Abstract
The commercial discovery of giant crude oil deposits at depths deeper than 10 km in various petroleum basins worldwide casts doubt on the validity of the theoretical calculations that have determined that the main zone of petroleum formation is at depths of 6–8 km (the ‘oil window’). However, the behavior of complex hydrocarbon systems at thermobaric conditions, which correspond to depths below 6–8 km, is poorly known. We experimentally investigated the thermal stability of a complex hydrocarbon system at the pressure-temperature conditions of Earth’s lower crust by means of Raman and Mössbauer spectroscopies. Our results demonstrated the chemical stability of the complex hydrocarbon system at thermobaric conditions corresponding to depths of 50 km, including the redox stability of the hydrocarbon system in a highly oxidative environment. The results of these experiments allowed us to revise the depth range in which petroleum deposits could occur.
Highlights
During the last several decades, giant ultra-deep petroleum deposits were discovered at depths deeper than 10 km in various petroleum basins worldwide [1,2,3]
We investigated the thermal stability of a model petroleum system under pressures of 0.7–1.4 GPa and temperatures of 320–450 ◦ C
The experimental results demonstrated that the synthesized hydrocarbon mixture remained its
Summary
During the last several decades, giant ultra-deep petroleum deposits were discovered at depths deeper than 10 km in various petroleum basins worldwide [1,2,3]. Until the early 1990s, most studies concluded that only the deposits of natural gas could be found at depths with temperatures higher than 170–180 ◦ C These conclusions were based on the theoretical approach developed by Tissot and Espitalié [7]. We investigated the thermal stability of a model petroleum system under pressures of 0.7–1.4 GPa and temperatures of 320–450 ◦ C These thermobaric conditions corresponded to a depth of 20–50 km. We investigated the possible influence of oxidized surroundings of the low crust on the stability of hydrocarbons It seemed to be relevant in modeling deep conditions [15]. This work provided a detailed description of the experimental procedure and results that confirmed the thermal stability of complex hydrocarbon systems to depths of 50 km
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