Relationship between fault activity and hydrocarbon accumulation in the Baxian Depression, Bohai Bay Basin, China

Based on the fluorescence microscopic features of fluid inclusions and the combined analysis of the homogenization temperature and burial history modeling, the hydrocarbon charge history was divided into two phases, among which the second phase was the main pool-forming period and took place during the deposition of the Minghuazhen Formation (12–2 Ma). Based on the calculation of the rate of fault displacement and the duration of fault activity, the fault activity characteristics are quantitatively evaluated. The result shows that the average rate of fault displacement during this interval was 6.9 m/Myr, and the duration of fault activity was about 0–6 Myr. Reservoirs formed in the non-hydrocarbon generating strata are overwhelmingly situated adjacent to the faults which have the most rapid displacement rates and longest periods of activity.