Abstract
Over time, stable isotopes have proven to be a useful tool in petroleum geochemistry. However, there is currently insufficient literature on stable isotope geochemistry of the organic elements within shales and crude oils in many petroleum systems around the world. As a result, this paper critically reviews the early and recent trends in stable isotope geochemistry of organic elements in shales and crude oils. The bulk and compound-specific stable isotopes of H, C, and S, as well as their uses as source facies, depositional environments, thermal maturity, geological age, and oil–oil and oil–source rock correlation studies, are all taken into account. The applications of the stable isotopes of H and C in gas exploration are also discussed. Then, the experimental and instrumental approaches to the stable isotopes of H, C, and S, are discussed.
Highlights
The analysis of stable isotopes of various elements present in the organic matter (OM) enables us to understand diverse geochemical processes that take place during geological periods [1]
Stable isotopes have been used in gas and petroleum exploration for correlation [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8], maturation [9,10,11,12], and OM evolution studies [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19], as well as assessing the depositional environment of the source rocks [13,14,15,16,17,18,19]
This paper critically reviewed the early and recent trends in stable isotope geochemistry of organic elements in shales and crude oils
Summary
The analysis of stable isotopes of various elements present in the organic matter (OM) enables us to understand diverse geochemical processes that take place during geological periods [1]. Because OM is made up mostly of carbon (C) and hydrogen (H), with other heteroatoms, i.e., nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), and sulfur (S), knowing the stable isotopes of these elements is crucial for petroleum exploration [1]. To understand geochemical and geological processes, stable isotope geochemistry uses the ratios of isotopes between distinct phases or chemical species in a compound [20]. C and H stable isotopes, since they are the most abundant elements, are important for determining the processes that sedimentary organic matter has undergone. Within shales and crude oils are further explored in this review paper
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