New knowledge of hydrocarbon generating theory of organic matter in Chinese marine carbonates

The marine carbonates of the Tarim Basin are taken to study the relationship between source rock and oil and gas reservoirs and discuss the possibility and mechanisms of mature and low-TOC (less than 0.5%) marine carbonates being source rock. By studying the matching relationship between source rocks in Tarim Basin and hydrocarbon reservoirs in Tahe oilfield and analyzing the hydrocarbon-generating organism combination and its correlation with geochemical characteristics of oil and gas reservoirs, this study established a method to evaluate hydrocarbon generation substance of marine carbonate source rocks. It is concluded that the crude oil of the Tahe oilfield in the Tarim Basin is not derived from muddy source rocks, but has the obvious characteristics derived from carbonate source rocks. It revealed that the underestimated hydrocarbon-generating substance (organic acid salts) in the highly evolved marine carbonate rocks and high quality hydrocarbon-generating organism are the key to high-evolution carbonate rocks being as source rock. Organic acid salts have high hydrocarbon conversion rate and are mainly cracked into natural gas at high temperature. The development model of the source rocks of the Cambrian-Lower Ordovician carbonate source rocks in the Tarim Basin is dominated by the shelf model.