Abstract
Helium gas is a scarce but important strategic resource, which is usually associated with natural gas. Presently, only one extra-large helium-rich gas field has been found in China: the Hetianhe Gas Field in the Tarim Basin. This paper reports a new example, the Dongsheng Gas Field (DGF) in the Ordos Basin. In this study, 92 natural gas samples from the DGF were analyzed for helium content and isotope composition using isotope mass spectrometry. The natural gas samples were found to have an average helium content of 0.133%, with 65 (70.7%) of the samples having a helium content of 0.1% or more. Based on the proven natural gas reserves of the DGF, the proven geological helium reserves were calculated to be 1.96×108 m3, suggesting that it represents the first extra-large helium-rich natural gas reservoir to be hosted in tight sandstone in China. The 3He/4He ratios of 5 natural gas samples from the DGF are within the range of 3.03×10−8−3.44×10−8. Therefore, the helium in the gas field is thought to be of typical crustal origin and to have formed in the granitic basement that is rich in uranium and thorium. The accumulation of helium-rich natural gas was controlled by regional tectonic activities. Activity along the fault connecting the reservoir with the basement caused release of the helium gas, which entered the overlying strata along the fault and accumulated with conventional hydrocarbon gas. Based on the structural background and the distribution of helium source rocks in the Ordos Basin, the main helium source rocks with high exploration potential are located in deep strata within the north and middle parts of the basin.
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Acknowledgements
Many thanks to the Academician Jinxing DAI of PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development for his careful guidance. Xiaowan TAO and Dan LIU, senior engineers, provided relevant data and gave enthusiastic discussion. SINOPEC North China Branch gave great assistance in sample collection and data collection. We are also grateful for the constructive comments from the reviewers. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. U20B6001, 42141021, 41625009, U19B6003, 41902160, 42172149 and 41872112), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 2019M650967, 2020T130721), and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA14010404).
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Peng, W., Liu, Q., Zhang, Y. et al. The first extra-large helium-rich gas field identified in a tight sandstone of the Dongsheng Gas Field, Ordos Basin, China. Sci. China Earth Sci. 65, 874–881 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-021-9898-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-021-9898-y