek2
is the sediment during lake expansion and is a complete
third-order sequence, which can be subdivided into 4 fourth-
order sequences (SQEk24-SQEk21) from bottom-up. In this
sedimentary period, the Cangdong sag was a closed lake basin,
where 10 sub-provenance corresponding to 10 delta lobe bod-
ies developed around the periphery of the lake basin, due to
the influence of four sediment provenances, the Kongdian
bulge, the Cangxian uplift, the Dongguang bulge and the Xu-
hei bulge[12]. Because of the difference in the trough structure
and the range of different delta lobe bodies, the sedimentary
facies vary regularly from the lake basin edge to the lake ba-
sin center, forming inner, outer and middle zones of sediments
and reservoirs (Fig. 3).
In the outer ring of the trough (zone A), the medium-fine
sand of delta plain and delta front subfacies deposited, with an
average sandstone-formation ratio of more than 30%. The
sandstone is dominated by thick layers, with the average sin-
gle layer thickness of more than 2 m. The mudstone is mostly
purple-grey and has no hydrocarbon generation conditions.
The middle ring (B zone) in the trough area is the transition
zone of conventional-tight reservoirs dominated by siltstone-
fine sandstone-silty mudstone and calcitic dolomite, with an
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Fig. 2. Main structure types of troughs in the rifted basin (location of the section is shown in Fig. 1). OOrdovician; C-PCar-
boniferous-Permian; Ek1—the first member of Paleocene Kongdian Formation; Ek1s upper submember of Ek1; Ek1x—lower submem-
ber of Ek1; Ek2—the second member of Paleocene Kongdian Formation; Ek3—the third member of Paleocene Kongdian Formation;
EsPaleocene Shahejie Formation; NgNeogene Guantao Formation; MzMesozoic.

average sandstone-formation ratio of 5%30%. The sandstone is
dominated by thin interbeds, with an average single layer thick-
ness of less than 2 m. The mudstone is largely gray-dark gray
of delta front, gravity flow and calcific dolomite bay facies.
The dark mudstone has medium thickness and TOC of 0.5%
2.0%, showing favorable hydrocarbon generation conditions.
The inner ring (zone C) in the trough area is dominated by
fore-delta and semi-deep lake facies, and silty mudstone, limy
dolomite, muddy limy dolomite, limy dolomitic mudstone,
and mudstone-shale etc. mixed fine-grain rock, with an aver-
age sandstone-formation ratio of less than 5%. There are few
sandstone layers, and the sand clasts come mixing with others.
The dark mudstone has large thickness, TOC of more than 2%,
and the excellent hydrocarbon generation conditions. The
middle and inner zones constitute the fine-grained sedimen-
tary facies of Ek2[1215]. The correspondence between zoning
of the trough and the slope shows that the inherited slope is
mostly controlled by the convex boundary, and the high, mid-
dle and low slopes correspond to the outer, middle and inner
zone of the trough. The reformed slope is controlled by the
boundary fault. Due to the later structural inversion, the orig-
inal outer, middle and inner rings become low, middle and
high slope belts. These differences cause the differences in
hydrocarbon accumulation patterns and reservoir distribution
sequences in different slope belts.
2.2. Distribution and evolution characteristics of
hydrocarbon source rocks
During Ek2 sedimentation, the Cangdong sag was a closed
 1168 
lake basin in a salinizing and reducing sedimentary environ-
ment. A high-abundance high-quality source rock dominated
by fine-grained sedimentary rock deposited during the maxi-
mum lake flood period. The source rock is dominated by dark
gray block mudstone and oil shale with abundant lamellation,
which is widely distributed in the sedimentary trough with a
maximum thickness more than 400 m. Affected by the late
transformation of the lake basin, the source rock at the edge of
the trough is denuded, showing a trend of thinning along the
paleo-trough rings. The terrigenous nutrients input led to
flourish of organisms, and booming of the ancient productiv-
ity of the lake basin, giving rise to organic matter of largely
type I and II1. In addition, the humic kerogen accounts for
about 20%, reflecting that the terrigenous organic matter is
also an important part of the parent material source[16]. The
Ek2 source rocks of different structural types have different
organic matter abundance. The blocky dark mudstone has
TOC generally above 2%, on average 3.07%, and the oil shale
with abundant lamellation has TOC of more than 3%, on av-
erage 4.87% (Table 1). The source rock in the trough center
has the highest organic matter abundance, higher soluble hy-
drocarbon content, and (S1+S2) above 30 mg/g, meeting the
standard of high quality source rock. Drilling data reveals that
Ro of Ek2 source rock is generally 0.50%0.92%. Basin simu-
lation shows that the source rock in the deepest buried area is
more than 1.3% in Ro at present, produces oil primarily. It can
be seen from the kerogen swelling heat simulation experiment
that when Ro is less than 0.5%, a small amount of low-ma-
turity oil is generated, most of which is adsorbed or dissolved
 ZHAO Xianzheng et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2018, 45(6): 1166–1176

Fig. 3. Sedimentary system of Ek2 in the Cangdong sag.

in the kerogen network. As the kerogen adsorption reaches the granular pores of mineral particles and forms the main part of
saturation state, the excess hydrocarbon separates from the shale oil[1718]. Therefore, the Ek2 source rock has the charac-
kerogen and moves to the adjacent clay micro-cracks and inter- teristics of concentrated distribution, highly-efficient evolu-
 1169 
 ZHAO Xianzheng et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2018, 45(6): 1166–1176

Table 1. Organic matter abundance of Ek2 source rocks in the Cangdong sag.
Lithology TOC/% (S1+S2)/(mgg1)
Blocky dark 0.148.41 0.0369.91
mudstone 3.07(195) 19.46(135)
2.329.23 1.2377.55
Oil shale
4.87(28) 36.59(27)
Note: The number in the numerator is the minimummaximum, the denominator is the average, and the value in parentheses is the number of samples.
tion and large hydrocarbon generation amount.
2.3. Characteristics of oil accumulation in the trough of
the Cangdong sag
Influenced by the late tectonic movement in the Bohai Bay
Basin, the prototype trough in the Cangdong sag settled dif-
ferentially, and the shale in the central uplift belt is uplifted,
and ended with lower maturity. The source rock in the trough
subsiding late has deeper burial depth, high thermal evolution,
Ro generally between 0.7%1.1%, and is in massive oil gen-
eration stage. The oil and gas generated by Ek2 retain in situ
or migrate, and most of them is retained in the source rock in
the form of residual oil and gas. Calculation of the evolution
degree and hydrocarbon generation and discharge shows that
the residual hydrocarbon in the entire trough area accounts for
more than 48% of the total hydrocarbon generation amount,
forming shale oil and tight oil. The discharged hydrocarbon
migrates in two ways: some hydrocarbon migrated laterally
along the interconnected sand bodies at the edge of the trough,
forming stratigraphic-lithologic reservoirs and tectonic reser-
voirs at the edge of the trough. Some hydrocarbon moved
along the oil-origin faults, forming structural reservoirs in the
upper part of the trough region. In addition to the migration
mode, the difference in the transport capacity of different
transport systems plays an important role in controlling the
hydrocarbon migration characteristics. Taking the fault trans-
port system as an example, the main oil-source faults in the
Cangdong sag are distributed on the second-order structural
belt, with a fault growth index (the ratio of the downthrown
Bitumen “A”/% Total hydrocarbon/106 Comprehensive evaluation
0.0031.410 14.2310 332.44
High quality source rock
0.350(93) 2 106.44(89)
0.052.79 396.3614 278.81
High quality source rock
0.63(14) 3 448.43(13)
thickness of the fault to the upthrow thickness, the greater the
value is, the stronger the fault activity) of above 1.5[19], which
is conducive to the upward migration of oil and gas into the
conventional oil accumulation zone in the upper part of the
trough area. For example, the Kongdian structural belt with
the largest reservoir scale discovered is in the area with the
highest fracture activity intensity. In contrast, in the central
trough, the fault growth index is small, and the fault activity is
weak, which is good for the preservation of shale oil.
3. Orderly accumulation of conventional and
unconventional oil and gas in the trough
Regarding classification of oil and gas reservoirs, most resear-
chers tend to divide oil and gas reservoirs into two categories:
conventional and unconventional. The conventional oil and
gas reservoirs are divided into structural and lithologic ones.
The unconventional oil and gas in a narrow sense includes
tight oil and shale oil, etc.[2024] According to the hydrocarbon
generation and expulsion characteristics and hydrocarbon
migration and accumulation laws of the source rocks in the
Cangdong sag, the prototype troughs (including slopes) as com-
plete petroleum systems, have a series of oil and gas reser-
voirs in orderly distribution, i.e. the complete sequence of tec-
tonic, stratigraphic-lithologic, tight oil, shale oil reservoirs from
the outer-source to the inner-source (Fig. 4). There are some
differences in the accumulation sequence of the inner ring
zone of the reformed trough. In the late stage, the original
trough center was inversed and uplifted, so the source rock
there has low evolution degree and no hydrocarbon generation

Fig. 4. Orderly accumulation model of conventional-unconventional oil and gas in the Kongdian Formation of Cangdong sag (The loca-
tion of the section is shown in Fig. 1).
 1170 
 ZHAO Xianzheng et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2018, 45(6): 1166–1176
capacity. The hydrocarbon generation center is transferred to
the middle ring of sedimentary trough center, so the inner ring
of the reformed trough has relative under developed tight oil
and shale reservoirs.
3.1. Formation of complex fault block reservoirs above
the source rock
The northern part of the prototype trough was transformed
and uplifted, forming the Kongdian structural belt. The main
faults and overall basic structural pattern in this area took
shape during fault depression period when the upper Ek1-
Shahejie Formation deposited, and this period is also the time
that traps in the target strata came into being. After sedimenta-
tion of the Neogene Guantao Formation and Minghuazhen
Formation, the Ek2 source rocks gradually matured and started
to generate hydrocarbons massively. The oil and gas migrated
along main faults formed in the early stage and accumulated
in the reverse drag anticlines, extrusion anticlines, slump anti-
clines, faulted noses and fault block traps in contact with the
oil source faults, forming five types of structural reservoirs
(Fig. 5). Therefore, the configuration between large faults and
favorable sand bodies controls oil and gas enrichment. Taking
the Wangguantun oilfield as an example, there are a series of
faulted-nose or reverse drag anticlines along the Xuxi fault
and its branch faults. The lower Ek2 has high-quality source
rock in the stage of massive hydrocarbon generation and ex-
pulsion, and the Xuxi fault with stronger activity intensity acts
as the main channel for upward migration of oil and gas, and
the oil and gas accumulate in the reverse drag anticlines or
faulted noses of upper Ek1.
3.2. Stratigraphic-lithologic hydrocarbon accumulation
model beside the source rock
During sedimentation of Ek2, the sediment material was
Fig. 5. Types of complex fault block reservoirs in Cangdong sag.
 1171 
transported into the basin at high intensity from the prove-
nances outside the basin, forming a sedimentary system from
delta plain to delta front. Thus the sand body shows a thinning
trend from the basin edge to the basin center, and the middle
ring zone is the site lithologic pinchout occurs. The outer ring
zone of the inherited trough, i.e. the high slope is outside the
range of effective source rock of Ek2 and has poor accumula-
tion conditions on the whole. The middle slope is in the main
sand body area of braided river delta front, with abundant
underwater branch channel and mouth bar sand bodies and
good reservoir properties. Here, the multi-provenance sand
bodies of Ek2 are interbedded with oil source rocks, favorable
for self-generation and self-accumulation and near source
rock charging of hydrocarbon. Moreover, the middle slope is
close to Ek2 lake basin center and is on the direction of hy-
drocarbon migration, so it is the favorable site for forming
stratigraphic-lithologic reservoirs. In addition, in the northern
part of the Cangdong sag, the inner ring zone of the sedimen-
tary trough formed the Kongdian structural belt at the end of
Ek2 sedimentation, where the downward pinchout sand body
is reversed into the upward pinchout sand body, thus upward
pinchout lithologic traps could exist there, making it possible
to form lithologic reservoirs in the original inner ring (Fig. 6).
3.3. Near source-inside source lithologic-tight oil
accumulation model
The middle ring of the sedimentary trough is a transitional
facies belt, where the dark shale, gray dolomite and sandstone
interbed with each other. The carbonate and sandstone reser-
voirs here are relatively tight and have the porosity generally
between 4% and 7% and fairly abundant fractures, and have
certain oil and gas storage capacity. The dark shale of the
middle ring, with high organic matter abundance, has gener-
ally entered the stage of massive hydrocarbon generation and
expulsion. The generated oil and gas may migrate short dis-
tance to the closely contacted tight reservoirs, thus forming
tight sandstone oil or tight gray dolomite oil reservoirs[2530].
According to source-reservoir combinations, the reservoirs
can be divided into layered cake, interbed and sandwich types
(Fig. 7).
3.4. Shale oil enrichment model inside the source rock
The inner ring of the sedimentary trough is dominated by
fine-grained sedimentary rocks and is characterized by shale
lithology. According to rock composition analysis and micro-
scopic identification, the fine-grained sedimentary shale can
be subdivided into thick layered gray dolomite, thick layered
felsic shale, lamellar mixed sedimentary rock and thin layered
gray dolomite, which all have good hydrocarbon generation
capacity and certain storage capacity, so typical source-res-
ervoir- in-one shale oil pool can be formed there. Through
normalized evaluation of TOC (total organic carbon content),
S1 (free hydrocarbon content), porosity, permeability, brittle
mineral content, oil test results and semi- quantitative pa-
rameters such as stratigraphic structure and fluorescence
 ZHAO Xianzheng et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2018, 45(6): 1166–1176

Fig. 6. Stratigraphic-lithologic hydrocarbon accumulation model beside the source rock in the inversion trough of the Cangdong sag
(The location of the section is shown in Fig. 1).

Fig. 7. Schematic of main types of tight oil reservoirs in the Cangdong sag.

display level, it can be seen that the laminar mixed sedimen-
tary rock model with the most developed organic matter lam-
inae is the most favorable source-reservoir combination model,
followed by the thin layered gray dolomite model. The shale
oil enrichment is closely related to the evolution degree of
source rock, so the favorable sweet spot zone is further
divided into Type I and Type II sweet spots with the organic
maturity of 0.8% as the bound. It should be noted that due to
late elevation, the north part of the inner ring has low evolu-
tion degree and poor hydrocarbon generation capacity, so the
area favorable for shale oil enrichment takes on “C” shape,
with an area of 640 km2 (Fig. 8).
3.5. Hydrocarbon enrichment rules in the trough
The effective source rocks of Ek2 in the Cangdong sag are
distributed around the deep troughs, and the hydrocarbons

 1172 
 ZHAO Xianzheng et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2018, 45(6): 1166–1176

Fig. 8. Evaluation of favorable shale oil area in the fine-grained zone of the inner ring of Ek2 in the Cangdong sag.

might transport laterally and vertically from the source rocks
to the reservoirs in circle-layered pattern, forming a cir-
cle-layered oil and gas accumulation model. On the plane, the
shale oil, tight oil, stratigraphic-lithologic reservoirs and
structural reservoirs are distributed orderly in ring shape in
Ek2[31]. The inner ring is the area of source rock in conven-
tional sense, with few sandbodies, where a large amount of oil
is retained in the high-quality source rocks, especially the
shale with Ro of 0.5%1.3%. The middle ring of Ek2 is the
favorable site for lithologic oil reservoirs and tight oil reser-
voirs. The high-quality source rock and upward pinchout lith-
lithologic traps combine to form lithologic reservoirs, and the
high-quality source rocks and tight reservoirs make up tight
oil reservoirs. The lithologic oil reservoirs and tight oil reser-
voirs are “complementary”. The outer ring mainly has strati-
graphic lithologic reservoirs and structural reservoirs, this ring
was denuded in later stage, so stratigraphic traps or the faulted
nose structures against large faults may come about. As the
outer ring is far away from the source rocks, only the traps on
oil migration pathways can become pools. The reservoirs dis-
covered so far are distributed in the Shenüsi faulted-nose belt
and the high part of the Kongdong slope.

 1173 
 ZHAO Xianzheng et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2018, 45(6): 1166–1176
Vertically, structural reservoirs, lithologic reservoirs and
shale oil reservoirs (tight oil reservoirs) are distributed orderly
in the trough. The structural reservoirs such as faulted-noses,
fault blocks, etc. along oil source fault occur in the upper part
of Ek1 in the trough. The shale oil occurs mostly within the
trough. The tight sandstone oil reservoirs occur in the Ek22
and Ek24 oil groups in the transition zone. The tight oil reser-
voirs dominated by gray dolomite occur in the lower part of
Ek23 and the Ek21 oil groups. The conventional struc-
tural-lithologic oil reservoirs exist in the middle and high
parts of the trough.
4. Practices of conventional-unconventional oil
and gas exploration
In Cangdong sag, a set of high-quality source rock develops
around the Ek2 sedimentary trough. Controlled by the thermal
evolution of the source rock and the combination of conven-
tional and unconventional reservoirs, structural reservoirs,
stratigraphic-lithologic oil reservoirs and tight oil/shale oil are
distributed orderly spatially. Therefore, the exploration of
different reservoir types in different parts around the hydro-
carbon generation trough is an inevitable choice to the success
of exploration.
4.1. Exploration of structural oil and gas reservoirs above
the source rock
The upper part of the trough in the Cangdong sag is domi-
nated by Ek1. Most structural belts are composed of multiple
fault blocks intersected by faults. In addition, there are several
reservoir layers and the reservoirs change fast laterally, so the
oil and gas enrichment is controlled by faults connecting with
source rock and favorable sand bodies. There are three sets of
fault systems in the central structural belt, connecting with
source rock and experiencing strong activity, they controlled
the migration of oil and gas. The reservoirs controlled by the
fault include structural oil reservoirs, lithologic oil reservoirs,
and stratigraphic-lithologic reservoirs. To date, Ek1 has proven
oil geological reserves of 2.64×108 t, with the proven rate of
over 64%. Through fine characterization of the structure and
sand body, and overall evaluation, the proven oil reserves of
2 061.2×104 t were found recently in Xiaoji, and 80 new
wells are to be drilled, with the expected productivity of
25.05×104 t. Xiaoji area becomes the block with the highest
newly added production in Dagang Oilfield. Similarly, break-
throughs have been made in the exploration of the Qikou de-
pression, validating that the structural belts above source
rocks in oil-rich troughs still have large exploration potentials.
4.2. Exploration of stratigraphic-lithologic reservoirs
beside the source rocks
In recent years, the superimposed braided river delta sand
bodies of multiple-sedimentary stages with continuous distri-
bution and favorable reservoir properties in the east, west and
south provenance directions of Ek2 have been identified in the
 1174 
Nanpi slope. The accumulation model of large-scale continu-
ous oil-bearing lithologic reservoirs within the effective
source rock range has been established. Based on this, the fine
sand body characterization and reservoir forecast were carried
out for sand bodies of different provenances in the Nanpi
slope. The eastern and western sandbody belts were identified,
which have a favorable sand body area of 196 km2 and re-
sources of 13 225×104 t combined, making them important
targets for increasing reserves. In the past two years, 10 ex-
ploration wells have been drilled, of which 8 have obtained
industrial oil production, adding oil geological reserves of
5 507×104 t, demonstrating large exploration potential.
4.3. Exploration of lithologic-tight oil reservoirs near and
within the source rock
Based on the continuous coring and laboratory analysis of
the whole section of Ek2, the criterion of identifying the tight
sandstone sweet spot has been established. Four wells in the
Guanxi area were drilled, targeting at Ek22 and Ek24 tight
sandstones, and all of them has tapped industrial oil flow. The
“sweet spot” has a depth of 3 3003 800 m and a favorable
area of 120 km2. Tight sandstone of 3 224.23 237.2 m in
Ek22 top in Well G1608 was tested, with 5 mm nozzle, the
daily oil production of 21.3 t and cumulative oil production of
80.96 t was obtained, showing promising exploration pros-
pects of Ek2 sand tight oil reservoirs.
4.4. Resource potential and exploration prospects of
shale oil within the source rock
The fine-grained sedimentary rocks are distributed stably
and continuously in the main area of Ek2 lake basin of the
Cangdong sag. Through the evaluation and prediction of
sweet spot distribution, Guandong and Gaunxi shale oil sweet
spot areas have been identified, and seven sweet spot intervals
have been identified vertically. Among them, four lithologic
combination models have been identified in Ek21 fine-grained
sedimentary rocks. The models of the thick felsic shale and
lamellar mixed rock are most conducive to shale oil enrich-
ment. In order to increase and effectively produce the reserves
of shale oil in this area, two horizontal wells were drilled in
Guandong area, and fractured with 40 000 m3 liquid and 1 300
m3 proppant [32]. So far, they have flown back for about 140
days, with flowback rate of above 25%, and the industrial oil
flow of nearly 40 tons/d each. According to the preliminary
analysis with the mass oil content method, the predicted re-
sources of the shale oil in the Ek2 of the Cangdong sag are
about 6.8×108t, the total technological recoverable reserves
are more than 5 000×104t, and the controlled and predicted
reserves of the two wells reaches 100×104 t. In addition, in
recent years, 13 vertical wells has tapped industrial oil flow in
this layer, confirming that Ek2 shale oil (a small part is the
tight oil accumulated after short-distance migration) is an
important replacement resource for increasing production and
reserves in the Cangdong sag.
 ZHAO Xianzheng et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2018, 45(6): 1166–1176
5. Conclusions
In the continental rifted basin, the trough (including slope)
controls the generation and distribution of oil and gas, and the
oil and gas distribution has obvious zoning characteristics
vertically and laterally. The oil and gas exploration around the
main body of the trough is the key to achieving sustainable
benefit in the mature exploration area. The trough of the
Cangdong sag has orderly distribution of conventional and
unconventional oil and gas reservoirs. Structural oil and gas
reservoirs occur in the upper part of the pro-type trough. The
delta front of outer ring zone is the favorable area for forming
stratigraphic-lithologic reservoirs. The middle ring is tight oil
sweet spot zone, and the inner ring with fine sedimentary fa-
cies is the sweet spot for shale oil exploration. The reformed
trough features center reversal, so the inner ring zone in this
kind of trough has no tight oil/shale oil sequence, but may has
large- scale structural reservoirs. The shale oil, tight oil, litho-
logic reservoirs and structural oil and gas reservoirs around
the troughs in the Cangdong sag are explored to different
degrees. Among them, the structural oil and gas reservoirs are
highly explored, and the shale and tight oil are explored at low
degree. The structural oil and gas reservoirs along main faults
are the main areas of increasing production and reserves.
Breakthroughs have been made in exploring tight and shale
oil in the main trough, so the main trough will be the major
replacement area in the next step exploration.
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