Origin of deep heavy oils in the northwestern Junggar Basin (NW China) and implications for gas migration

Whether the northwestern Junggar Basin (NW China) has natural gas potential is an urgent but unresolved question. In this study, we discuss the origin of deep heavy oils (>2900 m) and its implication for gas migration and accumulation, based on a comprehensive investigation into physicochemical and geological properties of hydrocarbons in the northern Zhongguai High. Our results indicate that multiple-episode migration of hydrocarbons created four genetic types of oils and three genetic types of hydrocarbon gases and induced widespread gas washing. Relatively low maturity and gas washing are both responsible for the formation of the deep heavy oils. In detail, the migrating late-stage humic-type gases washed the encountered early stage low-maturity oils. The oil reservoirs lost their light fraction and evolved into heavy oils, which are preserved in the deep layer to the present, while the light-end components continued to migrate upward and accumulated as mixed gas pools or vented out of the system. The spatial distributions pattern of source rocks, heavy oils, and mixed gas clearly indicates the migration pathways of humic-type gases, which otherwise are difficult to define in the study area. Because the gases finally migrate into fault belts, their poor preservation condition likely results in the rare discoveries of gas fields. The favorable exploration targets for gas in the area are expected to be fault traps in fault belts, stratigraphic traps along the pinch-out boundary of the Upper Wuerhe Formation, and, particularly, the deep traps in the Mahu Sag.