Observations on the Primary Migration of Oil in the la Luna Source Rocks of the Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela

Abstract

In the present work, an integrated approach has been made to understand the primary migration of oil in the organic-rich, oil prone, predominantly carbonate source rocks of the La Luna Formation of the Maracaibo Basin. Geochemical data on source rock extracts and the simulation of oil generation by hydrous-pyrolysis experiments indicate that the primary migration and expulsion of oil began at an early stage of thermal maturity and that the bulk oil expulsion at peak generation could have been as high as 75%. Fluorescence and transmitted light petrography of the source rocks at different maturity levels show the dominant mode of oil expulsion through microfractures. It is interpreted from the geochemical and geological data that the primary migration of oil in the La Luna source rocks took place as a separate oil phase through microfractures caused by the excess fluid pressure due to hydrocarbon generation. The oils expelled from the La Luna source are enriched in saturated hydrocarbons and depleted in resins + asphaltenes compared to the La Luna rock extracts. However the distributions of n-alkanes, in the oils and the rock extracts are very similar, which suggest that fractionation of the n-alkanes did not occur during the primary migration. In the Maracaibo Basin, updip lateral primary migration of oil within the La Luna source system seem to have occurred for a considerable distance. Local internal migration has been observed at a relatively early stage of maturity.