HIGH RESOLUTION GEOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS: ENHANCING SEABED CORING PROGRAMS FOR PETROLEUM EXPLORATION

摘要

Maximum extraction of chemical information from seabed core samples is desirable since sample unit cost may be relatively high. High resolution geochemical analysis adds to the amount and type of information that may be derived from core samples. Quantified measurement of hydrocarbon compounds from C2 to C20 is available to augment existing gaseous (headspace) and liquids (C15+) analytical methods. Sensitivity to compound concentrations in the ppb range is possible. An added benefit of high sensitivity methods is the ability to extract useful hydrocarbon compound data from core samples with little or no visible petroleum ("near miss" core locations). The utility of high resolution methods may be extended to petroleum prospectivity surveys. Thermogenic hydrocarbons are detectable directly over reservoirs (based on microseepage vertical migration theory). Prospective regions are discernable from background areas by the evaluation of hydrocarbon compound patterns measured at nanogram mass levels. High resolution geochemical methods are able to increase the data available for sea surface slick evaluations as well. Various examples of geo chemical data are presented for these capabilities.