Global importance of “continuous” petroleum reservoirs: Accumulation, distribution and evaluation

Based on distribution of oil and gas in the world, the connotation and characteristics of “continuous” petroleum reservoirs are elaborated in this paper. “Continuous” petroleum reservoirs refer to unconventional trap reservoirs existing in a large-scale unconventional reservoir system, and the distribution of oil and gas is continuous. The main geological characteristics of “continuous” petroleum reservoirs are as follows: located in the center and slope of a basin, large-scale distribution and rich locally; mainly of large-scale unconventional reservoirs; traps have no clear boundaries; mainly of self-generating and self-preserving; mainly of primary migration; accumulated by diffusion and buoyancy is limited; non-Darcy flow; poor oil-water differentiation and different saturation; oil, water and gas coexist and have no common interface and pressure system; resources abundance is low and reserves are calculated by well-control region; the mining technologies are special and tailored techniques are required. In this paper are discussed the cause of deep-water “sandy debris flow” and a few examples on “continuous” reservoirs, the shallow-water delta low or ultra-low porosity and permeability reservoirs, coal-bed methane and shale-cracked reservoirs and so on.