The Ordovician paleokarst reservoirs in the Tahe oilfield, with burial depths of over 5300 m, experienced multiple phases of geologic processes and exhibit strong heterogeneity. Core testing can be used to analyse the characteristics of typical points at the centimetre scale, and seismic datasets can reveal the macroscopic outlines of reservoirs at the >10-m scale. However, neither method can identify caves, cave fills and fractures at the meter scale. Guided by outcrop investigations and calibrations based on core sample observations, this paper describes the interpretation of high longitudinal resolution borehole images, the identification of the characteristics of caves, cave fills (sedimentary, breccia and chemical fills) and fractures in single wells, and the identification of structures and fill characteristics at the meter scale in the strongly heterogeneous paleokarst reservoirs. The paleogeomorphology, a major controlling factor in the distribution of paleokarst reservoirs, was also analysed. The results show that one well can penetrate multiple cave layers of various sizes and that the caves are filled with multiple types of fill. The paleogeomorphology can be divided into highlands, slopes and depressions, which controlled the structure and fill characteristics of the paleokarst reservoirs. The results of this study can provide fundamental meter-scale datasets for interpreting detailed geologic features of deeply buried paleocaves, can be used to connect core- and seismic-scale interpretations, and can provide support for the recognition and development of these strongly heterogeneous reservoirs.

The main components of the Ordovician carbonate reservoirs in the Tahe Oilfield are paleokarst fracture-cavity paleo-channel systems formed by karstification. Detailed characterization of these paleokarst reservoirs is challenging because of heterogeneities in characteristics and strong vertical and lateral non-uniformities. Traditional seismic analysis methods are not able to solve the identification problem of such strongly heterogeneous reservoirs. Recent developments in seismic interpretation have heightened the need to describe the fracture-cavity structure of a paleo-channel with more accuracy. We propose a new prediction model for fracture-cavity carbonate reservoirs based on spectral decomposition and a waveform cluster. By the Matching Pursuit decomposition algorithm, the single-frequency data volumes are obtained. The specific frequency data volume that is the most sensitive to the reservoir is chosen based on seismic synthesis traces of well-logging data and geological interpretability. The waveform cluster is then applied to delineate the complex paleokarst systems, particularly the fracture-caves in the runoff zone. This method was applied to the area around Well T615 in the Tahe oilfield, and a paleokarst fracture-cavity system with strong heterogeneity in the runoff zone was delineated and characterized. The findings of this research provide insights for predicting other similar karst systems, such as karstic groundwater and karst hydrogeological systems.