Abstract
Abstract This paper provides an overview of the role that geochemistry plays in petroleum systems analysis, and how this can be used to derive constraints on the key elements and processes that give rise to a successful petroleum system. We discuss the history of petroleum geochemistry before reflecting on the next frontier in geochemical applications in hydrocarbon systems. We then review the individual contributions to this Special Publication. These papers present new geochemical techniques that allow us to develop a more systematic understanding of critical petroleum system elements; including the temperature and timing of source-rock deposition and maturation, the mechanisms and timescales associated with hydrocarbon migration, trapping, storage and alteration, and the impact of fluid flow on reservoir properties. Finally, we provide a practical example of how these different geochemical techniques can be integrated to constrain and generate a robust understanding of the prolific Paleozoic petroleum system of the Bighorn Basin.
Highlights
By 2035, global energy demand is anticipated to increase by 33% as the population continues to grow (WEO 2011; Khatib 2012)
The first and most important question asked of the exploration geologist is whether a petroleum system exists
In systems where a robust petroleum system has been demonstrated and subsurface accumulations have been discovered, a more challenging question arises when a drilled well yields negative results: why was this well dry? This becomes even more challenging when one considers the potential for purely biogenic gas occurrences that are not associated with a thermogenic hydrocarbon system
Summary
By 2035, global energy demand is anticipated to increase by 33% as the population continues to grow (WEO 2011; Khatib 2012). Advances in analytical organic geochemistry, high-resolution gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, and newly recognized biological markers provided the first step-change in our ability to constrain the origin and post-formational history of liquid hydrocarbons through empirical observations of source rocks and oils.
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