The influence of bitumen on reservoir properties and hydrocarbon accumulation in the Santai Area of the Junggar Basin, North Western China

Bitumen's influence on reservoir properties and hydrocarbon accumulation in Santai area was studied by experiment measures and geochemical evidences. The porosity and permeability of the sandstones containing bitumen increased significantly by dissolving experiments, implying that bitumen strongly influences the reservoir properties. The analysis reveals that there were two stages of hydrocarbon accumulation. In the first stage oil migrated into coarse-grained sandstone and then degraded to bitumen, which deteriorated the reservoir properties. The second stage oil had to migrate into fine-grained sandstones, or the residual pores of the bitumen-containing coarse-grained sandstone. Exploration in this area should avoid the bitumen distribution zone.