The Tarim Basin, China's largest undeveloped petroliferous basin, provides an excellent laboratory for the application and refinement of basin modelling tools and techniques. In the past several years, 1-D, 2-D, and 2.5-D deterministic and stochastic analyses have been performed. These studies have provided invaluable baseline information on the geologic processes affecting Tarim's petroleum systems. We now have a better understanding of Tarim's sedimentary evolution, porosity, permeability, pressure variation, thermal and maturity development, trap formation, and hydrocarbon generation.

With the application of true 3-D computer modelling, the hydrocarbon migration and accumulation histories are more thoroughly understood. This completes the petroleum system's history and provides increased knowledge about the timing and pathways for hydrocarbon migration; hence, reducing exploration risk.

There are two major considerations involved in performing 3-D simulations: the computer model and the basin history. In this study we used a forward, finite element, a 3-D basin simulator developed at the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE, Kjeller, Norway). A deeper understanding of the basin history requires sufficient data to model both present and past basin configurations. The main input consisted of the published, observed stratigraphy and lithology. The thickness of eroded sediment was estimated using a two-dimensional basin model. Additional input included an elevation history based on tectonics and facies distribution, a basement heat flow history based on plate tectonic reconstructions, and a surface temperature history based on paleolatitude and published results from paleoclimate simulations. Migration modelling results will be discussed.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90937©1998 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Salt Lake City, Utah