Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51

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Petroleum Research
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Full Length Article

Hydrocarbon accumulation conditions and key exploration and

development technologies for PL 19e3 oilfield
Yong'an Xue a, Yunhua Deng b, Deying Wang a, *, Haifeng Yang a, Dingyou Lv a, Kai Kang a
a
Tianjin Branch Company, China National Offshore Oil Co., Ltd., Tianjin, 300452, China
b
Research Institure Co.Ltd, China National Offshore Oil Co., Ltd., Beijing, 100028, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The PL 19e3 Oilfield is the only super-large monolithic oilfield with oil and gas reserves up to 1
109 t in
Received 26 April 2018 the Bohai Bay Basin, and it has been successfully developed. Exploration and development practices have
Received in revised form provided abundant data for analyzing formation conditions of this super-large oilfield. On the basis of the
31 October 2018
exploration and development history, fundamental reservoir features, and with available geological,
Accepted 9 November 2018
Available online 29 January 2019
geophysical and test data, the hydrocarbon accumulation conditions and key exploration & development
technologies of the PL 19e3 Oilfield were discussed. The key conditions for forming the super-large
Neogene oilfield include four aspects. Firstly, the oilfield is located at the high position of the uplift
Keywords:
PL 19e3
that contacts the brachy-axis of the multi-ridge slope in the biggest hydrocarbon-rich sag in the Bohai
Hydrocarbon accumulation conditions Bay Basin, thus it has sufficient hydrocarbon source and extremely superior hydrocarbon migration
Multiple composite reservoir-caprock condition. Secondly, the large-scale torsional anticlines which formed in the Neogene under the control
assemblages of the Tanlu strike-slipping movement provide sufficient storage spaces for oil and gas preservation.
Constant and intense charging of oil and gas Thirdly, the “multiple sets of composite reservoir-caprock assemblages” developing in the special
during later period shallow-water delta further contributes greatly to the effective storage space for oil and gas preservation.
Gas cloud zone Fourthly, due to the coupling of the uplift and strike slip in the neotectonic period, extensive faulting
Exploration and development technology
activities constantly released the pressure while the late period massive hydrocarbon expulsion of the
Bozhong took place at the same time, which assures the constant and intense charging of oil and gas. The
super-large PL 19e3 Oilfield was controlled by the coupling effects of all those special geologic factors. In
view of this oilfield's features (e.g. violently reformation caused by strike slip, and the special sedi-
mentary environment of shallow-water delta), some key practical technologies for exploration and
development have been developed. Such technologies include: the special prestack depth migration
processing for gas cloud zones, the prediction of thin interbed reservoirs based on high-precision
inversion of geologic model, the reservoir description for the shallow-water braided river delta, the
quantitative description for remaining oil in the commingled oil reservoirs with wide well spacing and
long well interval, and the well pattern adjustment for formations during high water cut period in the
complex fluvial-facies oilfields.
© 2019 Chinese Petroleum Society. Publishing Services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi. This is an open
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction Neogene exploration period after 1995, when the exploration

The Bohai Bay Basin is a typical Cenozoic rifting basin and the
Bohai sea area is a part of it. The 50 years exploration history of the
Bohai sea area can be divided into three periods: the buried-hill
exploration period, the Paleogene exploration period, and the
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: xueya@cnooc.com.cn (Y. Xue), dengyh@cnooc.com.cn
(Y. Deng), wangdy2@cnooc.com.cn (D. Wang), yanghf3@cnooc.com.cn (H. Yang),
lvdy@cnooc.com.cn (D. Lv), kangkai@cnooc.com.cn (K. Kang).
target was changed based on geology studies of the Bohai sea area.
A series of large Neogene oilfields have been discovered since then,
such as QHD 32e6 Oilfield, PL 19e3 Oilfield, BZ 25-1S Oilfield, CFD
11 oilfield group, BZ 34 oilfield group, BZ 28-2S Oilfield, BZ 8e4
Oilfield, and CFD 12e6 Oil filed (Fig. 1). The PL 19e3 Oilfield, located
on the Bonan low uplift in the southern Bohai sea area, is the
largest Neogene oilfield in the Bohai sea area or even the whole
Bohai Bay Basin, with nearly 1
109 t proved, probable and possible
(3P) reserves. The oilfield is characterized by small buried depth,
late hydrocarbon accumulation and large-scale reserves. It was

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ptlrs.2019.01.003
2096-2495/© 2019 Chinese Petroleum Society. Publishing Services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
30 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51

Fig. 1. Location of large Neogene oilfields in the Bohai sea area.

discovered in 1999, and experiences three major stages, i.e. the
oilfield discovery and evaluation stage, the progressive exploration
and development stage, and the extensive comprehensive adjust-
ment stage. After over a decade's exploration and development, its
proved reserve has increased from 0.34
109 t to 0.7
109 t and its
3P reserve has increased from about 0.5
109 t to 1
109 t. Its peak
annual production is about 8
106 t, thus, it is the major producing
oilfield in the Bohai sea area. Moreover, as the progressive explo-
ration continues, the reserve scale of PL19-3 oilfield will be over
1
109 t, making it the largest oilfield in sea areas of China, and the
second largest monolithic super-large anticline oilfield in China
(just after the Daqing placanticline oilfield).
There have been a lot of studies focusing on the Neogene hy-
drocarbon accumulation in the Bohai Bay Basin (Deng, 1999; Zhao
and Chi, 2000; Zhu et al., 2009; Zhao et al., 2015). Their findings
especially advanced in the fundamental petroleum geology (Jiang
et al., 2014; Deng et al., 2017), the fault-controlled reservoirs (Chi
and Zhao, 2000; Cai et al., 2001; Gong and Wang, 2001; Mi,
2001), the oil and gas distribution pattern (Xue et al., 2001;
Zhang et al., 2003, 2008), and the hydrocarbon accumulation
mechanism and its features (Hao et al., 2004; Deng, 2012; Zhou
et al., 2016). However, the particularity of the hydrocarbon accu-
mulation of the super-large PL 19e3 Oilfield has rarely been re-
ported, only Deng and Li (2001), and Guo and Liu (2001) did some
research on its fundamental petroleum geology and exploration
strategy when the oilfield was discovered. Why such a super-large
oilfield formed on the PL 19-3 structure? What has made its hy-
drocarbon accumulation condition unique, compared with other
Neogene oilfields? The answers can be significant for future
exploration in the study area. As the exploration and development
of this oilfield continued, abudant geologic data have been acquired
and new cognitions of the oilfield have been proposed. This paper
 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51 31

presents the exploration and development history, the funda-
mental geology, new geologic cognitions, and key exploration and
development technologies of the PL 19e3 oilfield, in order to pro-
vide useful reference for future oil and gas exploration and
production.
2. Exploration and development history
The oil and gas exploration of the PL 19e3 Oilfield and its vi-
cinity started from the late-1960s. Its exploration and development
history can be briefly divided into four stages: the early evaluation
stage, the oilfield discovery stage, the progressive exploration and
development stage, and the extensive comprehensive adjustment
stage (Table 1).
2.1. The early evaluation stage (1967e1994)
In the early stage, the magnetic exploration (1:100000) was
completed in the Bohai sea area, and the 2D seismic reconnaissance
with 2 km
2 km grid was carried out in the 1980s. Afterwards, the
morphology and the trap scale of the PL 19-3 structure were pre-
liminarily depictured, and the prospective resources were pre-
dicted. No high-quality deep seismic data were acquired due to
limited seismic techniques, resulting in two different cognitions on
the adjacent Bozhong sag, i.e., “thick strata and thin source rocks”,
and “thick strata and thick source rocks”, which directly affected
the prediction of exploration potential (Deng and Li, 2001). More-
over, the poor quality of seismic data induced a viewpoint that the
PL 19-3 structure was a small fault-block structure, and was
violently reformed by the Tanlu strike-slip. In the mid-1990s, after a
comprehensive evaluation on the petroleum geology of the Bonan
low uplift, it was confirmed that the PL 19-3 structure had a huge
potential of hydrocarbon, providing a firm support to oil and gas
exploration.
2.2. The oilfield discovery stage (1995e2001)
In December 1994, CNOOC signed an oil contract with the
Phillips Petroleum Company (Asia) about the Bohai 11/05 block in
China. Since 1995, the two companies cooperated to conduct 2D
long offset and 3D seismic acquisition, processing and interpreta-
tion of this block, and for the first time the Bozhong sag was
revealed to be an inherited sag with the Paleogene source rocks up
to 300e6000 m thick, indicating favorable hydrocarbon accumu-
lation conditions and great exploration potential (Deng and Li,
2001). From 1995 to 1998, more oil and gas fields (e.g. QHD 32e6
and BZ 25e1) were discovered by drillings around the Bozhong sag,
which proved that the Bozhong sag was a hydrocarbon-rich sag and
the exploration strategy of “explorating the edge and uplift of the
determined sag” was scientific and successful (Deng and Li, 2001).
Under this background, based on the reinterpretation of 3D seismic
data, the PL 19-3 structure was considered as a large faulted anti-
cline adjacent to the hydrocarbon-rich sag, suggesting superior
hydrocarbon accumulation conditions. The Well PL 19-3-1 drilled
in 1999 showed 147.2 m interpretated oil layers in the lower
member of the Minghuazhen Formation and Guantao Formation of
Neogene, leading to the discovery of the PL 19e3 Oilfield. Subse-
quently, the drilling and testing of 6 evaluation wells confirmed
that the PL 19e3 Oilfield was a large offshore oilfield with hundreds
of millions of tonnes of reserves. The discovery of the super-large PL
19e3 Oilfield provides two valuable enlightenments for oil pros-
pectors. Firstly, it verifies again that new techniques and new data
can contribute new cognitions and thus new discoveries, which is
an inexorable law for oil and gas exploration. Secondly, the explo-
ration in the Bohai sea area used to target buried hills and Paleo-
gene strata with reference to onshore operations, and besides some
discoveries, no essential breakthroughs was achieved. It is the
targeting Neogene strata strategy that leads to the continuous
discoveries of oilfields, emphasizing the importance of adventurous
exploration strategy for new fields.
2.3. The progressive exploration and development stage
(2001e2011)
The PL 19e3 Oilfield can be divided into three blocks (Fig. 2): the
PL 19-3 main block, the PL 25-6 block and the PL 19-9 block. The
oilfield was characterized by its large oil bearing area, large re-
serves and complex fault blocks. In consideration of the exploration
and development risk, progressive evaluation and development
were adopted in this oilfield. And as more drilling data were ac-
quired, the structure was better determined, and the overall
geologic features and hydrocarbon accumulation law in this oilfield
were well understood. Moreover, the reserve of this oilfield was
declared, developed and adjusted at the same time.
The progressive evaluation and development can be divided
into four phases:
(1) Phase I (Well 1 and 2 blocks in the PL 19-3 main block). The
reserve evaluation and declaration as well as the develop-
ment feasibility study were completed in May 2000. The

Table 1
Division of exploration and development stages of PL 19e3 Oilfield showing that its exploration and development history can be briefly divided into the early evaluation stage,
the oilfield discovery stage, the progressive exploration and development stage, and the extensive comprehensive adjustment stage.

Stage Year Major work

Early evaluation 1967e1994 Magnetic exploration (1:100000);

2D seismic survey with 2 km
2 km grid;
2D interpretation and mapping, composite geology analysis;
Favorable targets determined by regional composite geology evaluation.
Oilfield discovery 1995e2001 2D long offset and 3D seismic acquisition, processing and interpretation in Bozhong sag;
Huge hydrocarbon generation potential in Bozhong sag confirmed by regional geology analysis;
Oil and gas discovery obtained by drilling of one well; six appraisal wells to initially finish exploration evaluation.
Progressive exploration 2001e2011 Reserves evaluation and declaration, design, review and implementation of development plan for PL 19-3-1 and 19-3-2 blocks;
and development Reserves evaluation and declaration, and design, review and implementation of development plan for Phase II in PL 19e3 (Well 4
block, graben block, Well 5 block, wedge block, Well 8 block, Well 6 block and Well 7 block);
Progressive extension around the PL 19-3 main block, especially reserves evaluation and declaration, and design, review and
implementation of development plan for PL 19e9 and PL 25-6 blocks;
Several rounds of reserves re-estimation.
Composite adjustment 2012-present Analysis of problems in development and production;
Development strategy research on division of development layer series, improvement of injector-producer pattern, and
enhancement of producing reserves.
32 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51
Fig. 2. Structure characteristics of PL 19e3 Oilfield showing that the PL 19e3 Oilfield
can be divided into the PL 19-3 main block, the PL 25-6 block and the PL 19-9 block.
basical proved original oil in place (OOIP) is 0.15
109 t. The
two blocks were formally put into production in 2002.
(2) Phase II (Well 4 block, graben block, Well 5 block, the wedge
block, Well 8 block, Well 6 block and Well 7 block in the PL
19-3 main block). Reserve evaluation and comprehensive
development were carried out for these seven blocks. The
declaration and evaluation of reserves were finished in 2004,
and the new proved crude oil geological reserve is
190
106 t. The overall development plan (ODP) was
approved by National Development and Reform Commission
(NDRC) in January 2005. The development plan for Phase II
was fully implemented in 2011.
(3) Phase III. Along with the progressive exploration, continuous
exploration around the main block of the oilfield was
expanded. The reserve evaluation of a new 25-6 block in the
southeast of the main block of the oilfield was completed in
June 2004, with new proved oil geological reserve of
13
106 t. This block was put into production in January
2010. The reserve evaluation of another new 19-9 block in
the northeast of the main block of the oilfield was completed
in June 2007, with new proved oil geological reserve of
16
106 t. This block was put into production in December
2009.
(4) Phase IV. Based on abundant data of drilling, core, testing,
sampling, production performance and seismic survey ob-
tained during the continuous evaluation process, several
rounds of reserve re-estimation were conducted for the
developed blocks. Up to now, the PL 19-3 main block has total
proved OOIP of 530
106 t, and dissolved gas geological
reserve of 16
109 m3; the 19-9 block has total proved OOIP
of 52
106 t, and the 25-6 block has total proved OOIP of
110
106 t. These developed blocks in the PL 19e3 Oilfield
have declared a total proved OOIP of about 0.7
109 t, dis-
solved gas geological reserve of 25
109 m3, and 3P OOIP of
about 1
109 t. Moreover, the reserve scale is still increasing
along with the progressive exploration.
2.4. Comprehensive adjustment development stage (2012-present)
The PL 19e3 Oilfield has been successfully developed for over a
decade, and the peak annual production is up to 8
106 t. However,
with the development of the oilfield, a series of new problems have
emerged: (1) for Phase I and Phase II, the oil filed was developed by
directional well in a set of layers; the well productivity was high
during the early period, but decreased fastly. (2) The interlayer
water injection is unbalanced due to intense vertical reservoir
heterogeneity. (3) The development well pattern is defective, the
utilization of reserves is low, the single-well controlled reserve is
large, and the oil recovery rate is low. (4) The interlayer interference
is prominent in the commingled production, the injection/pro-
duction relationship is unbalanced, and the development is
uneffected.
In order to solve the problems, comprehensive adjustment
studies on subdivision of developed intervals, improvement of
injection-production well pattern, and improvement of reserve
utilization have been carried out at the developed blocks in order to
improve the development effect of the oilfield.
3. Reservoir characteristics
3.1. Distribution characteristics of oil intervals and reservoir types
The oil-bearing intervals in the PL 19e3 Oilfield mainly develop
in the middle-lower part of the lower Minghuazhen Formation and
the Guantao Formation. The major oil intervals mainly distribute in
the Guantao Formation. These oil-bearing intervals are 100e650 m
thick, and the thickness of the oil layers in single well is about
33e172 m. The thickness of an oil-bearing sand body is 5e20 m,
while the maximum thickness can be over 30 m. The oil intervals
are shallow-buried (745 m to 1540 m). The oilfield is a faulted
anticline oilfield consisting of several faulted blocks. In the main
block of PL 19-3 structure; the whole faulted blocks are full of oil
with long oil-bearing intervals and great oil-bearing heights
(500e600 m). The tectonic highs are characterized by thick
continuous oil-bearing intervals with no water layers in the middle
part while the edge of faulted blocks is characterized by thinner oil-
bearing intervals. The thickness of the oil intervals in a single well is
over 100 m in the main block, while it's about 40e80 m at the edge.
Layers of oil and gas spread within the sand bodies until the li-
thology pinchout, indicating representative structural oil reservoir
and lithologic-structural oil reservoir (Fig. 3).
3.2. Reservoir-caprock assemblage characteristics and reservoir
conditions
The sedimentary facies of the oil-bearing intervals in the
oilfield are shallow-water delta, characterized by thick mudstone
with thin sandstone interbeds, forming several sets of reservoir-
caprock assemblages (see Section 4.3). According to the drillings,
the lower member of Minghuazhen Formation is 130e260 m
thick, with 8.6e32.9% sandstone (21.0% at average) (Fig. 4). The
Guantao Formation is 355e475 m thick, with thinner mudstone
layer, compared with the lower Minghuazhen Formation. The
reservoir comprises conglomeratic mediumefine sandstone and
mediumefine sandstone, with 15.5e41.7% sandstone (26.6% at
average). Grain size, rock slices and SEM data show that the sand-
stones of the lower Minghuazhen Formation and Guantao Forma-
tion are mainly lithic arkose and arkose, with normally more than
40.0% quartz, over 28.0% feldspar, moderately to well sorted, sub-
rounded to subangular. The major pore type is primary intergran-
ular pores, and the secondary pore type is intergranular dissolved
fractures with few intragranular dissolved pores (Fig. 5), resulting
 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51
Fig. 3. Reservoir profile of PL 19e3 Oilfield showing that layers of oil and gas spread within the sand bodies until the lithology pinchout, indicating representative structural oil
reservoir and lithologic-structural oil reservoir.
in high porosity and fine connectivity. Analysis of the cores and
sidewall cores shows that the average porosity of the lower
Guantao Formation (L80eL120 oil groups) is 26.5% and its average
permeability is 1163.0 mD; the average porosity of the upper
Guantao Formation (L50eL70 oil groups) is 28.3% and its average
permeability is 1624.0 mD; the average porosity of the lower
Minghuazhen Formation (L00eL40 oil groups) is 28.1% and its
average permeability is 1178.1 mD, indicating high-porosity and
super-high-permeability reservoir (Fig. 6).
3.3. Fluid properties
The ground crude oil of the PL 19e3 Oilfield generally is
mediumeheavy oil, characterized by high crude oil density, high
crude oil viscosity, high colloid content, low asphaltene content,
lower paraffin content, low sulfur content and low freezing point
(Table 2). Vertically, as the reservoir depth increases, the crude oil
property gradually becomes better. In the plane, the fluid proper-
ties are better in the northern blocks (Well 1 block, Well 2 block,
Well 3 block and Well 4 block in the main block) than in the
southern blocks (Well 5 block, Well 11 block and Well 13 block), and
are better in the central part of the PL 19-3 structure than in the
eastern and western blocks. Generally, the oil quality is best in the
Well 1 block (the highest part of the oilfield), and becomes worse
toward the surrounding lower parts, while both the crude oil
density and viscosity increase from north to south (Fig. 7). Most of
the natural gas occurs in the state of dissolved gas, dominated by
CH4. Except for a small amount of N2, CO2 is the most common non-
hydrocarbon gas composition throughout the oilfield, with a wide
range of content. It varies from 0.07% to 3.47% in the main block. In
Well A24 block the highest CO2 content in dissolved gas is up to
14.97%, with an average of 7.00%. The total salinity of the formation
water in the PL 19e3 Oilfield is less than 9000.0 mg/L, and the
chloride ion is less than 5000.0 mg/L, indicating sodium bicarbon-
ate water type.
3.4. Temperature and pressure systems
Pressure measurement data show that the temperature and
pressure systems of PL 19e3 oilfield are normal, with an average
33
pressure coefficient of 1.030, an average pressure gradient of 0.97
MPa/100 m, and a temperature gradient of 2.8  C/100 m (Fig. 8).
4. Key geologic conditions
About 50 oilfields have been discovered in Neogene in the Bohai
sea area so far and the total OOIP is about 3
109 t. Hereinto, the
number of the oilfield which OOIP >0.05
109 t is more than 20,
and contributed 2.5
109 t OOIP. According to the plane distribu-
tion, these large Neogene oilfields are mainly distributed in the
uplift areas, accounting for more than 70% of the total OOIP(nearly
1.8
109 t) and mostly distributing in the PL 19e3 oilfield, which
OOIP is about 1
109 t and accounts for 35% of Neogene OOIP in the
Bohai sea area. Continuous study results shows the superior con-
ditions of "source-reservoir-trap-migration" (Deng and Li, 2001)
makes Penglai 19e3 Oilfield became a super-large outside source
oilfield in the Bohai sea area which has been strongly reformed by
tectonic activities.
4.1. Special configuration of hydrocarbon-rich sags and multi-ridge
slope high uplift provide abundant oil source for formation the
super-large oilfield
The PL 19-3 structure is located at the northeast of the Bonan
low uplift, surrounded by the Bozhong sag, Bodong sag, Huan-
ghekou sag and Miaoxi sag (Fig. 9). For the one hand the oilfield is
adjacent to the Bozhong sag which has the huge hydrocarbon
generation capacity, for the other hand the special contact rela-
tionship between the oilfield and Bozhong sag lead to this aera as
the major destination of oil and gas migration from the Bozhong
sag (Guo et al., 2001; Hao et al., 2009; Zou et al., 2009). With su-
perior hydrocarbon source, migration and accumulation conditions
it became one of the most favorable oil and gas enriching regions in
the Bohai sea area.
4.1.1. Good hydrocarbon generation condition of inherited deep sags
Previous studies proved that the Bozhong sag is the major oil
and gas source for the PL 19e3 oilfield (Guo et al., 2001; Huang and
Li, 2002; Hao et al., 2009; Zou et al., 2009). The Bozhong sag is the
biggest sag in the Bohai Bay Basin, covering an area of 8600 km2.
34 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51

Fig. 4. Composite histogram of oil-bearing intervals in PL 19e3 Oilfield showing that the sedimentary facies of the oil-bearing intervals are shallow-water delta, characterized by
thick mudstone with thin sandstone interbeds.

Moreover, this sag is deeply buried, with its center (the Neogene)
deeper than 10000 m. Compared with peripheral onshore oilfields,
except for source rock of the Shahejie Formation, the sag also has a
set of source rocks of the Dongying Formation. Based on drilling
data and study results, three sets of source rocks of Dongying
Formation, the first member of Shahejie Formation, the second
member of Shahejie Formation and the third member of Shahejie
Formation developed in the Bozhong sag (Huang and Li, 2002;
Wang et al., 2004; Jiang et al., 2010), which are characterized by
large thickness, high organic matter abundance, good organic
matter type and high maturity (Table 3). The effective source rocks
have the maximum cumulative thickness of 1100 m, the highest
TOC up to 4%, and Type I and Type II kerogens. Moreover, the Ro
analysis shows that the Ro values of the effective source rocks in the
 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51 35

Fig. 5. Storage space types of sandstone reservoirs in the main oil intervals in PL 19e3 Oilfield. (a) Mainly primary intergranular pores in the medium-grained lithic arkose at the
depth of 1183 m in Well PL 19-3-10,
25 (); (b) primary intergranular pores and intergranular dissolved pores in the medium to coarse-grained lithic arkose at the depth of
1222 m in Well PL 19-3-2,
25 (); (c) PL 19-3-1, 1032 m, left graph is locally amplified being dominated by mainly primary intergranular pores with local intragranular dissolution
at the depth of 1032 m in Well PL 19-3-1,
100 (); (d) primary intergranular pores and intergranular dissolved pores in the medium-coarse grained lithic arkose at the depth of
1222 m in Well PL 19-3-2,
25 (); (e) intergranular pores at the depth of 1236.76 m in Well PL 19-3-4, SEM,
200; (f) intergranular pores at the depth of 1267.10 m in Well PL 19-
3-4, SEM,
400.

Bozhong sag are all more than 0.7%. The several sets of thick high-
quality source rocks means that the Bozhong sag has a feature of
sustainable relaying hydrocarbon supply, these source rocks also
provide huge resource foundation for the Bozhong sag. According
to several rounds of hydrocarbon resource evaluation, the Bozhong
sag has resources up to 4.75
109 t, accounting for about 1/3 of
total resources in the Bohai sea area; in addition, it is also the
biggest resource scale sag in the Bohai Bay Basin currently. The best
hydrocarbon supply condition of the Bozhong sag supply sufficient
material foundation for formation of the super-large PL 19e3
oilfield.
The relationship between ratios of gammacerane/C30 hopanoid
and ratios of 4-methyl sterane/SC29 sterane can be used to effec-
tively distinguish three sets of source rocks in the Bozhong sag
(Wang et al., 2004). The source rocks of the third member of Sha-
hejie Formation have low gammacerane content and higher 4-
methyl sterane content, with ratios of gammacerane/C30 hopa-
noid <0.15 and ratios of 4-methyl sterane/SC29 sterane >0.25. The
source rocks of the first member and the second member of Sha-
hejie Formation have relatively high gammacerane content and low
4-methyl sterane content, with ratios of gammacerane/C30 hopa-
noid >0.15 and ratios of 4-methyl sterane/SC29 sterane <0.25. The
36 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51

Fig. 6. Physical properties of reservoirs in PL 19e3 Oilfield showing that the reservoir in the L80eL120 oil groups has an average porosity of 26.5% and average permeability of
1163.0 mD; the reservoir in the L50eL70 oil groups has an average porosity of 28.3% and an average permeability of 1624.0 mD; the reservoir in the L00eL40 oil groups has an
average porosity of 28.1% and an average permeability of 1178.1 mD.

Table 2
Features of crude oil and dissolved gas in PL 19e3 Oilfield showing that the ground crude oil of the PL 19e3 Oilfield generally is characterized by high crude oil density, high
crude oil viscosity, high colloid content, low asphaltene content, lower paraffin content, low sulfur content and low freezing point, the natural gas is dominated by CH4.

Horizon Crude oil Dissolved gas

Oil density Oil viscosity Freezing Paraffin Colloid Asphaltene CH4 (%) C2H6eC6H14 N2 (%) CO2 (%) Relative
(g/cm3, 20  C) (mPa∙s, 50  C) point (oC) content (%) content (%) content (%) (%) density

Lower Member of 0.953e0.961 193.2e558.6 33e12 1.11e2.70 15.94e18.81 1.53e5.92 78.25e97.72 0.74e5.84 0.00e1.04 0.07e3.47 0.569e0.746
Minghuazhen Fm.
Guantao Fm. 0.910e0.953 35.2e198.5 35e15 1.11e8.83 2.86e21.84 1.03e13.92

source rocks of Dongying Formation have relatively low gamma-
cerane content and 4-methyl sterane content, with ratios of gam-
macerane/C30 hopanoid <0.15 and ratios of 4-methyl sterane/SC29
sterane <0.25. The mass chromatogram and spectrogram features
of many crude oil samples from the PL 19e3 oilfield were analyzed
and the relationship between ratios of gammacerane/C30 hopanoid
and ratios of 4-methyl sterane/SC29 sterane shows that the PL 19e3
oilfield has mixed sources (Fig. 10). The sample points are mainly
distributed within ranges of the source rocks of the third member
of Shahejie Formation and the source rocks of Dongying Formation,
indicating that the crude oil are mixedly from the source rocks of
the third member of Shahejie Formation and Dongying Formation,
and is dominated by the third member of Shahejie Formation.
4.1.2. Multi-ridge slope contact condition between high uplift and
hydrocarbon-rich sag is favorable for large-scale oil and gas
migration
The Bonan uplift, Shaleitian uplift and Shijiutuo uplift are
distributed around the Bozhong sag, but they have different contact
relationships with the Bozhong sag (Fig. 9a). The south side of the
Shaleitian uplift contacts the Bozhong sag with a large sag-
controlling boundary fault, and the oil and gas mainly migrate to
the uplift along the boundary fault, the east side of the Shaleitian
uplift contacts the Bozhong sag with a large steep fault or in the
pattern of pitching end in the long axis direction, both have rela-
tively small contact areas with the effective source rocks of the
Bozhong sag. While the north side of the Bonan uplift transits to the
Bozhong sag along the short axis in the slope pattern, and the
contact area between the uplift and the effective source rocks is
much larger than the former two. And above all, the northwestern
slope of the Bonan uplift develops several large tectonic ridges
dipping into the sag as the finger pattern (Fig. 9b), which leads to
the largest unconformable contact area between the source rocks
and the uplift, and forms relatively strong convergent background
for primary migration, five large tectonic ridges can make oil and
gas more easily migrate to the Bonan uplift. Hence, from the view of
the macroscopic structural pattern one of the major conditions for
formation of the PL 19e3 oilfield is that the Bonan uplift as the
migration destination for oil and gas which generated from the
Bozhong sag.
The oil and gas migration condition is the key factor to control
oil and gas accumulation in Neogene for two reasons, one is later-
ally, the oilfield is located in the uplifting area which tens of kilo-
meters away from the hydrocarbon kitchen, another is vertically,
the distances between the major oil-enriching formations (i.e.,
Minghuazhen Formation, Guantao Formation) and the Paleogene
source rocks are up to 2000e5000 m (Deng and Li, 2001). There are
there pathway for oil-gas migration in the Bohai sea area include
fault, unconformable surface and permeable sand body (Deng and
Li, 2001; Zhou et al., 2016). The unconformable surfaces are the
major oil and gas migration pathway for its long period exist and
inherited, migrating capacity is stronger than the episodic faults,
 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51 37

Fig. 7. Distribution characteristics of underground crude oil viscosity in PL 19e3 Oilfield showing that taking the Well 1 block (the highest part of the oilfield) as the center, the
crude oil viscosity becomes worse toward the surrounding lower parts, and the crude oil viscosity increase from north to south.

70% discovered large oilfields in the Bohai sea area are distributed
in the uplift area (Fig. 1), which also proves this viewpoint. Drilling
results also show that the buried hill of the Bonan uplift suffered for
long period of weathering and erosion(nearly 70Ma), thus, it have
good permeability and strong migration capacity along the
unconformable surfaces (Fig. 11). Apparently, the unconformable
surfaces on several tectonic ridges provide pathways for large-scale
lateral oil and gas migration from the Bozhong Sag. During the
large-scale hydrocarbon charging period, the oil and gas migrated
along the unconformable surfaces and accumulationed in slope and
uplift areas and later-period active faults formed by neotectonic
movement make the hydrocarbon redistribued and readjusted into
Neogene strata.
4.2. Coupling of uplift and strike-slip fault formed the large-
basement high wrench anticline structure
The PL19-3 Oilfield mainly develops strike-slip faults and
normal faults which affected by Tanlu fault belt (Tancheng-Lujiang
Fault). Most normal faults are the induced faults of strike-slip faults
with NE-strike direction and near EW-strike direction. The trap is a
complete large wrench anticline which is controlled by two sets of
38 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51

Fig. 8. Temperature and pressure characteristics of Neogene strata in PL 19e3 Oilfield showing that the temperature and pressure systems are normal. (a) Formation pressure
distribution with depth; (b) formation temperature with depth.

Fig. 9. Structural distribution of uplifte-sag configuration around Bozhong area showing that the PL 19-3 structure is located at the northeast of the Bonan low uplift, surrounded by
the Bozhong sag, Bodong sag, Huanghekou sag and Miaoxi sag. (a) Structure of uplift-sag configuration; (b) 3D characteristics of tectonic ridge of Bonan low uplift.

Table 3
Source rock characteristics and resources of Bozhong sag showing that three sets of source rocks of Dongying Formation, Member 1 þ Member 2 of Shahejie Formation and
Member 3 of Shahejie Formation developed in the Bozhong sag, which are characterized by large thickness, high organic matter abundance, good organic matter type and high
maturity, and resources of the Bozhong sag are abundant and are up to 4.75
109 t.

Horizon TOC (%) Ro (%) Organic Effective source Generated HC quantity HC accumulation Resources
type rock thickness (m) (
108 t) factor (
108 t)

Member 2 of Dongying Fm. 0.5e2.5 0.7e1.0 II1-II2 200 81.4 0.3 47.5
Member 3 of Dongying Fm. 0.5e3.0 0.8e2.0 II1-II2 250 72.1
Member 1 þ 2 of Shahejie Fm. 0.5e4.0 1.0e2.5 I-II2 250 55.7
Member 3 of Shahejie Fm. 1.0e4.0 >1.3 II2-II1 400 112.5

near SN-direction strike-slip faults under the basement uplifting
background, and good for oil accumulationed. The tectonic axial is
near SN direction and a series of NE-direction and near EW-
direction faults further complicate the structural pattern, the
west wing of the structure is relatively gentle, while the east is
relatively steep. The trap area is about 125 km2 (Fig. 12).
In the early stage of oilfield discovery, it was concluded that the
structural traps in this oilfield had total area of 40 km2 which much
smaller than current area, the reasons are caused by the exist of the
“gas chimney” led to poor seismic data quality and most wells were
drilled in the main block of the oilfield, no drilling in the two sides
of the structure. With the improvement of data and further work,
some discoveries have been achieved at two sides of the initial
anticline of this oilfield; the 19-9 block and 25-6 block are discov-
ered at the east wing. The 19-9 block is located in the northwest of
the structure, and is directly adjacent to the main structure of this
oilfield, is the eastward extending part of the main structure which
cut by faults, is part of this oilfield (Fig. 2). The 25-6 block is located
at the southeast of the anticline structure, according to initial
cognition, this block had different genesis from the main structure,
and was a single inverted tectonic belt. Through repeated pro-
cessing and interpretation of seismic data, it has been confirmed
that the 25-6 block and the 19-3 structure have the same genesis,
the 25-6 block has unified trap lines and are separated by the
 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51 39

Fig. 10. Relationship between ratios of gammacerane/C30 hopanoid and ratios of 4-methyl sterane/SC29 sterane in the crude oil from PL 19e3 oilfield and its peripheral structures
showing that the crude oil of the PL 19e3 oilfield has mixed sources.

Fig. 11. Hydrocarbon accumulation mode of PL 19e3 oilfield showing that the oil and gas migrated along the unconformable surfaces and accumulationed in slope and uplift areas
and later-period active faults formed by neotectonic movement make the hydrocarbon redistribued and readjusted into Neogene strata. N2mu represents Upper Member of
Minghuazhen Formation; N2mL represents Lower Member of Minghuazhen Formation; N1g represents Guantao Formation; E3d1 represents the first mumber of Dongying For-
mation; E3dU L
2 represents Upper submember of the second mumber of Dongying Formation; E3d2 represents Lower submember of the second mumber of Dongying Formation; E3d3
represents of the third mumber of Dongying Formation; E1-2k represents Kongdian Formation.
40 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51
Fig. 12. EW-direction seismic profile through PL 19e3 Oilfield (the location is shown in Fig. 2) showing that the west wing of the structure is relatively gentle, while the east is
relatively steep.
saddle part in the middle. In the west part of the main structure,
several new faulted blocks are discovered, these are all the west-
ward extending part of the main structure, also are parts of the
overall structure. This blocks makes the area of PL 19-3 structure is
increased greatly, the main structure is composed of two major
highs (the initial main structure and the 25-6 block), and was
complicated by faults, the area is increased from 40 km2 to 125 km2,
and its proved oil-bearing area is increased from 8.5 km2 to
51.02 km2 (Fig. 13).
According to the statistics data of large oilfields in uplifts in the
Bohai sea area, these oilfields all have anticline background, and
can be further divided into three types (Table 4). The first type is the
low-amplitude drape anticline reservoirs, such as QHD 32e6 and
CFD 11e1, which have big trap areas (25e52 km2), small amplitudes
(35e41 m), smaller oil columns and complex oil-water systems. The
second type is the composite anticline reservoirs at the plunging
end of uplift or at major fault margins, for instance, the SZ 36e1 is a
buried hill drape anticline of Dongying Formation with an area of
82.8 km2 and amplitude of 300 m. The third type is reversal anti-
cline which is the buried hill drape anticline traps early and were
strongly reformed by the Tanlu strike-slip movement later became
transpressional anticlines due to invention under the fault trans-
pressional stress, such as the PL 19e3 oilfield, it have a amplitude of
near 580 m and an area of 125 km2 providing space for hydrocarbon
preservation with large scale and high oil column.
4.3. Special shallow-water delta depositional system can form
multiple composite reservoir-caprock assemblages
Generally, the Guantao Formation of Neogene in the Bohai Bay
Basin is mainly the braided river deposit, and is characteristic by
thick glutenite interbeded thin mudstone. As a result of poorly-
developed muddy caprocks, the fine reservoir-caprock assem-
blage can not be developed in Guantao Formation, which is unfa-
vorable for preservation of large-scale oil and gas. This is the major
reason that no large-scale reservoirs have been discovered in
Guantao Formation in most of regions in the Bohai Bay Basin (Ac-
cording to the classification criteria in the sea area, the Upper
Member of Guantao Formation in onshore Shengli Oilfield is clas-
sified to Upper Member of Minghuazhen Formation, and this in-
terval belongs to the lower part of Lower Member of Minghuazhen
Formation in the sea area. In this paper, this interval also is classi-
fied to Lower member of Minghuazhen Formation by the classifi-
cation criteria of the sea area). The exploration results show that
major oil-bearing interval is Lower Member of Minghuazhen For-
mation, such as CFD 11e1, QHD 32e6 and Chengdao oilfields. The
PL 19e3 Oilfield is situated in the middle-eastern part of the Bohai
sea area (i.e., the eastern of the Bohai Bay Basin), this is the latest
developed region of this basin, with the thickest Neogene deposi-
tion, more importantly, and the Neogene sedimentary environment
in this region has changed apparently. The exploration results show
that major oil-bearing interval is Lower Member of Minghuazhen
Formation, such as CFD 11e1, QHD 32e6 and Chengdao oilfields.
The PL 19e3 Oilfield is situated in the middle-eastern part of the
Bohai sea area (i.e., the eastern of the Bohai Bay Basin), this is the
latest developed region of this basin, with the thickest Neogene
deposition, more importantly, and the Neogene sedimentary
environment in this region has changed apparently. Lower Member
of Minghuazhen Formation, especially Guantao Formation, is
shallow lacustrine deposits; the analysis result of paleontologic
data shows that some types of algae (such as Bohaidina, Para-
bohaidina, Filisphaeridium, Sentusidinium, Granodiscus and Leio-
spaeridia) that can represent shore-shallow lacustrine facies, and
lacustrine composite fossils like Pseudocandona and Sinocytheridea
impressa in the grey green mudstone in Lower Member of Min-
ghuazhen Formation and Guantao Formation, indicating that the
environment of this region was changed from the fluvial environ-
ment to the shallow lacustrine environment (Fig. 14a).
The strong planation makes the whole geomorphologic slope
was gentle during the basin atrophic period of the Neogene.
Different from the Paleogene deposits, the depositional environ-
ment of Neogene in this oilfield is the shallow delta (Zhu et al.,
2008) (Fig. 14b), and it formation apparently different reservoir-
caprock assemblages from the other regions of the Bohai Bay Ba-
sin. Just because of such special depositional environment, the
multiple composite reservoir-caprock assemblages can be formed,
 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51 41

Fig. 13. Oil-bearing distribution map of Upper Member of Guantao Formation in PL 19e3 Oilfield.

which provide conditions for formation of the super-large oilfield.
By comparing the discovered large oilfields (e.g., QHD 32e6,
Chengdao, except the PL 19e3 Oilfield) reservoir-caprock assem-
blage of Lower Member of Minghuazhen Formation, it can be found
that the oil reservoirs are mainly distributed below the regional
caprocks with thickness about 200 m (Fig. 15a). The strata above
this mudstone interval are sandstone interbedded with mudstone
which no large oil and gas accumulation has been found in the
Bohai Sea area. The major oil distribution of these oilfields are all
under the regional mudstone, that because although there are
mudstone above this regional caprocks but it cannot be correlated
among wells, indicating that its planar distribution is local and
cannot form regional caprocks. However, the 200 m thickness of
mudstone in the bottom of Lower Member of Minghuazhen
42 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51
Table 4
Trap characteristics of large oilfields of uplift areas in Bohai sea area showing that these oilfields all have anticline background and can be further divided into three types.
Oilfield Trap type Trap scale
/km2
SZ 36-1 Nappe anticline 82.8
QHD 32-6 Nappe anticline 51.9
PL 19-3 Transpressional anticline 125
CFD 11-1 Nappe anticline 25.3
Fig. 14. Palaeontological assemblage and depositional system of Neogene in PL 19e3 Oilfield. (a) Palaeontological assemblage in shallow lacustrine facies in Neogene of PL 19e3
Oilfield; (b) sedimentary facies of Upper Member of Guantao Formation in PL 19e3 Oilfield.
Formation has well laterally correlated means it can be considered
as the fine regional caprocks. That's why the major oil distribution
of these Neogene oilfields are in the bottom of Lower Member of
Minghuazhen Formation, below the regional mud caprocks.
In contrast, the reservoir-caprock assemblages of the PL 19e3
Oilfield are quite different. As the main sedimentary facies in Lower
Member of Minghuazhen Formation and Guantao Formation is the
shallow-water delta, the lithology of Guantao Formation to Lower
Member of Minghuazhen Formation is sandstone interbeded with
mudstone. What is more important is that the muddy content more
than sandy content which caused by the shallow-water delta facies,
most of mudstone caprocks are widely distributed horizontally, and
become the regional caprocks (Fig. 15b) which make the strata with
thickness more than 1000 m from Guantao Formation to Lower
Member of Minghuazhen Formation become possible oil-bearing
intervals. Drilling results also indicate that oil-bearing intervals
are widely distributed from Guantao Formation to Lower Member
of Minghuazhen Formation. Its oil-bearing intervals' thickness is
apparently larger than other oilfields mentioned above. For
instance, the average oil-bearing interval's thickness in the QHD
32e6 Oilfield is about 40 m, while that in the PL 19e3 Oilfield is up
to 128 m (or even to 200 m), the oil reserves times larger than the
former under the same area.
In summary, as the different sedimentary environment of Pen-
glai region, the thickness of high-quality reservoir-caprock as-
semblages and the oil interval's thickness in Neogene is much
larger than the other regions of the Bohai Bay Basin (such as QHD
32e6 and Chengdao oilfields). In addition, for the shallow buried
depth, short buried period and weak compaction diagenesis of the
Trap amplitude Oil column height Reserves scale
/m /m /108 t
300 260 2.96
41 14e42 2.00
580 500 10.00
35 7e28 2.27
major exploration target strata (Neogene) in the Penglai region, the
reservoir pores are dominated by primary intergranular pores and
reservoir physical properties are apparently better than the
Paleogene oilfields which has large buried depth and long buried
period (such as Shengtuo and SZ 36e1 oilfields). Apparently, the
superior reservoir condition is one of the key factors for formation
of the super-large PL 19e3 Oilfield.
4.4. Hydrocarbon accumulation condition
Later rapid hydrocarbon accumulation condition ensures the
“dynamically balanced” of the oil and gas charging for the super-
large oilfield. The huge, superior and mature source rocks in the
Bozhong sag is an important material basis. For the strong subsi-
dence and deposition in the later Neogeng, the Bozhong sag has the
longest development duration in the Bohai Bay Basin, and is the
youngest sag in this basin. The source bed of oil includes the Sha-
hejie Formation and the Dongying Formation with later hydrocar-
bon generation and migration. Simulation result of hydrocarbon
generation history shows that there are big differences in source
rock evolution processes between the deep central region and
various sub-sag near the uplifts in the Bozhong sag (Zou et al.,
2011). The source rocks in the central region of Bozhong Sag has
reached high-over mature stage while in the sub-sag near the up-
lifts the source rocks are still at lower maturity stage due to rela-
tively slow subsidence and depositional rates. Currently, most of
source rocks from the third Member of Dongying Formation to
Shahejie Formation are at the massive oilegeneration stage in
Bozhong Sag, and some source rocks in the third Member of
 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51 43

Fig. 15. Stratigraphic sedimentary patterns of PL 19e3 Oilfield and QHD 32e6 oilfield. (a) Stratigraphic correlation profile of QHD 32e6 Oilfield. (I) Is the interval of mudstone
interbeded with sandstone, the horizontal distribution of mudstone is discontinuous, the lateral correlation of mudstone is poor, can not form effective caprocks; (II) is the regional
caprocks interval, the mudstone is widely distributed horizontally with good well correlation and is characterized by mudstone packing sandstone, and is the effective caprocks of
the reservoirs in the lower part; (III) is the reservoir interval of mudstone interbeded with sandstone, but distribution of the mudstone is discontinuous horizontally, the well
correlation is poor, the mudstone is characterized by sandstone packing mudstone, and the oil-bearing intervals are distributed at the top of mudstone. (b) Stratigraphic correlation
profile of PL 19e3 Oilfield. The whole well intervals show mudstone packing sandstone, and distribution of mudstone is continuous, the mudstone can be considered as good
caprocks; the whole well interval forms the effective reservoir-caprock assemblage, and the oilebearing intervals are distributed inside it.

Shahejie Formation have entered the condensate gas-dry gas stage.

By using homogenization temperatures of inclusions and com-
bined with burial history the hydrocarbon accumulation periods in
this study area were analyzed, the results shows there are three
types of the inclusions developed in the PL 19e3 Oilfield,
hydrocarbon-bearing saline inclusion, liquid hydrocarbon inclu-
sion, and colorless-light brown gaseous hydrocarbon inclusion. The
homogenization temperatures of inclusions are all relatively high, it
mainly ranges from 80 to 240  C with two major peak temperatures
(90e110  C, and 130e150  C) (Fig. 16). The homogenization tem-
peratures of inclusions are all higher than reservoir temperatures,
indicating that oil and gas mainly came from the source rocks with
Fig. 16. Homogenization temperatures of inclusions from reservoirs in PL 19e3 Oilfield
larger buried depths than reservoirs. Moreover, the PL 19e3 Oilfield showing that the homogenization temperatures of inclusions are all relatively high, it
is situated inside the major fault belt of the Tanlu Fault, caused by mainly ranges from 80 to 240  C with two major peak temperatures (90e110  C, and
the activity of the Tanlu strike-slip Fault, the faulting activity is 130e150  C).
intense, and the oil and gas charging mainly occures in the
44 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51
intermittent and impulse pattern, which leads to the double peak
phenomenon of the homogenization temperatures which reflects
that this oilfield was episodically and fastly charged. By combining
study result of burial history in this area, hydrocarbon migration
mainly occures after 5.1 Ma (Hao et al., 2004), and a large amount of
oil and gas are being generated and expelled now (Zou et al., 2009).
The strike-slip and inversion become violent during the neo-
tectonic movement since 5.1 Ma, and the coupling of uplifting and
strike slipping leads to extensive faulting activities to constantly
release pressure (Zou et al., 2009). The later hydrocarbon expulsion
has a good configuration with large-scale active faults for migration
to form fast, constant and strong charging of oil and gas and the
super-large shallow oilfield can be formed. There are big temper-
ature differences in major oil intervals among wells in this oilfield,
which shows that the temperature is no equalization (Hao et al.,
2003) means that the oil and gas charging is sufficient and
charging time is recent indicating that the oilfield is characterized
by later rapid charging.
This process can be proved by current seismic data. The PL 19e3
Oilfield is located in a special geotectonical position, the eastern
major branching fault of the Tanlu Fault, leading to the later faults
extremely development in this structure, more importantly, these
faults densely distributed and are through from Cenozoic bottom
(top of buried hill) to sea floor, which are still active currently, oil
and gas accumulation to the structure and also effusion to sea floor
during geologic period. From seismic profiles, it can be seen that
such migration still occurs now (Fig. 17). “Gas chimney” phenom-
enon can be clear seen on seismic profiles. Several types of seismic
acquisition and processing results in the past ten years are all
indicate the existence of such “gas chimney”, proved that oil and
gas continuously migrate along fractures. The amount of effusing
oil and gas is minor from the viewpoint of geologic history, but
under some special events (such as earthquake, oil and gas pro-
duction), some oil and gas can rapidly migrate and effuse from
some seafloor regions, and cause ocean pollution events. For
instance, such problem occurred in some regions of this oilfield and
caused some social incidence in 2011. Nevertheless, as the effused
quantity is less than the accumulated quantity, the formation water
in the sand layers above the oil-water contact is continuously
replaced by oil and gas, the accumulated oil and gas quantity have
been recharged considerably without sufficient leakage of oil and
Fig. 17. Seismic profile of “gas chimney” phenomenon of PL 19e3 Oilfield showing that
such hydrocarbon migration still occurs now.
gas, which assures that there is no water layer above the maximum
oil-water contact, very thick oil layers and typical anticline reser-
voirs are thus formed. Such oil and gas charging and effusing are at
the dynamic balance state. Long-term sustainable of oil and gas
charging makes considerable oil and gas accumulate to form the
super-large oil and gas field.
5. Key exploration and development technologies
This oilfield is situated in the Tanlu strike-slip fault belt so that
the faults are extremely developed with intensive activity in the
later period and there are large-scale gas cloud zones on the seismic
profiles. Moreover, Neogene strata is the major oil-bearing intervals
of this oilfield, while the Bohai sea area was the deposition and
subsidence center of the Bohai Bay Basin in Neogene. In this period,
compared with the fluvial deposits in peripheral onshore regions,
the very shallow-water delta deposits were more developed, which
caused the reservoir-caprock assemblage is characterized by thin
mudstone and sandstone interbeddings. These bring great chal-
lenges to the exploration and production of this oilfield, and thus, a
series of targeted and practicable key techniques aiming at these
problems to assure successful production are developed.
5.1. Prestack depth migration special processing for gas cloud zones
Gas clouds develop in the major structure zone of PL19-3 Oil-
field. In addition, affected by interference of multiple waves and
acquisition footprints in offshore towing acquisition, quality of the
primary seismic data in the gas clouds and their peripheries is poor,
and the seismic data is mainly characterized by low signal-to-noise
ratio, complex wave field, and severe attenuation of seismic effec-
tive reflection energy. It is hard to obtain high-precision velocity
information to accurately home complex seismic wave field by
conventional seismic data processing scheme. Thus the seismic
imaging result cannot provide effective support for studying oilfield
structures and reservoirs.
According to the seismic wave propagation mechanism in gas
cloud zones and the feature of offshore seismic data acquisition,
some related techniques are studied, and the prestack depth
migration special processing scheme for gas cloud zones is applied,
which effectively improves seismic imaging in gas cloud zones. This
processing scheme mainly includes the following two core
techniques:
5.1.1. Energy compensation technique for gas cloud zones
Gas cloud zones can seriously absorb P-wave energy and directly
affect seismic imaging. The key point for processing is to effectively
compensate P-wave energy. This technique can compensate P-
wave energy in the gas cloud zones before data migration and
during data migration.
It can compensate the overall energy to gas cloud zones before
the migration, which can support subsequent processing proced-
ure, such as depth migration velocity analysis. This technique uti-
lizes the caprock compensation technique to compensate the
decayed middle-high frequency energy loss in gas cloud zones, and
it mainly applies single-shot amplitude spectrum energy to esti-
mate the relative spatial energy variation, and conduct decompo-
sition according to surface consistence, so as to compensate the lost
energy in gas cloud zones before migration (Swee Leng and Martin,
2008). Its actual application results show that this technique can
basically compensate the lost energy in local small gas cloud zones;
for large gas clouds, it can compensate most of the energy, which is
helpful for later depth migration velocity analysis and interpretive
application (Fig. 18).
During the migration, the Q-value tomography inversion
 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51
Fig. 18. Stacked section comparison before and after energy compensation. (a) Before compensation; (b) after compensation; (c) frequency spectrum comparsion before and after
energy compensation.
attenuation compensation technique can be used to compensate
energy in gas cloud zones. This technique mainly applies tomog-
raphy method to conduct equivalent Q evalue analysis to prestack
seismic data in order to generate space variant Q model, then
updating the Q field while calculating travel time during the
migration for effective Q-value compensation during the depth
migration process. This energy compensation method more co-
incides with geophysical laws, including the following three steps:
(1) The calculation of attenuated travel time based on seismic data
before migration: current common algorithm is the seismic data
attribute analysis method and suitable methods can be selected on
the basis of seismic data quality during actual applications (Yang
et al., 2009). (2) Generation of space variant Q field by the atten-
uation travel time tomography method: the absorption attenuation
of seismic wave through viscoelastic medium can be expressed as
the form of attenuation travel time and the specific solution process
based on the relationship of them can be realized by the dynamic
ray tracing in depth domain. (3) The design of depth migration
operator with absorption attenuation compensation for effective Q
compensation during depth migration (Traynin et al., 2008): this
method can compensate more energy in middle-deep strata, hence
clarifying the reflection of the buried hill unconformity (Fig. 19),
which is helpful for subsequent seismic interpretation.
5.1.2. High-precision velocity modeling technique for low-velocity
cloud zones
The migration velocity field can directly determine the accuracy
and reliability of the imaging results to a large extent. As gas clouds
mainly occur in shallow layers, it can lead to the low ratio of signal
to noise ratio of reflection wave information in shallow strata and
the lack of far distance information, so the effective first arrival
information is hard to be picked. Therefore, the conventional to-
mography inversion velocity of reflection wave usually is uncertain.
Aiming at this problem, because the diving wave information in gas
Fig. 19. Seismic profile comparsion before and after applying Q-value tomography inversion attenuation compensation technique. (a) Before the compensation; (b) after the
compensation.
45
cloud zones usually occur in the form of first arrival wave and is
easily to be picked and the ray density can meet the requirement of
velocity inversion, this technique applies the diving wave tomog-
raphy technique, which is used as the initial velocity model for
subsequent tomography velocity inversion of reflection wave for
middle-deep strata, to construct accurate velocity model of shallow
strata near the gas cloud zones so as to establish the velocity model
of the whole gas cloud zones. The diving wave tomography inver-
sion is an iterative process, and mainly includes the establishment
of initial velocity model, the calculation of travel time, and the
iterative update process (Bishop et al., 1985). The establishment of
initial velocity model is very important, which should be smoothed
to assure the stability of the iteration, but it should not be smoothed
too much to converge to the real velocity model by limited iterative
times. The accuracy of the picked first arrival time can directly
affect the accuracy of the diving wave tomography inversion ve-
locity. Thus, the quality of the picked first arrival time should be
controlled by several types of seismic attribute maps during the
picking process. During the diving wave tomography iteration
process, the error between the velocity model and the actual data
can be reduced by the tomography inversion algorithm as the
iteration grids decrease gradually, and then the reliable seismic
velocity of the shallow strata in gas cloud zones can be obtained
finally.
Compared the diving wave tomography inversion velocity with
the reflection wave tomography inversion velocity and VSP velocity
(Fig. 20), apparently, the diving wave tomography inversion ve-
locity coincides the VSP velocity better than the reflection wave
tomography inversion velocity.
Based on special prestack depth migration techniques for gas
cloud zones, the imaging effect of the gas cloud zones in newly
processed seismic data has been improved apparently. The affected
area of the gas cloud zones reduces from 19 km2 to 10 km2, and the
reflections of middle-deep strata and the basement are also well
46 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51
Fig. 20. Comparation the diving wave tomography inversion velocity with the reflection wave tomography inversion velocity and VSP velocity showing that the diving wave
tomography inversion velocity coincide the VSP velocity better than the reflection wave tomography inversion velocity.
displayed. In the old seismic data, it is blank reflection inside the
gas cloud zones. But based on the new seismic data, the large-scale
faults and regional geologic interfaces can be interpreted. The im-
aging effect of the newly processed seismic data around the gas
cloud zones is similar to that of the converted wave, which lays a
foundation for studying structures and reservoirs of the PL 19e3
Oilfield.
5.2. Seismic prediction and description of thin interbed based on
high-precision inversion of geological body continuity model
Oil-bearing intervals in this oilfield are Neogene strata which
deposit from very shallow-water delta so that the river channels
swing frequently, and mutually cut and overlap. The deposits are
typical interbeds of sandstone and mudstone, and as a result, more
than 80% reservoirs are less than 5 m thick. The interbedding
stratigraphic structure is developed with low stratigraphic
compaction. The conventional seismic data and its 90 phase
rotation data with poor continuity, low resolution and serious
interference has weak reflecting ability for reservoirs. Moreover,
the precision of initial low-frequency model can greatly affect
inversion results. The modeling method by combining conventional
version method with well logging curve and tectonic stratal surface
method has low modeling accuracy which can directly lead to the
low inversion accuracy, so it is hard to realize effective character-
ization of thin interbedded reservoirs in the PL 19e3 Oilfield.
For this reason, the thin interbeding reservoir prediction tech-
nique based on the geologic model is developed. This technique
transforms relevant information (well logging data, etc.) of multiple
wells to geostatistic prior information which is introduced into the
spectrum inversion process so as to effectively expand the seismic
data frequency spectrum in the gas cloud zones. Afterwards,
combing the major sandbody development features in various
deposit positions, the development scales and spatial distribution
law of single sandbody in channel sand groups and interbedded
sand groups are established respectively. Meanwhile, the initial
high-precision model based on geologic model is constructed and
the waveform inversion combining Bayes theory is realized.
With the high precision inversion technique for the continuity
model of a geological body, the accuracy of the initial input model is
improved, and the obtained inversion results have high precision
and high ratio of signal to noise. Thus, it can be used to guide
description of thin interbeding sand bodies. In 19e9 area, the
identification precision of the thin interbeding reservoir of L50 oil
group is improved, and quantitative description of oil layers with
thickness >3 m in L40 oil group is realized, which has positively
promoted the development and production of this oilfield (Fig. 21).
5.3. Reservoir description for shallow-water braided-river delta
sedimentary system
The major development area in this oilfield includes blocks 1, 2,
3, 4 and 5. With the increase of dynamic and static data, the ac-
curacy of reservoir description is improved gradually. During Phase
I of PL 19e3 Oilfield development, due to limited data and cogni-
tions, reservoir description was based on fluvial depositional sys-
tem, and the planar distribution of reservoir thickness and physical
properties at the level of oil group and sand group were compared
and described through cycle thickness. With Phase II being put into
production, the major production blocks have entered the middle-
high water cut stage at present. There are more drilling data, core
data, lab analysis data and production performance data, and thus,
the subsurface reservoir development and sedimentary cyclicity
are understood further. The understanding of sedimentary facies of
the reservoir in the Guantao Formation has changed from the
fluvial facies to the shallow-water delta sedimentary system, and
the reservoir description unit is also gradually refined from oil
groups to single sand layer. The major reservoir description in the
core development area has reached 4th-order configuration level.
During this process, aiming at the major development formation
(Guantao Formation), the fine reservoir description technique
restrained by several types of data is gradually established.
Based on data status and the interbeding architecture of sand-
stone and mudstone in this oilfield, the idea of “being guided by
model, stepwise restraining, and combination of dynamic and
static data” is adopted to conduct stepwise fine reservoir
 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51
Fig. 21. Comparison between the conventional inversion section and the high-precision inversion section based on geologic model. (a) The conventional inversion section; (b) the
high-precision inversion section based on geologic model.
description. For reservoir sub-division, oil groups are classified on
the basis of 3rd-order sedimentary cycle and development features
of sandstone and mudstone, and then, isochronic correlation of
these oil groups in the whole area with the well-seismic calibration
method and the seismic event tracing method can be realized.
Restrained by oil groups, sub-layers and single sand layer are
stepwise divided on the basis of 4th-order and 5th-order cycles by
combination of point - line - surface data in the whole area with
networking closure. The Guantao Formation can be subdivided into
8 oil groups, 34 sub-layers, and 96 single sand layers. For the
description of horizontal distribution of reservoirs, combined with
the seismic resolution of current available seismic data, the fine
time-depth calibration and seismic attribute analysis technique are
used to quantitatively describe the reservoirs of sand groups
(assemblage of several sub-layers). The idea of “using various
methods for various sedimentary facies belts” is adopted to further
describe single sand layer. In the plain facies belt of the shallow-
water braided-river delta and the blocks with well-developed
braided-river sand bodies, the “rock-electric” interface return
amplitude method and the sand thickness bead connection method
are used to describe the river-channel sandbodies. In the thin
interbeding reservoirs of the front facies belt, the depositional
model is applied to guide fine description of single sand layers. For
the major layers with thickness >10 m in mature blocks, combined
with the outcrop analogy and modern river deposition analogy
methods, the configuration levels of accretion bodies inside chan-
nel bars and the channel bars in braided-river facies are further
dissected (Xu et al., 2016) (Fig. 22). Abundant dynamic data (such as
measured pressures and water flooded layer interpretation) of this
oilfield is used to constantly modify the fine description result of
reservoirs. The coincidence rate of major reservoir thickness in the
new drilled adjustment wells can reach up to more than 90%. This
technique has effectively guided well location deployment of
47
adjustment wells and the study on composite adjustment schemes
in blocks 1, 3, 8, 9 of this oilfield.
5.4. Quantitative description technique for remaining oil in
commingling oil reservoirs with wide spacing and long well interval
Based on fine reservoir description, the well logging interpre-
tation of water flooded layers restrained by lithofacies, quantitative
description of water flood degree in thin interbeding reservoirs and
bimodal integrative reservoir numerical simulation techniques are
utilized to quantitatively predict remaining oil in the thin inter-
beding reservoirs. Moreover, the sidetracked wells near original
wellbores, subsequent development adjustment wells and pro-
duction performance data are applied to verify the reliability of the
remaining oil distribution law. A series of research process for
quantitative description of the remaining oil in this oilfield and
quantitative study achievement of the remaining oil in thin inter-
beding reservoirs are formed.
5.4.1. Quantitative interpretation of water flooded layers
In view of the feature of thick vertical oil-bearing intervals,
multiple layers, high thin-layer ratio and strong reservoir hetero-
geneity in PL19-3 Oilfield, through analysis of microscopic and
macroscopic controlling factors for reservoir permeability, detailed
description of various types of lithofacies in PL19-3 Oilfield is
conducted (Liu et al., 2016). Eight lithofacies in the study area
(Fig. 23a) are established in order to improve calculation accuracies
of remaining oil saturation, irreducible oil saturation and immobile
water saturation, and afterwards, based on oil displacement effi-
ciency and water cut feature, the water flood level is divided.
Quantitative interpretation of the water flooded layers in thin
interbeding reservoirs is realized, and according to verification of
112 adjustment wells, the coincidence rate is up to 90%.
48 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51

Fig. 22. Fine description results of reservoirs in Guantao Formation in PL19-3 Oilfield. (a) Subdivision comparison units of oil layers and sedimentary cycle analysis graph of Guantao
Formation; (b) reservoir thickness distribution of the third single layer in number II sub-layer of L80 oil group of Guantao Formation; (c) fence diagram of distribution of sludge beds
inside single-layer river channel bars.

Fig. 23. Quantitative prediction of remaining oil in PL19-3 Oilfield. (a) Lithofacies division chart of PL19-3 Oilfield; (b) water flooding map of sandbodies in block 1; (c) remaining oil
distribution of block 1.

5.4.2. Quantitative description of water flooding in oil layers
Aiming at the feature of multistage commingled production as
well as the lack of production performance and testing data in
offshore oilfields, combined with study results of geology, oil res-
ervoirs, performance, testing and water displacing oil experiments,
through analysis of variation of pore volume of accumulated in-
jection water in oil layers, quantitative description of water flood
degree in oil layers is realized. The residual oil layer thickness of an
oil well can be predicted at a certain time interval by analyzing the
exact relationship among injection pore volume multiple, perme-
ability gradient of sandbody and water flooding thickness coeffi-
cient, and then the water flooding thickness contour map of a
sandbody can be drew (Fig. 23b) to guide oilfield development
adjustment effectively.
5.4.3. Prediction of remaining oil by reservoir numerical simulation
method
Through multipoint geostatistics geologic modeling method and
achieving training images based on target method, the fine geologic
models of various sedimentary microfacies can be established.
Quantitative prediction of remaining oil can be achieved based on
the reservoir numerical simulation method (Fig. 23c).
5.5. Strata well pattern adjustment technique in complex shallow-
water delta facies during the middle-high water cut stage of oilfields
PL19-3 Oilfield is a typical thin interbeding sandstone oil
reservoir with a large proportion of thin layers, a long longitudinal
span, and thick oil-bearing well interval. During the initial period of
production, the oilfield was developed by commingled production
with a set of formation, inverted nine spot injector-producer
pattern through directional wells. After more than 10 years of
water flooding development, this oilfield shows water flooding
disequilibrium. In view of the thin interbeding reservoirs and
complicated structures of PL19-3 Oilfield, the adjustment strategy
of dividing into three sets of development layer series in vertical
direction, changing injector-producer pattern on plane, develop-
ment mainly by directional wells and supplement by horizontal
wells, are designed to improve the oilfield development efficiency.
5.5.1. Recombination of development layer series
Based on the division principle of layer series, considering some
relevant factors (vertical differences of reservoir physical proper-
ties, fluid properties, reserves base, pressure difference, and pro-
ductivity, etc.), PL19-3 Oilfield can be divided into three sets of layer
 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51 49

series to develop, and fine water injection management of thin
interbeding reservoirs, reducing interlayer interference and the
equilibrium of water flooding could be achieved. The first set of
development layer is the L30eL40 oil groups in Lower Member of
Minghuazhen Formation. The second set of development layer is
the L50eL70 oil groups in Upper Member of Guantao Formation.
The third set of development layer is the L80eL120 oil groups in
Lower Member of Guantao Formation. In some regions, oil layers
are developed together depending on reservoir thickness and in-
crease of water flood degree (Fig. 24a).
5.5.2. Optimization and adjustment of injector-producer pattern
According to the structure and reservoir features of each
development unit, the well patterns are different for various faulted
blocks on plane and various layer series in vertical direction and by
combining reservoir engineering scheme and numerical simula-
tion, the reasonable well patterns and well spacing of the study area
can be determined. Based on the feature of single sandbody as well
as reservoir superposition relationship, the irregular injector-
producer pattern for development of the first set of layer series in
Lower Minghuazhen Formation is deployed with well spacing be-
tween 200 and 300 m for development wells. For the second and

Fig. 24. Division of development layer series and well pattern deployment maps of PL 19e3 Oilfield (block 1). (a) Layer series boundary of block 1; (b) well location map of the first
layer series in block 1; (c) well location map of the second layer series in block 1; (d) well location map of the third layer series in block 1.
50 Y. Xue et al. / Petroleum Research 4 (2019) 29e51
the third set of layer series in Guantao Formation, according to
structures location, faults location, effective oil layers distribution
and the reservoir geometry, the development well locations are
deployed in the form of row injection well pattern. And the
injector-producer pattern and development well locations are
further optimized with well spacing between 250 and 350 m for
development wells (Fig. 24bed).
5.5.3. Joint development of directional and horizontal wells
Based on the optimization of development layer series and well
patterns, according to the distribution law of remaining oil and
reservoir distribution, the well types are optimized to improve
oilfield development effect and increase economic benefit. Com-
bined with development experience in Bohai Sea(Su and Li, 2016),
the directional well development was took as the main method,
while the horizontal wells as supplementary, and the horizontal
wells are mainly deployed in two types of layer series. Type I is the
fluvial-facies reservoirs. After years of well injection development,
the water flooding degree of bottom fluvial-facies reservoir is high,
while the remaining oil is accumulated at the top. Therefore, the
horizontal wells are deployed in the middle-upper intervals of thick
oil layers located in blocks 1 and 3 with high water flooding degree.
Type II is then regions with thickening fluids at the margin and
Minghuazhen Formation. These layer series have low productivity
when developed by directional wells, but if they were developed by
horizontal wells, their productivity can be increased with 2e3
times. Thus, the development effect of such reserves can be effec-
tively increased so that the horizontal wells are mainly deployed in
blocks 1, 3, 8 and 9 to increase single well productivity and improve
oilfield development effect and economic benefit.
6. Conclusions
(1) The PL 19e3 Oilfield is a super-large Neogene oilfield with
reserves of 1
109 t in the Bohai sea area, and it has been
successfully explored and developed. Due to large oli-
bearing area and large reserve, to reduce development risk,
progressive exploration as well as evaluation and develop-
ment are adopted; its reserves are increasing along with the
progressive exploration.
(2) The PL 19e3 Oilfield has superior hydrocarbon accumulation
conditions. It is located at the high position of the Bonan
uplift at the southeast of the Bozhong sag (the largest hy-
drocarbon generation sag in the Bohai Sea area). Moreover,
the Bonan uplift connects the Bozhong sag with a brachy
multi-ridge slope, and hydrocarbon migration condition is
good. The trap is a complete large wrench anticline formed
under the control of strike-slipping movement in Neogene
with total area of 125 km2, providing sufficient storage space
for oil and gas. The “multiple composite reservoir-caprock
assemblages” formed in the special shallow-water delta
depositional environment in Neogene is different from other
oilfield with reserve of 108 t in the Bohai Bay Basin, it is
characterized by large reservoir thickness and good physical
properties, thus, the effective hydrocarbon storage space is
greatly increased. The coupling of uplifting and strike slip-
ping during the neotectonic period lead to extensive faulting
activities to constantly release pressure, and these extensive
faulting activities matched with massive hydrocarbon
expulsion of the Bozhong sag in the later period assures
constant and strong later-period hydrocarbon charging.
(3) The PL 19e3 Oilfield has been successfully developed for over
a decade. Some key technologies have been developed,
including the prestack depth migration special processing for
gas cloud zones, the thin interbedding seismic prediction
and description based on high-precision inversion of
geologic model, the reservoir description for deposit systems
in shallow-water braided-river delta facies, the quantitative
description for remaining oil in commingled oil reservoirs
with wide spacing and long well interval, and the stratal well
pattern adjustment for oilfields in complex shallow-water
delta facies during the middle-high water cut stage. These
techniques provide a guarantee for the exploration, evalua-
tion, reserves declaration, development and production of
this oilfield.
Acknowledgements
The work was supported by the National Science and Technol-
ogy Major Project of China (No. 2016ZX05024-003).
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