oa Origins and Deep Water Exploration Potential of Natural Gases in the Offshore South China Sea

More than ten gas pools in the shallow water region of the Pearl River Mouth (PRM) Basin and the Qiongdongnan (QDN)<br>Basin, the Offshore South China Sea have been discovered since 1983. Gases produced from QDN Basin are characterized by<br>high contents of benzene and toluene and relatively heavy delta13C2 values (-25- -27 permil), and the associated condensates<br>by high abundance of bicadinanes and oleanane, which indicate a good correlation with the coal-bearing sequence of the<br>Oligocene Yacheng Formation in the Basin.