The Pearl River Mouth Basin, a proven hydrocarbon province has been the subject of renewed upstream interest. The majority of this interest has centered upon the Northern Depressions of the Pearl River Mouth Basin.
To facilitate this new study COHNE has provided a substantial database of fifteen (15) wells and c. 10,000 km of seismic, of which c. 3,000 line km has been reprocessed.
The main technical objectives of this study are to provide a geological model of the Pearl River Mouth Basin, with emphasis on the deepwater Southern Depressions. The geological model will provide an improved basis for paleogeographic, structural, and hydrocarbon evaluation, and functioning of petroleum systems. This will be achieved through the following approach:
- Construct a basin-wide lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic framework as a basis to establish a marine sequence stratigraphy and to determine models of sedimentary facies for such sequences in the area
- Investigate the stratigraphic distribution of mature/effective hydrocarbon source rocks in the area
- Determine the structural style and provide a balanced interpretation of the structural mechanism for the origin of each sub-basin
- Develop concepts of hydrocarbon entrapment emphasizing such topics as the timing of hydrocarbon entrapment versus reservoir diagenesis, the drainage area versus seal continuity, and the migration trends versus paleostructure attitude, and eventually identify areas where hydrocarbons would have accumulated
- Establish correlations between reservoir quality and depositional/diagenetic units, and evaluate controls on reservoir quality and seal effectiveness
- Develop a summary of the petroleum geology and hydrocarbon potential of the area, with emphasis on the Southern Depressions
- Provide a digital database of laboratory data
Three (3) bound interpretive volumes are provided. These volumes will be fully illustrated with seismic sections, analytical data and regional data in the form of maps, isopachs and cross sections. In addition, all laboratory data will be appended to the final report (Volume IV) in digital format. An HTML browser version of the report is also available.