Diagenesis and its impact on reservoir quality for the Chang 8 oil group tight sandstone of the Yanchang Formation (upper Triassic) in southwestern Ordos basin, China

Based on the applications of thin section, cathode luminescence, scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction, this paper studies the reservoir characteristics, diagenesis features and their influences on the development of reservoir pores for the Chang 8 oil group of Yanchang Formation in southwestern Ordos Basin. Results show that the reservoir is characterized by low composition maturity, low structure maturity, low porosity/ultra-low porosity and ultra-low permeability which belong to tight reservoir. The reservoirs develop medium intensity of compaction, moderate to strong cementation, relatively strong dissolution, suggesting that it is in stage B of the middle diagenetic evolution. The main diagenetic types include mechanical compaction, cementation by carbonates, quartz and clay minerals, and dissolution which have directly influenced the reservoir quality. In the early diagenetic period, the rapid compaction and cementation of carbonate had rapidly destroyed the reservoir quality, while the particles lining of chlorites had protected the reservoir space. In the middle diagenetic stage A, secondary dissolution pores were formed as soluble clastic grains were dissolved by the acidic fluid with organic matters maturation. The dissolution has played a constructive role for the pore generation and preservation. In the middle diagenetic stage B, the later compaction and cementation further reduced the reservoir quality. The analysis of pore evolution demonstrates that the initial reservoir porosity is about 30.59%. 16.925% overall porosity is lost through compaction, 11.65% porosity loss is due to cementation, and 6.36% porosity was created by dissolution. Finally, the reservoir is holding 8.375% porosity in present. © 2017, The Author(s).