Petroleum Research xxx (2017) 1e10

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Full Length Article

Controlling factors of Dengying Formation reservoirs in the central

Sichuan paleo-uplift
Bing Luo*, Yaoming Yang, Wenjun Luo, Long Wen, Wenzhi Wang, Kang Chen
Research Institute of Exploration and Development, PetroChina Southwest Oil & Gas Field Company, Sichuan 610041, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Macroscopic and microscopic characteristics revealed that the Dengying Formation reservoir in the
Received 9 October 2016 central Sichuan paleo-uplift belonged to the compound genetic reservoir of the mound-shoal facies and
Received in revised form karst. Development of the reservoir was controlled by the mound-shoal facies, and dissolution-enlarged
5 January 2017
or added pores (vugs) due to superimposed karstication modication were favorable reservoir spaces.
Accepted 10 January 2017
Available online xxx
The karst of the Dengying Formation in Tongwan stage was the stratabound-weathered crust karst of the
early diagenesis stage, the extensive superimposition of mound-shoal facies and regional karstication in
the central Sichuan paleo-uplift area was the key to develop the large-scale continuous Dengying For-
Keywords:
Dengying Formation
mation reservoirs. Due to differences in the development degree of mound-shoal facies and in the in-
Karst tensity of karst modication, the reservoir development degree varied in different zones in the paleo-
The mound-shoal facies uplift area. The NS-extending zone on the western side of the Gaoshiti-Moxi area was the sweet spot
Reservoir for reservoir development. Effective identication of mound-shoal facies and ne depiction of karst
Sweet spot landform was the key for reservoir prediction of the Dengying Formation to discovery the superimposed
The central Sichuan paleo-uplift area of the mound-shoal facies and the karst monadnock-karst steep slope which similar to Moxi-
Sichuan Basin Gaoshiti area.
2017 Chinese Petroleum Society. Publishing Services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi. This is an open
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction
Over the past decade, fast development of deep oil and gas
exploration had been witnessed in the world. Deep oil and gas
exploration and production had been accelerated to obtain oil and
gas at an ever-increasing speed. China has shown huge potential of
discovering large marine elds in deep formation of hydrocarbon-
bearing basins with abundant residual resources (Du et al., 2013; Jia
et al., 2013; Xie et al., 2013; Zhao et al., 2014). According to a new
round of resource evaluation, the deep oil resources in China
amounted to 30.4  109 t, accounting for 28% of total oil resources;
the natural gas resources amounted to 29.12  1012 m3, accounting
for 52% of total natural gas resources. As one of the major marine
hydrocarbon-bearing basins in China, the Sichuan Basin has the
abundant deep carbonate hydrocarbon resource. Since 2002, the
Puguang and Yuanba gas elds have been discovered reserves
which exceeded 100  109 m3 respectively (Han and Sun, 2014). In
particular, an extraordinarily large Cambrian-Sinian gas reservoir
has been discovered in the central Sichuan paleo-uplift since 2011,
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: lb2001@petrochina.com.cn (B. Luo).
Peer review under responsibility of Petroleum Research.
the reserve was likely to exceed 1000  109 m3. Beside the proved
natural gas reserves of more than 440  109 m3 in the Long-
wangmiao Formation of Moxi area, the Sinian Dengying Formation
gas reservoirs had been discovered in Weiyuan, Ziyang, Gaoshiti,
Moxi, Longnvsi and Hebaochang areas, indicating huge potential of
hydrocarbon exploration from ancient deep carbonate rocks in the
Sichuan Basin. Therefore, as the oldest Sinian carbonates in deep
strata of the central Sichuan paleo-uplift, characteristics, control-
ling factors and distribution of reservoirs in the Sinian Dengying
Formation were studied, and the genesis and evolution of the
Dengying Formation were also discussed. The results could help
enhance understanding of the genesis and preservation mechanism
of old carbonate reservoirs in deep strata, and also could guide the
deep hydrocarbon exploration in the Sinian Dengying Formation in
the Sichuan Basin.
2. Geological setting
2.1. Paleotectonic characteristic
The central Sichuan (Leshan-Longnvsi) paleo-uplift was a giant
uplift in the Sichuan Basin (Fig. 1a), it was characterized by the

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2096-2495/ 2017 Chinese Petroleum Society. Publishing Services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Please cite this article in press as: Luo, B., et al., Controlling factors of Dengying Formation reservoirs in the central Sichuan paleo-uplift,
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2 B. Luo et al. / Petroleum Research xxx (2017) 1e10

earliest formation age, the largest scale, the longest duration and
the greatest denudation magnitude as well as the widest cover
area. The formation and evolution of this paleo-uplift also inu-
enced and controlled on hydrocarbon accumulation in the Sinian
Dengying Formation (Gu et al., 2014; Li et al., 2014; Xu et al., 2014).
In the early 1970s, the central Sichuan paleo-uplift was discov-
ered based on Weiyuan drilling data, general seismic survey data
and regional seismic prole. The paleo-uplift morphology could be
clearly shown on the pre-Permian paleogeological map with an
NEE-trending axis and the core at Ya'an. It was successively
denuded to the Sinian, the Cambrian, the Ordovician, and the
Silurian in the NE direction (Fig. 1b). On the base of the Silurian of
full denudation, the paleo-uplift covered an area up to
62.5  103 km2. Presently, the paleo-uplift is manifested as a nose-
like uplift with an NE-trending axis, and plunges towards the
Longnvsi-Guang'an area in NE direction (Fig. 1a). The tectonic belts
such as Leshan, Weiyuan, and Gaoshiti-Moxi were well developed.
Calculated along the tectonic line of the Cambrian bottom bound-
ary at an altitude of 6000 m, the paleo-lift was 120e200 km wide
from south to north, and 350 km long from east to west, covering an
area up to 54.3  103 km2.
The central Sichuan paleo-uplift was an inherited uplift evolving
from the Sinan, its formation and evolution was characterized by
synsedimentation and denudation (Song, 1996; Mei et al., 2014),
and mainly underwent four stages: (1) The paleo-uplift prototype
(pre-Cambrian) stage. The interior and top of the Dengying

Fig. 1. Distribution and current morphology of Cambrian bottom boundary of the central Sichuan paleo-uplift. (a) Structure of the Cambrian bottom in the Sichuan Basin. (b) Strata
distribution of the pre-Permian in the Sichuan Basin. (c) The seismic prole of the central Sichuan paleo-uplift.

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 B. Luo et al. / Petroleum Research xxx (2017) 1e10
Formation was denudated and modied by the Tongwan tectonic
event which has multiple episodes. As a result, the topography of
Sichuan Basin was characterized by the uplift in northwest, high at
the center, and depression in the southeast (Yang et al., 2014); the
central Sichuan area was mainly an uplift of the sedimentation and
denudation relict type. (2) Tectonic uplift development stage
(Cambrian to pre-Permian). In the complete-preserved Cambrian
area, the strata above the Lower Cambrian Qiongzhusi Formation
was characterized by gradual increase of thickness from the core to
the margin of the paleo-uplift (Fig. 1c), indicating that a synsedi-
mentary tectonic uplift began to develop after depositional period
of Qiongzhusi Formation, and evolved steadily before the Permian;
the paleo-uplift experienced overall uplift and subsidence many
times, but this evolution process was mainly characterized by the
weathering denudation and deplanation of the uplift top (Fig. 1b-c).
(3) The steady burial stage (Permian to Middle Triassic). The tec-
tonic pattern was mainly manifested as uplifting in the southeast,
subsiding in the northwest, and the unbalanced depositing on both
sides of the paleo-uplift; the axis of paleo-uplift slightly migrated to
the southeast direction. (4) The xation and adjustment stage
(since the Late Triassic). As inuenced by the large-scale thrusting
and napping of the Longmenshan fold-thrust zone and rapid sub-
sidence of West Sichuan foreland basin, the uplifting degree of the
paleo-uplift core was further increased, and the axis of the paleo-
uplift also was shifted to southeast direction, thus the current up-
lift zone was formed (Fig. 1a).
2.2. Sedimentary characteristic
The Sinian was divided into the Doushantuo Formation and the
Dengying Formation. The Dengying Formation was further divided
into four members from bottom to top, namely, Member 1, Member
2, Member 3, and Member 4. Member 2 and Member 4 of Dengying
Formation belonged to the algae-rich intervals (Fig. 2). The lithol-
ogy of the algae-rich intervals mainly were the algal bounded-
clotted dolomite, the algal bounded doloarenite and the
hummocky-columnar stromatolite dolomite (Li et al., 2013a; Zhou
et al., 2014), the sedimentary facies were the platform algal
mound and the grain shoal, which were major facies of reservoir I n
the Dengying Formation.
After the deposition period of Sinian strata, the Upper Yangtze
area was uplifted due to the Tongwan movement, consequentially,
the Dengying Formation of the Sichuan Basin was denuded to a
variable extent (He et al., 2008; Liu et al., 2011; Zhou et al., 2011).
The Ziyang and the west areas were denuded to Member 2 of
Dengying Formation, and the other areas in the basin were
denuded to Member 4 of Dengying Formation in different degree.
Affected by the large-scale supergene karst, the karst reservoirs in
the Dengying Formation were well developed, and a large number
of dissolution vugs, pores and fractures were also observed in the
drilling cores (Fig. 2). A wide distribution of the large scale reser-
voirs were developed in Member 2 and Member 4 of Sinian Den-
gying Formation in the Sichuan Basin.
3. Reservoir characteristics of Dengying Formation
3.1. Reservoir rocks
The Sinian reservoir rocks were mainly distributed in the Den-
gying Formation, and were closely related to the algal mounds and
the grain shoals of the mound ats or mound caps. Based on
outcrop and cores, the main reservoir rocks were the doloarenite
and the algal dolomite (the algal-clotted dolomite, the algal-frame
dolomite, the algae-mass dolomite, the algal-bonded dolomite, the
algal-stromatolitic dolomite) (Fig. 3a-d). In the Moxi-Gaoshiti area,
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3
the doloarenite, the algal-bounded dolomite, and the algal-
stromatolitic dolomite were the most primary reservoir rocks
(Fig. 3g).
3.2. Reservoir spaces
According to the genesis, morphology, size and distribution
location, the Sinian reservoir spaces could be divided into three
types (Table 1): pores (including intraparticle dissolution pores,
interparticle dissolution pores, intercrystalline dissolution pores
and relict interparticle pores), solution cavities (2 mm in diam-
eter), and fractures.
Pores were one of the major types of reservoir space in the
Dengying Formation, which were dominated by the interparticle
dissolution pores and the intercrystalline dissolution pores (Fig. 3e-
f), followed by the intercrystalline pores and the intercrystalline
dissolution pores formed by the strong recrystallization.
Solution cavities were another type of reservoir space in the
Dengying Formation. In particular, solution vugs were developed in
the Sinian Dengying Formation due to the Tongwanian supergene
karst (Fig. 3a-c). For the Dengying Formation in Moxi-Gaoshiti area,
solution cavities were mainly distributed in Member 4 and Member
2 of Dengying Formation. According to a statistics of core samples
from Member 4 of Dengying Formation in Well GS 1, Well MX 9 and
Well MX 10, the accumulative thickness of the cores with solution
cavities was 24.86 m; total number of solution cavities was 2301,
including 141 big-size cavities, and the cavity density in the solu-
tion cavity development interval was 92.6/m. According to 106.72-
m-long cores of Member 2 of Dengying Formation from Well GS 2,
Well GS6, Well MX9, Well MX10 and Well MX11, the accumulative
thickness of the cores with solution cavities was 97.55 m; the so-
lution cavity could be divided into the big-size cavity (20 mm in
diameter), the medium-size cavities (5 mm  diameter <20 mm)
and the small-size cavities (2 mm  diameter<5 mm); the number
of the big-size cavities was 277, the number of the medium-size
cavities was 755, the number of the small-size cavities was over
6000; the average cavity density in the solution cavity develop-
ment interval was 72.1/m.
Fractures, especially microfractures, were commonly developed
in the Dengying Formation. The fracture density was unevenly
distributed horizontally and vertically, the fracture density differed
much between different horizons in a well or between different
wells. The contribution of fractures to reservoirs mainly was to
connect various pores and cavities to improve reservoir
permeability.
3.3. Physical properties
Reservoirs of Dengying Formation were generally characterized
by low porosity and low permeability. The statistics of core porosity
and permeability showed that porosity of samples reaching the
lower limit of reservoir porosity (2%) averaged at 3.24% with the
minimum porosity of 2.00% and the maximum porosity of 10.32%.
The porosity of over 80% of samples was within the range of 2%e4%,
and the porosity of 4.48% of samples was greater than 6%. Perme-
ability had a large variation range and a scattered distribution with
no clear distribution peak interval. Permeability was mainly
distributed below 10 mD with an average of 1.092 mD, indicating
the matrix physical properties of the Dengying reservoir were
characterized by the low porosity and the low permeability.
Due to the development of solution cavities, the full-diameter
physical properties were superior to the matrix physical proper-
ties. The porosity of the full-diameter samples from the Dengying
reservoir averaged at 4.2% with the maximum porosity of 14.47%
(Fig. 4a). The porosity of over 58.9% of samples was within the range
4 B. Luo et al. / Petroleum Research xxx (2017) 1e10

Fig. 2. Composite prole of the Sinian and reservoir of Member 4 of Dengying Formation in the central Sichuan paleo-uplift. LP represents logging porosity, CP represents core
porosity.

Fig. 3. Major reservoir rocks in the Dengying Formation. (a) Vugs in algal-stromatolitic dolomite, at depth of 4975.14e4975.29 m in Member 4 of Dengying Formation of Well GS1.
(b) Vugs in algal-clotted dolomite, at depth of 5046.15e5046.31 m in Member 4 of Dengying Formation of Well MX9. (c) Dissolution pores in algal-bonded doloarenite, at depth of
4966.98e4967.07 in Member 4 of Dengying Formation of Well GS1. (d) Dissolution pores in algal-stromatolitic dolomite, at depth of 5236.00e5236.07 m in Member 2 of Dengying
Formation of Well HS1. (e) Interparticle dissolution pores (blue) in algal doloarenite, at depth of 4960.81 m in Member 4 of Dengying Formation of Well GS1. (f) Dissolution pores
(blue) in algal-clotted dolomite, at depth of 4957.10 m in Member 4 of Dengying Formation of Well GS1. (g) Average porosity of different Sinian rocks in Gaoshiti-Moxi area.

of 2%e4%, and the porosity of 17.9% of samples was greater than 6%.
The average of the vertical permeability of the reservoir was 1.209
mD with a clear distribution peak interval (Fig. 4b). The full-
diameter sample with a permeability of 0.1e1 mD accounted for
47.62% of total sample number; the average of the horizontal
permeability of reservoirs was 5.95 mD, and the distribution peak
interval of permeability was 1e10 mD (Fig. 4c), samples with the
permeability of over 0.1 mD took up 87.34% of total sample number.
3.4. Reservoir type
The scatter plot of the porosity and permeability of the Dengy-
ing reservoir indicated that the relationship between the porosity
and the permeability was not good. According to relations of the
porosity and the permeability (Fig. 5a-b), samples with the porosity
lower than 4% were generally characterized by the low porosity and
the high permeability, indicating involvement of fractures in
seepage; samples with the porosity larger than 4% had an evident
positive correlation between the porosity and the permeability,
indicating the pore throat as the main seepage pathway. Besides,
the dynamic characteristics of well testing in the Dengying reser-
voir indicated existence of the dual seepage media and a clear
linear seepage feature of fractures (Fig. 5c). The above features
demonstrated that the Dengying reservoir was dominated by the
fracture-pore (cavity) reservoir.

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 B. Luo et al. / Petroleum Research xxx (2017) 1e10 5

Table 1
Classication of the Sinian reservoir spaces in the Sichuan Basin.

Types of reservoir spaces Types of reservoir rocks Developing Horizon

frequency

Pore Primary pore Relict interparticle pore Algal-bonded doloarenite, doloarenite, algal doloarenite Medium-low Members 2
and 4
Skeleton pore Cryptomonads-clotted dolomite Low Members 2
and 4
Secondary pore Interparticle dissolution Algal-bonded doloarenite, doloarenite, algal doloarenite High Members 2
pore and 4
Intraparticle dissolution Algal-bonded doloarenite, doloarenite, algal doloarenite Medium-low Members 2
pore and 4
Intercrystalline pore Residual sandy silty-ne dolomite Medium-high Members 2
and 4
Intercrystalline dissolution Residual sandy silty-ne dolomite Medium-high Members 2
pore and 4
Bitumen-contraction pore Unrestricted Medium-low Members 2
and 4
Cavity Primary cavity Skeleton cavity Cryptomonads-clotted dolomite, algal-skeleton dolomite Medium Members 2
and 4
Algal-stromatolitic dolomite Medium-low Members 2
and 4
Secondary Solution cavity Cryptomonads-clotted dolomite, algal-stromatolitic dolomite, algal High Members 2
cavity framestone, doloarenites and 4
Micritic-silty dolomite Low Dengying Fm.
Fracture Tectonic Unrestricted Low Dengying Fm.
fracture
Secondary Unrestricted Variable
fracture

Fig. 4. Frequency histogram of the physical properties of the full-diameter cores in Dengying reservoir.

Fig. 5. Crossplots of the physical property in Dengying reservoir and the pressure recovery curves of Well GS1 in Member 2 of Dengying Formation. (a) Porosity-permeability scatter
plot of plunger samples from Dengying Formation. (b) Porosity-permeability scatter plot of full-diameter samples from Dengying Formation. (c) Double logarithmic curves of
pressure recovery in Member 2 of Dengying Formation in Well GS1.

4. Controlling factors of the reservoir
The formation, development and evolution of carbonate reser-
voirs were mainly controlled by a combination of three major
geological factors, i.e., sedimentation, diagenesis, and tectonics.
Under the effect of the rigid basement in Central Sichuan, the
central Sichuan paleo-uplift experienced a long-term inherited
steady development with weak tectonic deformation. The Dengy-
ing Formation was characterized by the development of micro-
fractures, and the reservoir formation was mainly controlled by
sedimentation and diagenesis (Zhang and Tang, 1986; Wang et al.,
1997; Huang et al., 2008).

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4.1. Sedimentary facies
The sedimentary environment of Member 2 and Member 4 of
Dengying Formation in the central Sichuan paleo-uplift area was
the carbonate platform which was dominated by the algal mounds,
the grain shoals, the lagoons, and platform ats. According to the
statistics of types of reservoir rocks, the reservoir development was
closely related to the sedimentary environment, among which the
algae mound of the algal-clotted dolomite and the algal-laminated
dolomite, and the grain shoal of the algal doloarenite were the most
favorable for reservoir development (Fig. 3g).
4.2. Weathered crust karst
Under the effect of the multi-episode Tongwan movement, two
phases of the large-scale weathered crust karst were developed in
the Dengying Formation of the Sichuan Basin (Yang et al., 2014).
The Tongwanian karstication had obviously controlled on the
formation of Dengying reservoirs (Li et al., 2013b; Yang et al., 2014).
4.2.1. Identication of karst
The identication markers of karst in the Sinian Dengying For-
mation were clear, described as follows. (1) The unconformable
contacts were between Member 2 and Member 3 of Dengying
Formation, as well as between the Dengying Formation and the
lower Cambrian. (2) The in-situ weathered residue was formed on
the top of the Dengying algal dolomite due to the weathered
modication in Tongwanian (Fig. 6). For instance, the weathered
residue could be observed on the top of Member 2 of Dengying
Formation in the Ebian-Xianfeng section; downward from the blue-
grey mudstone at the bottom of Member 3 of Dengying Formation,
the texture became coarser without the bedding, the residue
breccia was angular and 0.2e0.5 m thick with no obvious boundary
from the parent rocks. (3) Solution cavities and dissolution frac-
tures were developed in cores of Dengying Formation, the vadose
silts were observed under microscope (Fig. 7). The largest diameter
of solution cavities could be up to the core diameter, the solution
cavities with the diameter of 2e10 cm were commonly observed,
and mostly were half lled by dolomite, bitumen and quartz.
Irregular grikes and dissolution fractures were mostly developed in
the tighter matrix dolomite, there were many high-angle and
obliquely-intersecting fractures that were usually lled by muddy
dolomite and mudstone. From observations of thin sections,
dissolution relicts could commonly be seen, especially in the
nonselective dissolution fractures and cavities, where a large
amount of dissolution llers including vadose silts were observed.
(4) d13C and d18O of bedrocks in the meteoric freshwater action
zones showed abnormal negative excursion. For example, three
Fig. 6. Characteristics of the weathered residue at the top of and inside the Sinian Dengying Formation. (a) Weathered crust residue at the top of Member 4 of Dengying Formation
in Jidong section, Tongzi. (b) Weathered crust residue at the top of Member 2 of Dengying Formation in Xianfeng section, Ebian.
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negative excursions of d13C and d18O have been found in the Sinian-
Lower Cambrian in Xianfeng section (Fig. 8a), corresponding to
three unconformities at the bottom of the Dengying Formation, the
top of Member 2 of Dengying Formation and the top of Dengying
Formation, respectively. According to the content of major and
minor elements of the dolomite cement in dissolution pores and
cavities (Fig. 8b, Table 2), contents of Sr and Mn in the brous
dolomite cement of the rst phase in solution cavities were
evidently lower than those in the second phase and the third phase
dolomite cements in solution cavities, indicating that the early-
stage solution cavities were in an open oxidation system of su-
pergene phreatic freshwater, while the late-stage solution cavities
were in a closed reduction burial condition. (5) Mud loss and
drilling break were commonly occurred in the Dengying Formation.
Simultaneous occurrence of these markers indicated develop-
ment of the large-scale supergene karst system in Dengying For-
mation, particularly the stratum absence and the large-scale
stratiformis karst could not be formed by the penecontempora-
neous dissolution and the burial dissolution.
Results of above eld data, drilling cores, carbon and oxygen
isotopes, major and trace elements indicated that the Dengying
Formation were exposed to the meteoric freshwater environment
and experienced modication of the weathered karst.
4.2.2. Stratabound weathered crust karst in early diagenesis
The Dengying Formation in the Sichuan Basin experienced the
early diagenesis during karstication in the Tongwanian, leading to
low degree of diagenesis of bedrocks. The material provenances of
karst were the grain shoals and the algal mounds, which were of
the stable and lateral development controlled by sea level change
and microtopography during the depositional period. The tectonic
setting of karst development was the steady overall uplift of
basement with the large-scale development of the layered disso-
lution. Therefore, the supergene karst in the Dengying Formation
was the early diagenesis stratabound weathered crust karst.
4.2.3. Weathered crust karst contribution to reservoir formation
Analysis of pore evolution in reservoirs showed that evolution
of pores in the Dengying reservoir had experienced three stages
(Fig. 9). (1) Submarine diagenesis stage-pore loss stage of sub-
marine cement. The active submarine cement lled large amount
of original pores in brous, horse-teeth, ber-ake or tapered-
ber shapes, especially in the mound-skeleton pores or cavities,
the active seawater exchange led to intense submarine cementa-
tion that could ll nearly 40%e70% of the original reservoir space.
After this diagenesis stage, the deposits were basically consoli-
dated into rocks, the reservoir spaces were dominated by the relict
interparticle pores and the skeleton pores and cavities. (2) Weak
 B. Luo et al. / Petroleum Research xxx (2017) 1e10 7

Fig. 7. Characteristics of solution cavities, dissolution fractures and vadose silt in the Sinian Dengying Formation. (a) Solution cavities in algal-clotted dolomite, at depth of
5389.09e5389.19 m of Member 2 of Dengying Formation in Well GS2. (b) Netted dissolution fractures lled by mud in micritic-silty dolomite, at depth of 4972.18e4972.27 m of
Member 4 of Dengying Formation in Well GS1. (c) Dissolution fractures half lled by vadose silt and bitumen, at depth of 5436.14 m in Member 2 of Dengying Formation in Well
MX9.

Fig. 8. Element geochemical characteristics of the Dengying Formation. (a) d13C and d18O distribution of Dengying Formation of Xianfeng section.(b) Sr and eMn contents of the
dolomite cement in solution cavities of Dengying Formation in Leshan-Longnvsi paleo-uplift. TH represented thickness.

Table 2
Content of major and trace elements of dolomite cements in dissolution pores and cavities of the Dengying Formation.

Dolomite cements Well Depth/ Contents of major and trace elements/ Diagenetic environment
m 10 2mol

MgO SrO Na2O K2O BaO MnO FeO

Phase 1 cement of brous shape Z1 4000.9 21.253 0 0.017 0 0 0.027 0.031 Supergene phreatic freshwater environment, open oxidation
Z4 4513.8 23.39 0 0.168 0.037 0 0.007 0.032 system
Z6 3717.3 21.786 0 0.033 0.001 0 0.022 0.073
Phase 2 cement of columnar-knife shape Z1 3986 21.905 0.036 0.006 0 0 0.105 0 Shallow-moderate burial environment
Z1 4000.9 21.574 0 0.011 0.011 0 0.051 0.13
Z4 4489.3 21.597 0.023 0 0.003 0 0.002 0.01
GK1 4986 22.269 0 0.008 0.007 0 0.08 0
Phase 3 cement of crystalline-granula Z1 3986 22.114 0 0 0 0.012 0.183 0 Moderate-deep burial environment
shape Z1 4000.9 22.193 0.046 0.01 0.007 0 0.008 0.117
Z4 4489.3 21.612 0.069 0.029 0.009 0 0.076 0.058
GK1 4986 23.677 0 0.036 0.002 0 0.031 0.012

pore increasing stage of the syngenetic-penecontemporaneous
meteoric freshwater. During the short exposure in the
syngenetic-penecontemporaneous period, the selective dissolu-
tion pores were formed in the Dengying Formation due to the
meteoric freshwater leaching, but pores could be also damaged by
meteoric freshwater rim cement; in this stage, the porosity would
increase 3%e5%, but the reservoir space was still dominated by the
relict interparticle pores and the skeleton pores. (3) Pore loss stage
of continuous shallow burial cements. Some pore spaces were
partially or fully lled by granular cement and siliceous cement.
The doloarenite reservoirs had relatively small pore throats,
therefore, exchange of uid among pores was easily limited by
shallow burial cements, resulting in less pore damages and loss of
40% of original pores; but for the mound-skeleton pores and
cavities, due to active exchange of shallow burial diagenetic uid,
the shallow burial cement could damage almost 50% of pores or
even 100% of pores in some intervals. (4) Pore increasing stage of
the weathered crust karst. Due to Tongwan movement, the Den-
gying Formation was uplifted and experienced the long-time
meteoric freshwater eluviation modication. The karstication
modied the early pores of the grain shoals and the algal mound
into dissolution pores and cavities, and it was extremely difcult

Please cite this article in press as: Luo, B., et al., Controlling factors of Dengying Formation reservoirs in the central Sichuan paleo-uplift,
Petroleum Research (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ptlrs.2017.06.001
8 B. Luo et al. / Petroleum Research xxx (2017) 1e10
Fig. 9. Evolution of the Sinian Dengying Formation reservoir in the central Sichuan paleo-uplift. Z1represented Lower Sinian, Z2 represented Upper Sinian.
to quantitatively evaluate pore increment during this stage. The
increasing pores were mainly the big-size solution cavities, which
were preliminarily estimated to account for 10% of the absolute
porosity. After this stage, the reservoir spaces mainly included the
dissolution-enlarged relict interparticle pores, the intraparticle
dissolution pores, the dissolution-enlarged skeleton pores/cavities
in bedrocks, and new karst fractures and cavities. (5) Reburial pore
adjustment stage. Diagenetic evolution was within the relatively
closed system, and experienced the superimposed modication of
multi-phase lling of dolomite and quartz cements as well as
tectonic rupture-burial dissolution. This diagenetic stage had the
limited contribution to increase of reservoir space, but it could
adjust and redistribute reservoir spaces to form favorable areas for
development of reservoirs. Since the depositional period of Den-
gying Formation, the weathering dissolution during Tongwanian
had played a critical role in the dynamic evolution of reservoirs,
and was a major factor for reservoir modication and formation of
current reservoir spaces.
4.3. The compound reservoir of the mound-shoal facies and karst
Two controlling factors basically led to formation of the Sinian
reservoir. (1) Sedimentation resulted in formation of a large
amount of the original pores and cavities, including the interpar-
ticle pores, the skeleton pores and cavities. After the pene-
contemporaneous and shallow burial diagenetic stage, these
original pores and cavities were modied into the relict pores and
cavities. (2) Weathered crust karstication mainly resulted in for-
mation of a large quantity of karst pore-cavity systems through the
superimposed modication of facies-controlled reservoirs. The
current reservoir spaces in the Dengying Formation mainly are the
skeleton enlarged pores of mound shoal facies as well as the new
karst pores and cavities. From the perspective of controlling dis-
tribution of storage-permeation bodies, the genetic type of the
Please cite this article in press as: Luo, B., et al., Controlling factors of Dengying Formation reservoirs in the central Sichuan paleo-uplift,
Petroleum Research (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ptlrs.2017.06.001
Dengying Formation reservoir belonged to the compound reservoir
of the mound-shoal facies and karst.
5. Distribution and prediction of Dengying reservoir
In the Dengying Formation of the central Sichuan paleo-uplift,
reservoirs of mound shoal facies were widely distributed and
superimposed with the Tongwanian regional weathered crust
karst. Although reservoirs were characterized by continuous dis-
tribution pattern, development of the reservoirs varied in different
regions due to sedimentary facies, karst strength and degree of
formation denudation.
5.1. Distribution and development of Dengying reservoir
5.1.1. Vertical development of reservoir
The Dengying Formation reservoirs were mainly developed in
Member 2, the upper part of Member 3 and the lower part of
Member 4 (Fig. 10a). The reservoirs were characterized by large
quantity of layers, thin single layer, and large accumulative thick-
ness. According to the well-logging interpretation, thickness per
layer was generally less than 10 m, thickness of reservoirs in
Member 4 was 47.7e148.2 m with an average of 88.5 m, thickness
of reservoirs in Member 2 was 28e340 m with an average of 93.4 m.
5.1.2. Horizontal distribution of reservoir and development of sweet
spots
Although the large scale of reservoirs were developed in the
central Sichuan paleo-uplift, there were obvious differences in the
development degree of reservoirs and reservoir types of the
Dengying Formation. In the case of Member 4 of the Dengying
Formation in the Gaoshiti-Moxi area at the east section of the
paleo-uplift, differences were mainly shown in the following two
respects: (1) Difference of reservoir thickness due to variation in
 B. Luo et al. / Petroleum Research xxx (2017) 1e10
Fig. 10. Development pattern of the Dengying reservoir and reservoir distribution of Member 4 of Dengying Formation in the Central Sichuan. (a) Development pattern of Sinian
Dengying reservoirs. (b) Thickness prediction of Member 4 reservoir of Dengying Formation. (c) Waveform classication of Member 4 reservoir of the Dengying Formation. (d) Karst
topography on the top of Sinian before Cambrian deposits.
karst inuence depth. The karst intensity in the monadnocks and
karst steep-slope zone of Member 4 of Dengying Formation in the
west of Gaoshiti-Moxi area was great, and the karst inuence
depth was up to 200 m; the accumulative thickness of reservoirs
was generally greater than 50 m, and the reservoir was distributed
in the NS-extending direction (Fig. 10b). The karst inuence depth
in the karst gentle-slope zone of Member 4 of Dengying Formation
in the east of Gaoshiti-Moxi area was less than 100 m, and the
thickness of reservoirs was generally 30e40 m. (2) Development
degree of fractures and cavities of the NS-extending Dengying
reservoir in the west of Gaoshiti-Moxi area was higher than that of
the Dengying reservoir in the east of Gaoshiti-Moxi area, in
particular, solution cavities were more developed, and reservoir
quality was much better, therefore, the NS-extending Dengying
reservoir in the west of Gaoshiti-Moxi area was a sweet-spot area.
5.1.3. Distribution of the sweet-spot reservoirs
The close relationship between karst reservoir development
areas and karst paleogeomorphology had been veried by the
exploration practices. Only when the palaeotopography was accu-
rately reconstructed, would it be possible to predict horizontal
development characteristics of supergene karstication and
development zones of karst fractures and cavities, so as to guide
exploration of the supergene karst reservoirs. Based on an analysis
of the pre-depositional Cambrian karst topography (Yang et al.,
2014), through the combination of well and seismic data, the pre-
Cambrian depositional karst topography had been precisely
depicted in the Gaoshiti-Moxi area with the residual thickness
method and the impression method. Results showed that this area
was located on the secondary karst slope, which could be divided
into the karst monadnock, the karst highland, the karst slope and
Please cite this article in press as: Luo, B., et al., Controlling factors of Dengying Formation reservoirs in the central Sichuan paleo-uplift,
Petroleum Research (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ptlrs.2017.06.001
9
the karst valley. The geomorphology was characterized by the
concave in the west, the high in the center and the low in the east.
The karst monadnock-highland was located in the west of Gaoshiti-
Moxi area, which was distributed in the NS-extending direction
(Fig. 10d).
Compared with the prognostic map of reservoir development
and distribution (Fig. 10b), the karst monadnock-highland in the
west of Gaoshiti-Moxi area was the most favorable area for the
reservoir development (Xu et al., 2014). One reason was that the
mound shoal facies in the Dengying Formation were well devel-
oped (type I and type II facies zones) (Fig. 10c), and the material
base for karstication was good. More importantly, the other
reason was that this area was located in the karst geomorphic units
which were favorable for reservoir development, especially in the
transitional zone to karst valley, the geomorphic difference was
large, leading to the high hydraulic head of supergene surface
drainage system, the unobstructed karst water exchange, and the
deep inuence depth, therefore, the karst reservoirs, especially the
solution cavities were better developed, and the sweet spot area
was formed in the Dengying Formation.
5.2. Prediction on Dengying reservoir
Based on understanding of genesis and controlling factors of
reservoir, for prediction of the Sinian reservoirs, prediction of
microfacies zones was rstly carried out, and then the karst
superimposed modication zones were optimized. The mound-
shoal bodies and the karst monadnock-karst steep slope super-
imposed area which were similar to Gaoshiti-Moxi area could be
searched for hydrocarbon. The reservoir prediction should obey the
following three insights:
10 B. Luo et al. / Petroleum Research xxx (2017) 1e10
(1) Although the mound-shoal bodies were commonly devel-
oped in the Dengying Formation, the development scales of
mound-shoal facies varied in different areas due to the
geomorphic difference. For instance, in the west of Gaoshiti-
Moxi area, the algal mounds and algal-bioclast shoals were
much more developed in Member 4 of Dengying Formation
(Fig. 10c), while the distribution scales of the mound-shoal
bodies were small in the eastward area to the Longnvsi and
in the southward area.
(2) Reservoirs were most developed in the superimposed zones
of karst monadnocks, karst highland-slope at the top of
Sinian and the mound-shoal bodies of Dengying Formation.
Especially in the karst monadnocks and karst steep-slope
zone, the pore-cavity karst reservoirs were well developed.
For example, compared with the gentle karst slope, thickness
of reservoirs in the steep karst slope and the karst highland-
monadnock zone in the west of Gaoshiti-Moxi area were
greater (Fig. 10b-c), the solution cavities were well
developed.
(3) The key to predict of Dengying reservoirs was the effective
identication of the mound-shoal bodies and the precise
depiction of karst topography, therefore, the mound-shoal
bodies and the superimposed areas of karst monadnock-
karst steep slope which similar to Gaoshiti-Moxi area
should be considered.
6. Conclusions
(1) Algal-clotted dolomite, algal-stromatolitic dolomite, and
doloarenite were the main reservoir rocks of Dengying For-
mation, while secondary interparticle dissolution pores,
intercrystalline dissolution pores and solution cavities were
the major reservoir spaces, and the reservoir belonged to the
type of fracture-pore (cavity) reservoirs characterized by low
porosity and low permeability.
(2) The Dengying reservoir belonged to the compound genetic
reservoir of the mound-shoal facies and karst, the karst
belonged to the weathered crust karst of the eodiagenetic
stratabound which constrained by the mound-shoal facies.
The key to the large-scale development of reservoirs was the
superimposition of large-scale mound-shoal facies and
regional karstication in the Dengying Formation in the
central Sichuan paleo-uplift.
(3) Due to differences in the development of the mound-shoal
facies and intensity of karst modication, the reservoir
development degrees varied in different zones in the central
Sichuan paleo-uplift. The SN-extending area in the west of
Gaoshiti-Moxi was the sweet spot for reservoir development.
(4) The key to the reservoir prediction in the Dengying Forma-
tion was the effective identication of the mound-shoal
facies and the precise depiction of karst topography, and
the superimposed areas of the mound-shoal facies and the
karst monadnock-karst steep slope which were similar to
Gaoshiti-Moxi area could be considered.
Please cite this article in press as: Luo, B., et al., Controlling factors of Dengying Formation reservoirs in the central Sichuan paleo-uplift,
Petroleum Research (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ptlrs.2017.06.001
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by National Science and Technology
Major Project of China (No. 2011ZX05004-005) and PetroChina
Major Exploration Project (No. 2012ZD01).
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