Petroleum Resources and Regional Selection Evaluation in the East China Sea

Based on the analysis of present situation of petroleum exploration and development and resource potential in the East China Sea,this paper discusses its favourable strategic regions for petroleum exploration by means of integrated geological research in order to optimize the exploration object selection,to quicken its step for petroleum exploration and development.It is shown that the East China Sea has abun-dant oil and natural gas resources and hence is of great prospect for petroleum exploration.However,it is different in the exploration potential from one area to another,for the East China Sea continental shelf basin is the greatest,while the Okinawa Trough basin is the second one.In the East China Sea continental shelf Basin,the Xihu Depression is the best in petroleum exploration potential,and the Oujiang Depression and Minjiang Depression are the next.The major horizons for petroleum exploration in the Xihu Depression,Oujiang Depression and Minjiang Depression are the Eocecne-Oliogocene,Paleocene and Mesozoic, respectively.The Okinawa Trough Basin has the basic petroleum geological conditions to form oil and gas pool,in which the marginal deep continental shelf is the most favorable with the Miocene as the most important horizon.