Oil-gas reservoir in the Mesozoic strata in the Chaoshan depression, northern South China Sea: a new insight from long offset seismic data

The Chaoshan depression, a Mesozoic basin in the Dongsha sea area, northern South China Sea, is characterized by well-preserved Mesozoic strata, being good conditions for oil-gas preservation, promising good prospects for oil-gas exploration. However, breakthrough in oil-gas exploration in the Mesozoic strata has not been achieved due to less seismic surveys. New long-offset seismic data were processed that acquired with dense grid with single source and single cable. In addition, the data were processed with 3D imaging method and finer processing was performed to highlight the target strata. Combining the new imaging result and other geological information, we conducted integrated interpretation and proposed an exploratory well A-1-1 for potential hydrocarbon. The result provides a reliable basis for achieving breakthroughs in oil and gas exploration in the Mesozoic strata in the northern South China Sea.