Geochemical characterization of lacustrine and marine oils from off-shore Brazilian sedimentary basins using negative-ion electrospray Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI FTICR-MS)

Abstract

Lacustrine and marine crude oils from different off-shore Brazilian basins were analyzed using a 7.2 Tesla LTQ FTICR-MS instrument. The samples were analyzed via electrospray ionization in the negative ion mode focusing on the polar compounds, i.e., nitrogen-, sulfur-, and oxygen-containing (NSO) compounds. We also employed a combination of other geochemical methods, such as GC-FID and GC-MS analyses, to characterize and assess the depositional environments of the different oil families. The results indicate that lacustrine oils tend to be enriched in Nx compounds, while marine oils show preference for Ox compounds. The dominant heteroatomic classes in crude oils are N1, followed by O1, O2, and N1O1 with remarkable differences in their distributions between marine and lacustrine, strongly suggesting the control by the kerogen type of the heteroatomic compounds found in these crude oils. Considerable differences in the DBE distribution of the main classes analyzed between the crude oils allowed an efficient geochemical characterization regarding their origin. The use of negative ESI FTICR-MS as a geochemistry tool can provide additional information beyond that obtained with currently employed geochemical methods, resulting in the full comprehension of crude oil composition.