Geochemical characterization of oils and their correlation with Jurassic source rocks from the Lusitanian Basin (Portugal)

Abstract

Seeking to identify the oils groups accumulated in the Jurassic of the Lusitanian Basin and the source rock of each group, stable carbon isotope and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry analyses were performed in oils and oil shows from the main discoveries, and on representative organic extracts from the potential source rocks, selected based on previous works and data obtained by total organic carbon and Rock-Eval pyrolysis techniques. The geochemical comparison between the oils, and between the oils and the organic extracts, allowed the identification of three oil groups, whose differences depend on their source rocks: oils generated at the Coimbra Formation (lower-upper Sinemurian) and accumulated in the same formation and in the Água de Madeiros Formation (upper Sinemurian-lower Pliensbachian) in the northern sector of the basin; oils originated from the top of the Cabaços Formation (middle Oxfordian) and accumulated in the Montejunto (middle-upper Oxfordian) and Abadia (lower-upper Kimmeridgian) formations, in the central and southern sectors of the basin; and oil generated and accumulated at the base of the Montejunto Formation in the central sector of the basin. The geochemical correlations between the oils and the organic extracts allowed the identification of the source rocks of the different accumulations of the Jurassic succession, allowing further guidance to the petroleum exploration in the Lusitanian Basin.