Origin and Biodegradation of Crude Oils from the Northernmost Fields in the Bolivar Coastal Complex (Zulia State, Venezuela)

Marcos Escobar, Gonzalo Márquez, Blanca Guerrero, Patricia Marín, Carlos Boente, Antonio Bernardo-Sánchez, Emilio Romero and Albert Permanyer
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Marcos Escobar: Postgraduate Studies in Petroleum Geology, Faculty of Engineering, University of Zulia, Maracaibo 10482, Venezuela
Gonzalo Márquez: Department of Mining, Mechanical, Energetic and Civil Engineering, University of Huelva, 21819 Huelva, Spain
Blanca Guerrero: Department of Exploration and Production, PDVSA Western Division, Maracaibo 4002, Venezuela
Patricia Marín: Department of Mining, Mechanical, Energetic and Civil Engineering, University of Huelva, 21819 Huelva, Spain
Carlos Boente: Department of Mining, Mechanical, Energetic and Civil Engineering, University of Huelva, 21819 Huelva, Spain
Antonio Bernardo-Sánchez: Department of Mining Technology, Topography and Structures, University of León, 24071 León, Spain
Emilio Romero: Department of Mining, Mechanical, Energetic and Civil Engineering, University of Huelva, 21819 Huelva, Spain
Albert Permanyer: Department of Mineralogy, Petrology and Applied Geology, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 21, 1-20

Abstract: The organic geochemical features of 30 sampled oils from the northern Bolivar Coastal Complex (Lake Maracaibo Basin, NW Venezuela) were examined by combining carbon isotope, classical biomarker, and extended diamondoid analyses to clarify source facies and to assess the thermal maturity and extent of biodegradation of the oils analyzed. In this work, oils are understood as a mixture of two episodes of petroleum generation from the La Luna Formation: a paleobiodegraded oil pulse during Paleogene times and a late pulse having a higher maturity in the post-Oligocene. For the oil samples analyzed, results revealed a mixing composed of different proportions of almost a terrestrially derived siliciclastic-sourced and a purely marine carbonate-sourced oil pulse. Moreover, two main groups of oils were identified by means of hierarchical cluster analysis. Finally, inter- and intrafield variations in the extent of biodegradation were also assessed using two classification schemes (Peters and Moldowan, and Manco scales).

Keywords: mixed oils; source facies; QEDA analysis; biodegradation scales; Bolivar Coastal Complex (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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