Stable carbon isotope compositions and source rock geochemistry of the giant gas accumulations in the Ordos Basin, China

Ordos Basin, the second largest sedimentary basin in China, contains enormous natural gas resources. Each of the four giant gas fields discovered so far in this basin (i.e., Sulige, Yulin, Wushenqi and Jingbian) has over 100 billion cubic meters (bcm) or 3.53 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of proven gas reserves. This study examines the stable carbon isotope data of 125 gas samples collected from the four giant gas fields in the Ordos Basin. Source rocks in the Upper Paleozoic coal measures are suggested by the generally high δ¹³C values of C₁–C₄ gaseous hydrocarbons in the gases from the Sulige, Yulin and Wushenqi gas fields. While the δ¹³C_iC4 value is higher than that of the δ¹³C_nC4, the dominant ranges for the δ¹³C₁, δ¹³C₂, and δ¹³C₃ values in these Upper Paleozoic reservoired gases are −34 to −32‰, −27 to −23‰, and −25 to −24‰, respectively. The δ¹³C values of methane, benzene and toluene in gases from the Lower Paleozoic reservoirs of the Jingbian field indicate a significant contribution from humic source rocks, as they are similar to those in the Upper Paleozoic reservoirs of the Sulige, Yulin and Wushenqi gas fields. However, the wide variation and reversal in the δ¹³C₁, δ¹³C₂ and δ¹³C₃ values in the Jinbian gases cannot be explained using a single source scenario, thus the gases were likely derived dominantly from the Carboniferous-Permian coal measures with some contribution from the carbonates in the Lower Permian Taiyuan Formation. The gas isotope data and extremely low total organic carbon contents (<0.2% TOC) suggest that the Ordovician Majiagou Formation carbonates are unlikely to be a significant gas source rock, thus almost all of the economic gas accumulations in the Ordos Basin were derived from Upper Paleozoic source rocks.