Short-time-scale (year) variations of petroleum fluids from the U.S. Gulf Coast

Abstract

Evolving short-term (less than 5 yr) compositional changes in hydrocarbon charge from some Eugene Island Block 330 (EI-330) wells are demonstrated. Storage, analytical, and production artifacts are shown to be minimal. In some wells, compositions remain constant from 1985 to 1993, whereas in others in the same reservoir, significant changes are observed. In some cases, temporal variability is greater than spatial variability. Maximum temporal change is strongest for specific compounds: toluene and C6 to C9 normal alkanes, but is also observed to a lesser extent for higher-molecular-weight components (up to n-C32). Principal coordinate analysis shows the highest degree of overall temporal compositional change over an 8-yr period in the shallowest wells where there is also evidence of biodegradation. Small temporal compositional changes are also observed in two deeper wells that are below the thermal window favorable for biodegradation. An exception is an unusual oil, where a very large increase in toluene, as well as smaller changes in a number of n-alkanes, was observed in 1993. The δ13C compound-specific isotopic signature of toluene, in addition to several other C7-C8 compounds in this oil, yields convincing evidence that it is related to the same family as other EI-330 oils and unlikely to be due to a drilling or laboratory contaminant. Minor isotopic differences in other C7 compounds (1.5‰) are consistent with extensive gas washing of this oil. The short-term compositional changes in EI-330 oils are attributed to gas washing, which causes overprinting of biodegraded oils with light n-alkanes in shallower GA and HB reservoirs where oils are currently being biodegraded in situ. Patterns of smaller changes in heavier compounds in both shallower and deeper wells are also consistent with this interpretation.