Development Characteristics of Single Sand Body of Yan’An Formation in Western Ordos Basin

Abstract The precise characterization of the types and spatial distribution of strongly heterogeneous single sand bodies are a necessary prerequisite for the study of oil and gas reservoir formation. This article takes the Yan’an Formation in the western Ordos Basin as an example to systematically study the internal structure and profile distribution of strongly heterogeneous single sand bodies. The research results indicate that using mud interlayers, physical interlayers, and calcium interlayers as layered interfaces can effectively classify the single sand body types of each small layer in the Yan’an Formation. The drilling rate of a single sand body is between 50% and 85%, and the average number of sand layers is between 3 and 8. When two rivers intersect and are horizontally tangent, due to the mutual erosion of water flow, relatively thick sand bodies can be retained, ultimately resulting in a pattern of relatively thick on both sides and thin in the middle. The single sand body at the bottom is the most developed and has good continuity. In the transverse direction of the river, the continuity of a single sand body is relatively poor, and the extension range of a single sand body is 300m to 1200m. Along the river channel, single sand bodies are developed with good continuity, extending about 2km. The connectivity between the sand body and the well varies with the migration of the river in the transverse river profile of the research area. The lateral contact relationship of a single sand body determines the boundary of the river channel, and the profile characteristics of a single sand body also reflect its planar distribution. The intergranular pores of the Yan’an Formation sand body are relatively developed, and a large number of quartz particles offset the compressive stress of the rock. The corrosion of feldspar particles is relatively strong, retaining a large number of primary intergranular pores. There is a good quantitative relationship between the thickness of sand in a single level channel and the width of the channel. The control of the well network on the sand body is relatively small, and there is room for further densification of drilling. The vertical contact relationship of a single sand body in the Yan’an Formation of the research area can be divided into three modes: separation, stacking, and overlapping. Cut pile sand bodies with good connectivity have good production capacity. The different planar contact relationships reflect the degree of connectivity between channel sand bodies and wells, with lateral cutting type>docking type>isolation type. The side cut sand body has uniform longitudinal water absorption, small water absorption difference, and high-water drive degree. The isolation type has the greatest difference in water absorption rate and the lowest degree of water flooding.