Volcanic Reservoirs in Petroleum Exploration

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Exploration History and Features of Volcanic Reservoirs

Volcanic reservoirs, regarded as unconventional reservoirs with volcanic rock as the reservoir bed, have been widely discovered in many hydrocarbon-bearing basins at home and abroad for more than 100 years. Overseas volcanic reservoirs have experienced a long history of exploration with some discoveries of large oil and gas fields, but most of which were discovered by chance or in very localized areas. Volcanic reservoirs have not garnered much interest on the part of oil and gas explorers. However, in China, volcanic reservoirs have received more attention recently and have become one of the major targets for exploration. Hydrocarbon exploration has made breakthroughs in volcanic rocks in the deep Songliao Basin and the Carboniferous-Permian Formations in the Junggar and Santanghu Basins. Reserves have increased on a large scale, demonstrating the potential of oil and gas exploration in volcanic rocks.

1.1 Overseas Volcanic Reservoir Exploration

1.1.1 Exploration History and Features

Volcanic rocks are widely distributed in many hydrocarbon-bearing basins at home and abroad and could function as important reservoir rocks. The first reported discovery overseas (1887) was in the San Joaquin Basin in California, United States, which has since experienced 120 years of exploration and development. There are altogether more than 300 cases of discoveries of oil and gas reservoirs or oil and gas shows in volcanic rock (Figure 1.1) at present, among which 169 reservoirs have proven reserves.

Figure 1.1 Global oil and gas distribution in volcanic rock, among which there are 169 reservoirs, 65 cases with oil and gas shows, and 102 cases with oil seepage.

1.1.1.1 Overseas Exploration for Volcanic Reservoirs and Division of Research Period

Most reservoirs in volcanic rocks were the accidental by-products of traditional shallow oil reservoirs, and were considered to be of no commercial value, and therefore were ignored without appraisal or study.

Researchers eventually became aware that hydrocarbon accumulation in volcanic rocks is not an abnormal phenomenon and conducted oil and gas exploration intentionally in volcanic rocks in some local areas. La Paz oil field, discovered in Venezuela in 1953 with the highest oil production in a single well (up to 1828 m³ d− 1), was the first successful case in the world of exploration aimed at volcanic rock. From this point on, the study of volcanic oil reservoirs entered a new phase.

After the discoveries of oil fields in volcanic rock, volcanic reservoir exploration was conducted extensively around the world, giving birth to many discoveries of oil and gas reservoirs (fields) in the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, former Soviet Union, Japan, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Well-known cases include the tuff oil reservoir in Samgori (Georgia), oil reservoir in eruptive rock in Muradkhanli (Azerbaijan), andesitic oil reservoir in Jatibarang (Indonesia), rhyolitic reservoir in Yoshii to east Kashiwazaki (Japan), and granitic reservoir in White Tiger oil field in shallow seas (south Vietnam).

1.1.1.2 Features of Overseas Research

Overseas volcanic reservoirs have undergone a long history of exploration with many discoveries of oil and gas reservoirs, but most were discovered by chance or in localized areas. Little attention has been paid to this kind of reservoir; therefore, volcanic reservoirs have not been extensively explored as a whole and their contribution to the global total of reserves only accounts for 1% or so. Research remains at a low level. Relevant papers and studies specializing in volcanic reservoirs are very few at home and abroad, resulting in a lack of understanding.

Neogene, Paleogene, and Cretaceous volcanic rocks are relatively rich in oil and gas, while little occurs in rocks Jurassic and older. Volcanic rocks that have formed reservoirs are likely to occur in strata from hundreds of meters to 2000 m deep, and seldom deeper than 3000 m.

Discovered volcanic reservoirs mainly occur in a circular distribution around the Pacific Rim, from the United States and Mexico in North America, to Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil, and Argentina in South America, and then to China, Japan, and Indonesia in Asia. They also have been discovered from Central Asia to Eastern Europe, including Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Russia, Romania, and Hungary. Some countries in North Africa and Central Africa, e.g., Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Angola, have reported discoveries of volcanic reservoirs as well.

In view of the structural setting of hydrocarbon-bearing basins, volcanic reservoirs mainly distribute at passive continental margins, e.g., those discovered in North America, South America, and Africa, and can also develop in inland rift basins.

With respect to rock type, volcanic reservoir rocks mainly include intermediate to basic rock, such as basalt and andesite. Primary and secondary pores serve as reservoir space. These develop from fractures and dissolved pores of various geneses and are crucial to the improvement of reservoir properties.

In general, oil and gas reservoirs have been reported to be limited in volcanic rock, but large, high-yield oil and gas fields do exist. Table 1.1 lists 11 overseas volcanic oil and gas fields with recoverable reserves all higher than 2000 × 10⁴ tons oil equivalent, among which Jatibarang oil and gas field in the northwest Java Basin, Indonesia, is the largest oil field with recoverable oil reserves of 1.64 × 10⁴ tons. Scott Reef oil and gas field in Browse Basin, Australia, is the largest gas field with recoverable gas reserves of 3877 × 10⁸ m³. Table 1.2 lists the production of 12 overseas volcanic oil and gas fields, among which daily oil production of Cristales oil field in the North Cuba Basin is the highest, up to 3425 tons, and daily gas production of the Yoshii-Kashiwazaki gas field in Niigata Basin, Japan, is the highest, up to 49.5 × 10⁴ m³.

Table 1.1

Reserves of Overseas Large Volcanic Oil and Gas Fields

Table 1.2

Production of Overseas Volcanic Oil and Gas Fields

1.1.2 Typical Volcanic Reservoirs

1.1.2.1 Scott Reef Oil and Gas Field, Australia

Browse Basin lies in the northwestern sea area of Australia with seawater depth between 80 and 300 m and a basin area of 14 × 10⁴ km². Several oil and gas fields have been discovered in the basin, among which Scott Reef volcanic oil and gas field has the largest reserves (Table 1.2).

Browse Basin has a Paleozoic to Cenozoic deposition thickness greater than 15,000 m, with the development of several stages of a Mesozoic depositional basin. Most of the basin lies in continental shelf. There were six periods of structural evolution: (1) inward extension of the craton into a half-graben basin in the later Carboniferous to the early Permian, (2) heat subsidence in the later Permian to the Triassic, (3) tectonic reversal in the later Triassic to the early Jurassic, (4) extension in the early and middle Jurassic, (5) heat subsidence in the later Jurassic to the Cenozoic, and (6) reversal in the middle and later Miocene.

Source rocks mainly developed in the lower Permian, Jurassic, and lower Cretaceous, which were predelta onshore-plain, fine-grained sediment of coal-bearing mudstone. Reservoir rock includes river delta sandstone and Campanian-Maastrichtian marine sandstone of the middle and lower Jurassic, among which there are large amounts of volcanic interbeds in the Jurassic with good reservoir properties. Burial depth of the reservoir rock can reach 4000-5000 m. The depth of the basin margin is 3000-3500 m. In Scott Reef field, the burial depth of the reservoir rock lies between 3934 and 4695 m. Reservoir trap types primarily include fault, anticline, buried hill, and stratigraphic overlap.

1.1.2.2 Jatibarang Oil and Gas Field, Indonesia

Jatibarang oil field, northwest of Java, Indonesia, was discovered through well JTB-44 drilled in 1969. with zone of interest at 2011 m. The field entered the development stage in 1973. Daily oil production of a single well is from 250 to 3000 bbl and burial depth is from 2000 to 2300 m.

The Upper Cretaceous Jatibarang Formation pay zone is 1200 m thick and composed of andesite and dacite with interbeds of clay, glutinite in the lower part, and andesitic volcaniclastic rocks and altered volcanics in the upper part. Volcanic rock develops in an onshore fluvial environment. The reservoir is fractured volcanic rock, including lava (andesite/basalt), tuff, volcanic breccias, and agglomerate. Fractures, intergranular pores, and intercrystalline pores form the reservoir space. The reservoir rock is characterized by high heterogeneity and well-developed fractures with porosity varying between 16% and 25% and permeability of 10 × 10− 3 μm². The burial depth of the reservoirs lies between 2700 and 4000 m. There are structural reservoirs and lithologic-stratigraphic reservoirs in this field.

1.1.2.3 Kudu Gas Field, Namibia

Kudu gas field in Namibia, discovered in 1974, lies in the western sea area of Namibia at water depths of approximately 170 m. Basalt of effusive facies distributes extensively at the African and South American continental margins with lateral extension from 60 to 100 km. This extension inclines seaward and forms the well-known seaward-inclined reflection sequence (SDRS), distributing within the range of sea bed depths of 200-4500 m. Kudu gas field has at least 849 × 10⁸ m³ natural gas reserves in the SDRS. The source rock, which developed in the Permian system, consists of lacustrine mudstone of the prerift stage, and marine or continental mudstone of the synrift stage. Reservoir rocks with burial depths of 4400 m are sandstones interbedded with plateau basalts.

1.1.2.4 Muradkhanli Oil Field, Azerbaijan

The oil field in the east-central Kula Basin, Azerbaijan, was a major discovery in the early 1970s. Crude oil mainly accumulated in eruptive rock at the top of a buried hill.

At the early stage of the later Cretaceous, a volcanic eruption in the Muradkhanli uplift resulted in the accumulation of trachybasalt and andesite with a maximum thickness of 1950 m. The volcanic eruption, accompanied by transgression, gave rise to alternating layers of volcanic rock and sedimentary rock. These layers were then eroded, developing a weathering crust of 50-100 m at the top of the uplifted buried hill, and then subsequent deposition from the Paleocene to Quaternary. As a result, eruptive rock was overlapped by younger sediments. The Muradkhanli buried hill is 20 km long, 15 km wide, and 1000-1600 m in relief. The axis is cut by vertical faults, and the overlying strata demonstrate syngenetic structures that inherited the ancient landform of the buried hill.

The reservoir rock mainly consists of eruptive rocks, such as andesite, basalt, and porphyrite. Porosity varies from 0.6% to 20% with an average of 13%. The porosity of microfractures accounts for 0.44% of the total volume. Large pores 2 cm long and 1.5 cm wide and many small 1-mm pores, as well as secondary leached pores of 0.05 mm × 0.97 mm, have been seen in samples. There are large fractures and microfractures in the upper part of eruptive rocks, which may result in mud loss during drilling and also high yield in oil recovery.

The field consists of five oil reservoirs, one of which is an eruptive reservoir above the erosion surface. The reservoir is situated at the top of an uplift and northwest periclines and belongs to a massive, stratified oil reservoir. The porosity of the eruptive rock varies from 10% to 16%. Matrix permeability is close to zero. Oil production from a single well is controlled by fractures; high yield is possible in the case of well-developed fractures. Each well has unique production profiles because of uneven fracture development. The fracture system in the eruptive oil reservoir is well connected because of the fractures in the weathering crust, which may lead to high yield in oil production.

1.1.2.5 Yoshii-East Kashiwazaki Gas Field, Japan

This gas field, lying northeast of Kashiwazaki City, Japan, is a long, narrow, anticlinal, trapped green tuff gas field that stretches from West Mountain to the central oil and gas province in Niigata Basin. The northwest high belongs to the east Kashiwazaki gas field of Teikoku Oil Co., and the southeast high belongs to the Yoshii gas field of Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. The anticline is 16 km long and 3 km wide, with a gas-bearing area of 27.8 km², original recoverable gas reserves of 118 × 10⁸ m³, oil reserves of 225 × 10⁴ tons, and well depth of 2310-2720 m.

Green tuff developed in the middle Miocene Epoch, i.e., the Qigu Age, with effective reservoir thickness of 5-57 m, porosity of 7-32%, and permeability of 5 × 10− 3 to 150 × 10− 3 μm². The source rock is mudstone from the Qigu Formation with an organic carbon content of 1-1.5% and Type I kerogen. The Qigu Formation was buried at depths shallower than 2000 m in the early Xishan Age, at temperatures of approximately 100 °C. Crude oil generated in this period migrated to and accumulated in the volcanic rocks of the anticlinal trap. Subsequently, the Qigu Formation continued to subside. When the underground temperature rose above 130 °C, crude oil in the original oil reservoirs began to be pyrolyzed to generate gas and condensed oil with a gas/oil ratio from 4000 to 5000.

Originally, tuff has poor porosity and permeability with low productivity. The ultimate capacity of the green tuff gas zone relates to a secondary pore and fracture system. The overall gas reservoir has a strong water drive with high gas well pressure and small pressure drop.

1.2 Volcanic Reservoir Exploration in China

1.2.1 Exploration History

Domestic volcanic reservoirs were discovered in the Junggar Basin for the first time in 1957, which was followed by successive discoveries in 11 basins over the next 50 years, including Bohai Bay, Songliao, Erlian, and Santanghu Basins, among others. Volcanic reservoir exploration in China has experienced three stages: accidental discoveries, local exploration, and overall exploration. The progress in each exploration stage is closely related to the increasing knowledge of volcanic reservoirs and technical advancements in exploration.

1.2.1.1 Stage of Accidental Discoveries

From the 1950s to 1980, volcanic reservoirs had primarily been discovered by chance at the northwestern margin of Junggar Basin and in the Liaohe and Jiyang depressions, Bohai Bay Basin.

During the preliminary prospecting and adjustment of oilfield development in Karamay (from 1957 to 1973), there were favorable oil and gas shows in the Carboniferous volcanic rock system or lower Permian series in the Zhongguai uplift, Hongshanzui oil field, and Blocks 1, 5, 6, and 7 in the Karamay oil field. In 1957, well 222 in Block 9, Karamay oil field, yielded a commercial oil stream from the Carboniferous system for the first time, with daily production of 7.25 m³. However, it was disregarded, and the volcanic rock was only considered to be the basement of the depositional basin.

During the major development of Karamay oil field (from 1973 to 1980), well Gu3 in Block 9 at the upper wall of the Ke-Bai fault belt yielded a high volume, of commercial oil stream from Carboniferous tuff and andesite with daily production of 177 m³, which made it clear that Carboniferous volcanic rocks may act as effective reservoir rocks. Limited by the shortage of useful seismic data because basement reflections could not be extracted from single-point analog signals, basement volcanic rocks had not been characterized. In addition, affected by the misunderstanding of the day, which regarded volcanic rock only as basin basement, Carboniferous volcanic rock had not been considered an effective reservoir, and the exploration did not proceed.

The period from the early 1960s to the early 1980s witnessed major discoveries of middle to large oil and gas fields in east China. The hydrocarbon exploration targets in this period were clastic rocks of the Paleogene to Neogene systems and buried hill reservoirs of pre-Paleogene. The discoveries of oil layers or reservoirs in volcanic rock had only been contingent events during conventional exploration. From 1970 to 1972, volcanic oil layers had been discovered in six structures in the east of Liaohe depression, including the Yulou, Huangjindai, and Dapingfang structures. There were 24 wells with commercial oil streams or oil shows. From 1972 to 1980, an SC13 diabase oil reservoir, Lin41 diabase oil reservoir, and Xia8 oil reservoir in a volcanic cone draping structure were drilled successively in the Jiyang depression, as well as the Shijiutuo 428 volcanic oil reservoir in the sea area of Jiyang depression. Magmatic activity mechanisms have a certain relationship with complicated fractured anticlines in rift basins; therefore, it is inevitable to find oil reservoirs or oil and gas shows in volcanic rocks frequently in this period. On the other hand, volcanic reservoirs had not been taken seriously in the 1970s. The proven oil-bearing area was only 2.7 km² with proven reserves of 172 × 10⁴ tons to the end of the 1970s in volcanic oil reservoirs in Bohai Bay