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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Geochemistry
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2024.1508427

Evaluation of Upper Paleozoic Source Rocks in the Southeastern Margin of the Ordos Basin

Provisionally accepted
Yongping Wan Yongping Wan 1Zhengchuan Wang Zhengchuan Wang 1*Minrui Cui Minrui Cui 2,3Kouqi Liu Kouqi Liu 4Wu Li Wu Li 2,3
  • 1 Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum (Group) Corp. Ltd, Xi'an, China
  • 2 Key Laboratory of Coalbed Methane Resources and Reservoir Formation Process, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 3 School of Resources and Earth Sciences, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 4 Beijing Solar Energy Research Institute, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The Upper Paleozoic source rocks in the Yanchang gas field, located in the southeastern Ordos Basin, were systematically evaluated in terms of organic matter abundance, type, and thermal maturity. Results indicate that the coal-bearing source rocks in the study area generally exhibit high total organic carbon (TOC) content, with the Benxi and Taiyuan Formations demonstrating excellent hydrocarbon generation potential. Kerogen maceral analysis reveals that the primary kerogen types are Type III (humic) and partially Type II2 (humic-sapropelic), indicating strong gas generation potential. Thermal maturity analysis suggests that the source rocks are in an overmature dry gas stage, having undergone significant thermal evolution. In conclusion, the Upper Paleozoic source rocks represent an important target for natural gas exploration. The high-quality source rocks in the Yanchang gas field are mainly distributed in the central and southern parts of the region, characterized by high organic matter maturity (high Ro values), favorable type indices, and rich TOC content, thereby demonstrating significant hydrocarbon generation potential.

    Keywords: Ordos Basin, Coal-bearing source rocks, Upper Paleozoic, Source rock evaluation, Yan 'an gas area

    Received: 09 Oct 2024; Accepted: 02 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wan, Wang, Cui, Liu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Zhengchuan Wang, Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum (Group) Corp. Ltd, Xi'an, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.