Differential evolution of pore fluid pressure in the Sinian carbonate reservoirs of the central and eastern Sichuan Basin, China: Implication for gas preservation and destruction

Trillions of cubic meters of gas reserve have been found in the Sinian Dengying carbonate reservoirs with normal pressure in the central Sichuan Basin, while no industrial gas reservoir have been detected in the Sinian Dengying reservoir with normal pressure in the eastern Sichuan Basin. The pore fluid pressure of gas reservoir is usually closely related to total gas content. To investigate the pore fluid pressure evolution and its implication for gas reserve preservation in the Sinian Dengying reservoir of the central and eastern Sichuan Basin, we conducted a comprehensive analysis including fluid inclusion petrography, microthermometry and Raman spectroscopy. The timings of gas inclusions captured in the central and eastern Sichuan Basin occurred from 175 to 92 Ma and 191 to 183 Ma, respectively. The presence of two-phase vapour-solid bitumen inclusions with similar phase proportions in a single fluid inclusion assemblage of fluorite provides direct evidence of in situ oil cracking to gas. The widespread solid bitumen from the Sinian Dengying reservoir in the central Sichuan Basin indicates the existence of massive oil cracking, which results in the formation of overpressure in the reservoir. Pore fluid pressure evolution of the Sinian Dengying reservoir of the central Sichuan Basin experiences normal pressure stage (200–155 Ma), overpressure development stage (155–90 Ma) and overpressure release stage (90–0 Ma). The maximum pore fluid pressure and its corresponding pressure coefficient of the Sinian Dengying reservoir of the central Sichuan Basin are approximately 141.4 MPa and 1.95, respectively. The overpressure development stage reflects the processes of oil cracking and gas accumulation, and the overpressure release stage reflects the dissipation of some natural gas in the Sinian Dengying reservoir of the central Sichuan Basin. The pore fluid pressure of the Sinian Dengying reservoir in the eastern Sichuan Basin has maintained at normal pressure since 200 Ma, indicating that the gas reservoir was small during the oil cracking stage and natural gas completely leaked due to tectonic uplift.