Many input parameters are used to calibrate hydrocarbon generation process in basin and petroleum system modelling. Source rock kerogen kinetics, defining the kerogen reactivity during the burial-thermal evolution of the basin, are crucial to identifying the onset and rate of hydrocarbon generation as well as the depth/temperature of oil and gas generation windows [1]. The critical issue of kinetic studies is related to both the sample selection and its representativeness for the whole naphotogenic interval, as well as to the long experimental duration of the standard analytical approach. The present study proposes to improve the comprehension of kerogen kinetic variability integrating results from Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and Rock-Eval pyrolysis analysis with optical microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses of kerogen and mineralogical characterization of the samples. Furthermore, in order to cut the analytical time, a new approach based on the Phase Kinetic methodology developed by Di Primio et al. [2], was here tested and the results compared with standard methods. Seventeen samples of thermally immature worldwide source rocks were chosen to represent both the main types of kerogen and the variations within the same source rock. The results show that:
descriptions of kerogen by optical microscopy analysis and infrared chemical characterization as well as of sample mineralogical composition are insufficient to understand the kerogen kinetic behaviour;
the proposed analytical approach represents a quick and cheap alternative to determine kinetic parameters.
This approach is less detailed than using standard compositional kinetic parameters but is not necessarily less accurate considering the large variability of kerogen kinetics within both a kerogen type group and a source rock interval.
Many input parameters are used to calibrate hydrocarbon generation process in basin and petroleum system modelling. Source rock kerogen kinetics, defining the kerogen reactivity during the burial-thermal evolution of the basin, are crucial to identifying the onset and rate of hydrocarbon generation as well as the depth/temperature of oil and gas generation windows [1].
The critical issue of kinetic studies is related to the sample selection and its representativeness for the whole naphotogenic interval. Large ranges of kinetic response can indeed characterize each kerogen type and/or source rock interval [3].
