Characteristics and accumulation mechanisms of the Dongfang 13-1 high temperature and overpressured gas field in the Yinggehai Basin, the South China Sea

The Dongfang 13-1 is located in the diapiric structure belt of the Yinggehai Basin. The formation pressure of its main gas reservoir in the Miocene Huangliu Formation is up to 54.6 MPa (pressure coefficient=1.91) and the temperature is as high as 143°C (geothermal gradient 4.36°C/100 m), indicating that it is a typical high-temperature and overpressured gas reservoir. The natural gas is interpreted to be coal-type gas derived from the Miocene mature source rocks containing type II2–III kerogens as evidenced by high dryness index of up to 0.98 and heavy carbon isotopes, i.e., the δ13C1 ranging from −30.76‰ to −37.52‰ and δ13C2 ranging from −25.02‰ to −25.62‰. The high temperature and overpressured Miocene petroleum system is related mainly to diapir in the Yinggehai Basin and contains more pore water in the overpressured reservoirs due to undercompaction process. The experimental and calculated results show that the solubility of natural gas in formation water is as high as 10.5 m3/m3 under the temperature and pressure conditions of the Sanya Formation, indicating that at least part of the gas may migrate in the form of water-soluble phase. Meanwhile, the abundant gas source in the Basin makes it possible for the rapid saturation of natural gas in formation water and exsolution of soluble gas. Therefore, the main elements controlling formation of the Dongfang 13-1 gas pool include that (1) the diapir activities and accompanying changes in temperature and pressure accelerate the water-soluble gas exsolution and release a lot of free gas; (2) submarine fan fine sandstone in the Huangliu Formation provides good gas-water segregation and accumulation space; and (3) the overlying overpressured mud rocks act as effective caps. The accumulation mechanism reveals that the high temperatural and high pressure structure belt near the diapir structures has a good potential for large and medium-sized gas field exploration.