Review and Prospectives of Microbial Carbonate Reservoirs

Key words: 
• microbialites /
• carbonate reservoir /
• stromatolites thrombolite /
• microbial mats /

Abstract: Microbial carbonates are  important oil & gas reservoir rocks, as well as the main rock types in China old strata. Microbial carbonates can be divided into stromatolites, thrombolite，dendrolite and other two types. The reservoir pore systems are closely related to microbialite sedimentary process, and mostly affected by structures and textures of microbialites. Framework and fenestral vugs are the main types of reservoir space. From Middle-Neo Proterozoic to Mesozoic, microbial carbonates reservoirs are discovered globally in various oil & gas fields, so that their petroleum resource potential is great.The researches on rock types,litofacies texture, depositional models and favorable facies zones of microbial reservoir, are well worth deep study in future.