Summer Training Program

Geochemistry
Islam Yehia
Contents

• Organic Chemistry Review

• Organic Matter and Petroleum Chemistry
• Organic Matter maturation
• Geochemical analysis
Carbon & Hydrogen Atoms

Carbon Hydrogen

• 4 valances • 1 valances
• Solid • Gas

Electron
Proton
Neutron
Compound Phase

Any compound composed of Hydrogen and Carbon

Gas Liquid Liquid

Density increases if
• No. of carbon atoms increases
• Carbon-to-carbon valance order
increases
HC Compounds Saturation

If there are any high-order valances,

the compound is described as
unsaturated
HC Compounds Forms – Alkanes

Saturated Chains
HC Compounds Forms – Cycloalkanes

Saturated Rings
HC Compounds Forms – Aromatics

Un-saturated Rings
HC Compounds Forms – Impure Compounds

Resins Asphaltines

• monomer • Polymer
• Soluble • Insoluble
Petroleum Chemical Composition
Petroleum Chemical Composition
Petroleum Chemical Composition

Petroleum is saturated hydrocarbons

Organic Matter Chemical Composition

Lipids Proteins

Carbohydrates Lignins

Organic matter is unsaturated, impure hydrocarbons

Petroleum Formation Processes

Organic Matter

Preservation

Thermal Maturation

Migration

Reservoir

Trap
Organic Matter Preservation

To preserve OM we need them to be:

• Away from predators
• In reduced environment
What do we need to transform OM to HC?

Biochemical or
NSO are to be removed chemical Diagenesis
Associated with biogas interactions

Double, Triple bonds to

be cracked & saturated
Thermal Cracking Catagenesis
Kerogen Maturation
 Kerogen Types
Kerogen Type Origin
Algae of marine,
lacustrine, boghead
l Algal
coal environments
Decomposition in
reducing environments,
II Mixed Marine mostly marine
Debris of continental
vegetation wood, spores, leaf (not algal) and amorphous
III Coaly
cuticle wax, resin, plant
tissue)
Fossil charcoal and other
IV Inert oxidized material of
continental
Organic Constituents
Mostly algal components of
exinite (alginite); some
amorphous material derived
from algae
Amorphous particles derived
mostly from phytoplankton,
zooplankton, and higher
organisms; also some
macerals from these groups
Mostly vitrinite; some exinite
decomposition products
Mostly inertinite; some
amorphous vegetation
decomposition products
Organic Matter-to-HC Process

• Organic
Matter
Diagenesis becomes
kerogen

• Kerogen
Catagenesis becomes
Petroleum

• Petroleum
Metagenesis becomes
dry gas
Thermal Cracking
What happens for Kerogen with maturation?

Organic Matter

Hydrogen Index
Remaining Kerogen
Maturation

Maturation
Bitumen
What happens for Kerogen with maturation?
Summary So Far

• Organic compounds are composed of Hydrogen and Carbon

• H/C ratio determines the phase of the compound
• H&C are assembled in different forms; chains, rings and my be saturated or
unsaturated
• Petroleum is saturated pure hydrocarbon
• Organic matter is unsaturated impure hydrocarbon
• In order to transform OM to Petroleum, impurities are to be removed and
carbon atoms are to be saturated
• Impurities are removed in diagensis by biochemical interactions forming
kerogen
• Carbon atoms saturation happens by thermal craking in catagenisis
• According to the kerogen type, gas or oil is released during the catagensis
• If thermal cracking exceeds the limit, oil and gas are cracked further to end
up with dry gas “methane”
Geochemical Evaluation
What is geochemical evaluation?

Includes:
• Source rock potentiality
• Richness
• Proneness
• Maturity
• Correlations
• Source rock to petroleum correlation
Source Rock Evaluation – Richness

Total Organic Carbon measurement by carbon analyze

Gas, Light Hcs Extract

Organic carbon
(C1-C4) (C4-C7) (C15+) Rating
content
content content
shale % carbonate % ppm ppm
<0.5 <0.3 <100 <500 poor..............very lean
0.5-1.0 0.3-0.5 100-1000 500-1000 fair.......................lean
1.0-2.0 0.5-1.0 1000-10,000 1000-2000 good....moderately rich
2.0-4.0 1.0-2.0 10,000-100,000 2000-4000 very good..............rich
>4.0 >2.0 >100,000 >4000 excellent..........very rich
Source Rock Evaluation – Proneness

Kerogen is the remaining

Keogen Evaluation – TAI

Thermal Alteration Index

Color

Maturity increases
Keogen Evaluation – Vitrine Reflectance

Increases as maturation increases

As kerogen matures, liquid crystals form and reflect incident light

Keogen Evaluation – Fluorescence

Decreases as maturation increases

Keogen Evaluation – Pyrolysis
Bitumen Evaluation – Gas

Sample C1 C2 C3 C4 iC4 Total Total % Gas

iC4/nC4
number ppm ppm ppm ppm ppm C1-C4 C2-C4 wetness
501 1021.5 7.3 4.1 0.5 1.9 1035.5 13.8 1.3 3.80
502 1028.8 396.4 458.6 87.2 27.7 1971.7 942.9 47.8 0.32
503 10,904.8 2007.9 915.0 55.9 83.4 13967.0 3062.2 21.9 1.49

Chromatographic analysis & correlation

Bitumen Evaluation – Liquids
Bitumen Evaluation – Maturation Indicators
Correlation Studies – Source-to-Petroleum

Source fingerprint is correlated to petroleum’s one

Correlation Studies – Source-to-Petroleum Studies

Source fingerprint is correlated to petroleum’s one

Correlation Studies – Source-to-Petroleum

Source biomarkers are correlated to petroleum’s ones

Correlation Studies – Classification

Some geochemical parameters

can be used in petroleum
classification in a basin
Summary So Far

• Geochemical studies can be used either for source rock evaluation or for
correlation studies
• Source rock evaluation are done for kerogen or bitumen in order to define
source richness, proneness, potential and maturation level
• Kerogen analysis include; TAI, Ro, F, S2, HI
• Bitumen analysis include; chromatography
• Correlation studies are either for source-to-petroleum correlation or
petroleum classification in a basin