Light hydrocarbons(LHs) are one of the main petroleum fractions in crude oils, and carry much information regarding the genetic origin and alteration of crude oils. But secondary alterations—especially biodegradation—have a significant effect on the composition of LHs in crude oils. Because most of the LHs affected in oils underwent only slight biodegradation(rank 1 on the biodegradation scale), the variation of LHs can be used to describe more the refined features of biodegradation. Here,23 crude oils from the Dawanqi Oilfield in the Tarim Basin, NW China, eleven of which have been biodegraded to different extents, were analyzed in order to investigate the effect of slight to minor biodegradation on C_6–C_7 LHs.The study results showed that biodegradation resulted in the prior depletion of straight-chained alkanes, followed by branched alkanes. In slight and minor biodegraded oils,such biodegradation scale could not sufficiently affect C_6–C_7cycloalkanes. For branched C_6–C_7 alkanes, generally,monomethylalkanes are biodegraded earlier than dimethylalkanes and trimethylalkanes, which indicates that branched alkanes are more resistant to biodegradation, with the increase of substituted methyl groups on parent rings.The degree of alkylation is one of the primary controlling factors on the biodegradation of C_6–C_7 LHs. There is a particular case: although 2,2,3-trimethylbutane has a relative higher alkylation degree, 2,2-dimethylpentane is more resistant to biodegradation than 2,2,3-trimethylbutane. 2,2-Dimethylpentane is the most resistant to biodegradation in branched C_6–C_7 alkanes. Furthermore, the 2-methylpentane/3-methylpentane and 2-methylhexane/3-methylhexane ratios decreased steadily with increasing biodegradation,which implies that isomers of bilateral methyl groups are more prone to bacterial attack relative to mid-chain isomers. The position of the alkyls on the carbon skeleton is also one of the critical factors controlling the rate of biodegradation. With increasing biodegradation, Ma
Lu YangChunming ZhangMeijun LiJing ZhaoXuening QiJinxiu Du
Geochemical analysis of 64 oils sampled from an Ordovician carbonate reservoir in the Tuoputai region was undertaken to study the composition of molecular markers. All the oils have similar geochemical characteristics and belong to a single oil family. They are presumed to derive from the same source kitchen and have similar oil charging history. A histogram of homogenization temperatures(Th) of aqueous inclusions in reservoir rocks shows a bimodal distribution pattern, indicating that the Ordovician reservoir has been charged twice. Coupling the measured Th(°C) with the burial and geothermal histories reconstructed using 1D basin modeling, we relate the homogenization temperature to the relevant geological ages: i.e.,425–412 and 9–4 Ma, corresponding to the Middle to Late Silurian and the Miocene to Pliocene, respectively. The oil filling orientation and pathways are traced using molecular indicators related to alkyldibenzothiophenes and benzo[b]naphthothiophenes. The oil charging orientation is from south to north generally. It can be predicted that the Ordovician reservoirs were sourced from a kitchen located to the south of the Tuoputai region, most probably between the Awati and Manjiaer Depressions. Traps located in the southern side of the Tuoputai region, along the oil charging pathways, should therefore be preferred oil exploration targets.
Rong-Hui FangMei-Jun LiHai-Tao LüT.-G.WangYuan YuanYong-Li LiuZhi-Yong Ni
