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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Geoscience and Society
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2025.1563846
This article is part of the Research TopicExploration, Development, and Protection of Earth’s Resources and Environment: Methods, Techniques, Applications, Prospects, Insights, and ProblemsView all 45 articles
Three-dimensional reconstruction and characterization of microscopic pore structure in tight reservoirs
Provisionally accepted- Shenzhen Branch of CNOOC (China) Co., Ltd, Shenzhen, China
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Aiming at the characteristics of random lithology distribution, complex joint structures, low porosity and low permeability of key oil and gas blocks such as Kaiping, Baiyun, Xijiang and Huizhou in the South China Sea, a series of complete digital core collection schemes are implemented in this study to thoroughly analyze the densification mechanism of low permeability reservoirs. Advanced technologies are widely used in this scheme, including full-diameter dual-energy core CT imaging, micron-scale multi-scale CT imaging, focused ion beam scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM) and quantitative analysis of mineral components. The integrated application of these technologies comprehensively analyzes rock samples from macro to micro scales, reveals their sedimentology, diagenesis and reservoir properties, and provides quantitative identification and characterization of rock lithology, mineral composition, pore structure and fracture system. The results show that the density of the reservoir gradually increases and tends to stabilize with increasing burial depth, while the tectonic joints within the reservoir become more developed, the porosity of the core decreases, and the pore size of the natural fractures also tends to decrease. This study quantitatively analyzed the petrophysical parameters such as lithology, porosity, fractures and minerals of the reservoirs, revealed the micro-development laws of the dominant reservoirs in the depressions in the eastern part of the South China Sea, and provided the scientific basis for the practice of oil and gas exploration and development, which is of important scientific and practical application value for promoting the progress of oil and gas exploration technology.
Keywords: CT scan, SEM scan, Hydrocarbon exploration, Reservoir characterization, Densification mechanism
Received: 20 Jan 2025; Accepted: 10 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Guan, Xiong and Jiang. 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: Lijun Guan, Shenzhen Branch of CNOOC (China) Co., Ltd, Shenzhen, China
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