A quantitative study of the scale and distribution of tight gas reservoirs in the Sulige gas field, Ordos Basin, northwest China

Gas and water distribution is discontinuous in tight gas reservoirs, and a quantitative understanding of the factors controlling the scale and distribution of effective reservoirs is important for natural gas exploration. We used geological and geophysical explanation results, dynamic and static well test data, interference well test and static pressure test to calculate the distribution and characteristics of tight gas reservoirs in the H8 Member of the Shihezi Formation, Sulige gas field, Ordos Basin, northwest China. Our evaluation system examines the scale, physical properties, gas-bearing properties, and other reservoir features, and results in classification of effective reservoirs into types I, II, and III that differ greatly in size, porosity, permeability, and saturation. The average thickness, length, and width of type I effective reservoirs are 2.89, 808, and 598 m, respectively, and the porosity is > 10.0%, permeability is > 10 × 10−3 µm2, and average gas saturation is > 60%. Compared with conventional gas reservoirs, tight gas effective reservoirs are small-scale and have low gas saturation. Our results show that the scale of the sedimentary system controls the size of the dominant microfacies in which tight gas effective reservoirs form. The presence of different types of interbeds hinders the connectivity of effective sand body reservoirs. The gas source conditions and pore characteristics of the reservoirs control sand body gas filling and reservoir formation. The physical properties and structural nature of the reservoirs control gas-water separation and the gas contents of effective reservoirs. The results are beneficial for the understanding of gas reservoir distribution in the whole Ordos Basin and other similar basins worldwide.