Origin of Petroleum

Monmohan Gogoi
Sivasagar, Assam 785682
Department of Applied Geology, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, Assam
Email: monmohan017@gmail.com

Petroleum is a Latin word of (Petra ‘‘rock’’ + Oleum ‘’ oil ‘’), It is completely different than oil
that comes from vegetable sources such as the olive, but modern research has traced its origin to
the lipids (oils) of planktonic (free floating) plants and animals which live in brackish water such
as blue-green algaes and foraminifera. The brackishness is essential because aerobic bacteria
does not live in brackish water which in turn would decompose all of the organic matter. In
brackish water the organic matter of the planktonic plants and animals sinks to the bottom and
incorporated into clay sediments which ultimately become sedimentary rocks, as we called shale
rock. Under high pressure and temperature the oil of clay shales can be squeezed out and into
porous rock. In porous rock the oil can travel, until it reaches an impervious barrier such as a salt
dome.
Petroleum is so important to ensure life sustainability as a source of energy which has a big
impact on society from several aspects including: economy, politics and human basic needs. It is
a strategic commodity that every country is seeking by developing new technologies which
contribute to maximizing petroleum recovery from underground.
The origin of petroleum still has uncertainties despite the tremendous researches and studies
devoted to it rather than any other natural substance. There are two different theories for the
origin of petroleum; Organic and Inorganic origin.
Inorganic or Abiotic origin
States that hydrogen and carbon came together under great temperature and pressure, far below
the earth’s surface and formed oil and gas where chemical reactions have occurred. The )oil and
gas then seeped through porous rock to deposit in various natural underground traps. It has also
excluded the hypothesis that petroleum is a finite substance. There are some different theories
that describe the inorganic origin of petroleum which include:
Metal carbide theory:- Developed by a Russian chemist and states that the deposition of
petroleum is controlled by tectonic activities that occurred during the life of sedimentary rock.
To explain his observations, he has put forth "metal carbide theory". Metal carbides deep
in Earth reacted with water at high pressure and temperature to form acetylene which condenses
to heavier hydrocarbons.
Reaction equation is:
CaC2+H2O= C2H2+Ca(OH)2
Volcanic theory:- It involves outgassing of the mantle via volcanic activity or eruption.
Earthquake theory :- It involves outgassing deep Earth's mantle via tectonic activities such as
faults, and this is still happening till now.
Serpentinization theory:- This theory states that hydrocarbon is a by-product that came from a
metamorphic transformation of the green dark Olivine mineral ,which was found in Earth's
mantle.
Overwhelming evidences for inorganic origin of petroleum
1. Geographical location: Most of hydrocarbon producing regions are located close to belts
of tectonic activities.
2. Stability with depth: Corresponding to what organic theory's supporters have admitted
themselves; petroleum is a fossil fuel, and there has never been a real fossil found below
16000 feet. Nowadays, there is drilling for oil reservoirs at 28000 feet or 30000 feet
where there is no a fossil remains.
Restrictions to this theory
1. Still no exact evidence that coincide with the inorganic theory.
2. Commercial accumulations of petroleum are restricted only to the sedimentary rocks.
3. Accumulations are devoid of igneous and metamorphic rocks.
Organic origin
It is the most widely accepted. The oil and gas are formed from remains of prehistoric plants and
animals. Remains of plants have been transformed to coal and animals to oil and
gas. These remains were settled into seas and accumulated at the ocean floor and buried under
several kilometres of sediments. Over a few million years, the layers of the organic material were
compressed under the weight of the sediments above them. The increase in pressure and
temperature with the absence of oxygen changed the mud, sand, slit or sediments into rock and
organic matter into Kerogen. After further burial and heating, the kerogen transformed via
cracking into petroleum and natural gas.

Overwhelming evidences for organic origin of petroleum

1. Presence of brine (sea water) with petroleum.
2. Petroleum is found only in association with sedimentary rocks. There is no petroleum
associated with igneous or metamorphic rocks.
3. Polarized light passing through all petroleum resources undergoes a rotation that
is similar to all organic oils.
4. Molecules in hydrocarbons are thought to be similar to that of the organic matter.
5. The organic carbon found in plants is depleted into C13 due to photosynthesis process. In
dead organic matter, it is further depleted due to radioactive decaying. The same
depletion was found in petroleum and natural gas.
Geochemists define kerogen as the fraction of sedimentary organic constituent of sedimentary
rocks that is insoluble in the usual organic solvents. Kerogens are composed of a variety of
organic materials, including algae, pollen, wood, vitrinite, and structureless material. The types
of kerogens present in a rock largely control the type of hydrocarbons generated in that rock.
Different types of kerogen contain different amounts of hydrogen relative to carbon and oxygen.
The hydrogen content of kerogen is the controlling factor for oil vs. gas yields from the primary
hydrocarbon-generating reactions.

Structured kerogens include woody, herbaceous, vitrinite, and inertinite. Amorphous kerogens
are by far the most prevalent and include most of the algal material.

Figure 1: Van Krevelen diagram

The type of kerogen present determines source rock quality. The more oil prone a kerogen, the
higher its quality. Four basic types of kerogen are found in sedimentary rocks. A single type or a
mixture of types may be present in a source rock. The table below lists and defines these four
basic kerogen types.
 Kerogen type Predominant Amount of Typical depositional
hydrocarbon potential hydrogen environment
I Oil prone Abundant Lacustrine
II Oil and gas prone Moderate Marine
III Gas prone Small Terrestrial
IV Neither (primarily None Terrestrial (Doubtful)
composed of vitrinite)
or inert material

The table below shows examples of the relationships between hydrocarbon generation zones,
maturity, and transformation ratio for standard types II and III kerogens, based on a specific
burial and thermal history model. The most significant difference is in the depth to the onset of
oil generation, where 1000 m3,280.84 ft separates the top of the oil windows of these two
kerogen types.
Hydrocarbon Vitrinite Vitrinite Transformation Transformation Present- Present-
generation refl., % refl., % ratio, %, Type ratio, %, Type day day
zone Ro, Type Ro, Type II III depth, depth,
II III m, Type m, Type
II III
Onset oil 0.55 0.85 5 12 2200 3200
Onset peak 0.65 1.00 17 31 2600 3500
rate
generation
Onset 0.95 1.35 88 64 3400 4050
gas/cracking
liquids

Types of Kerogen
The following descriptions of kerogen types indicate their biological input, stratigraphy, and
depositional processes that control their oil-generative properties. Kerogen types are defined on
H/C and O/C values (or HI and OI from Rock-Eval). In thermally immature samples, the
chemically extreme kerogen types I and IV (and therefore the equivalent organic facies A and D)
contain macerals having relatively uniform chemical properties. These end-members are
dominated by the most and least hydrogen-rich constituents. Other kerogen types (and therefore
their equivalent organic facies) are frequently mixtures of macerals. Microscopy is the method of
choice for distinguishing the constituents of mixed organic matter assemblages.

Before enumerating the criteria for discriminating kerogen types, it is important to consider the
"mineral matrix effect." Some mineral (polar clay) constituents retard the release of
hydrocarbons from powdered whole rock samples during Rock-Eval pyrolysis, under-evaluating
the quantity, quality, and thermal maturation data. Although this factor, the mineral matrix effect,
is well known to organic geochemists, it is frequently overlooked when interpreting Rock-Eval-
dependent values used to determine kerogen type and organic facies. The mineral matrix effect
occurs when polar clays react with polar organic molecules during the nonhydrous Rock-Eval
procedure

Figure 2: Modified Van Krevelen diagram for organic facies A through D. (After Jones.)
Pioneers of pyrolysis found that some minerals inhibit hydrocarbon expulsion during whole-rock
pyrolysis and not during kerogen pyrolysis. The effect of different matrix constituents varies
from strongest to weakest: illite > Ca-bentonite > kaolinite > Na-bentonite > calcium carbonate
> gypsum. Variations in the mineral matrix effect related to organic richness occur in whole-rock
samples with TOC values less than 10%.
Geological thermal maturation processes differ from those of Rock-Eval pyrolysis. Whole-rock
Rock-Eval samples are heated rapidly in an anhydrous environment. Geological burial processes
cause clays to undergo physical and chemical alteration usually preceding the slow and
systematic thermal conversion (generation) of kerogen to petroleum. These changes occur in
hydrous environments, which probably reduce the reactive capabilities of clays, usually before
significant hydrocarbon generation has occurred. Nevertheless, some degree of mineral matrix
effect probably does persist under geological conditions.
Kerogen Type I
Kerogen type I is predominantly composed of the most hydrogen-rich organic matter preserved
in the rock record. Often the organic matter is structureless (amorphous) alginite and, when
immature, fluoresces golden yellow in ultraviolet (UV) light. A large proportion of type I
kerogen can be thermally converted to petroleum and therefore is rarely recognizable in
thermally mature or postmature rocks. Sometimes in thermally immature rocks, morphologically
distinct alginite is structurally or chemically assignable to specific algal or bacterial genera.
These organic-walled microfossils have high H/C values because they formed hydrocarbons
biologically. Some examples of pure assemblages with type I kerogen properties include the
following:

(1) the lacustrine alga Botryococcus braunii, which sometimes retains its diagnostic cup-and-
stalk colonial morphology and/or its unique chemical compound, botryococcane;
(2) Tasmanites spp., which are low-salinity, cool water, marine algal phyto-plankton with unique
physical features and
(3) the Ordovician marine organic-walled colonial microfossil Gloeocapsomorpha prisca, with
its diagnostic physical appearance and unique chemical signature.

Where kerogen type I is widespread, it is mapped as organic facies A. It usually forms in

stratified water columns of lakes, estuaries, and lagoons.
Kerogen type I is concentrated in condensed sections where detrital sediment transport is low
and primarily pelagic. Condensed sections occur in offshore facies of transgressive systems
tracts in marine and lacustrine settings. Although this extension of terminology from marine to
lacustrine environments may be unfamiliar at first, lacustrine rocks are formed by the same
dynamic processes that form marine rocks (i.e., sediment supply, climate, tectonics, and
subsidence), although changes in lake levels often reflect local changes in runoff, evaporation,
and sediment basin filling rather than the global and relative sea level changes postulated for
marine sediments.
Kerogen Type II
Kerogen type II in its pure (monomaceral) form is characterized by the relatively hydrogen-rich
maceral exinite. Examples include spores and pollen of land plants, primarily marine
phytoplankton cysts (acritarchs and dinoflagellates), and some land plant components such as
leaf and stem cuticles. As with kerogen type I, the occurrence of kerogen type II depends on high
biological productivity, ow mineralic dilution, and restricted oxygenation. The pure exinitic
kerogen type II is preserved in condensed sections and represents macerals that are slightly less
hydrogen rich than kerogen type I.
Kerogen type II can also be formed from partial degradation of type I kerogen or from varying
mixtures of type I and types II, III, and IV. For example, organic matter formed in different
provenances can be combined, such as when planktonic algal material falls into sediments
containing transported woody macerals (kerogen type III). Kerogen type II is recorded in
transgressive systems tracts, sometimes landward of type I kerogen deposition.
Kerogen Type III
Kerogen type III contains sufficient hydrogen to be gas generative but not enough hydrogen to
be oil prone. In its pure form, it is composed of vitrinite, a maceral formed from land plant wood.
As with other intermediate kerogen types, however, various maceral mixtures or degradational
processes can contribute to kerogen type III formation. Coal-forming environments represent
several different kerogen types. Most coals form in paralic swamps and abandoned river
channels. Vail et al. (in press) find that in regions where sediment supply is low, incised valleys
contain these sediments as estuarine or coastal plain deposits.
Kerogen Type IV
Kerogen type IV is a term not universally employed by organic geochemists because it is
difficult to distinguish type IV from type III using only Rock-Eval pyrolysis. It is an inert (does
not generate hydrocarbons) end-member on the hydrocarbon generative spectrum. Kerogen type
IV is composed of hydrogen-poor constituents such as inertinite, which is detrital organic matter
oxidized directly by thermal maturation including fire (charcoal) or by biological or
sedimentological recycling

Diagenesiss forms Kerogen

Diagenesis is a process of compaction under mild conditions of temperature and pressure. When
organic aquatic sediments (proteins, lipids, carbohydrates) are deposited, they are very saturated
with water and rich in minerals. Through chemical reaction, compaction, and microbial action
during burial, water is forced out and proteins and carbohydrates break down to form new
structures that comprise a waxy material known as “kerogen” and a black tar like substance
called “bitumen”. All of this occurs within the first several hundred meters of burial.
The bitumen comprises the heaviest components of petroleum, but the kerogen will undergo
further change to make hydrocarbons and, yes, more bitumen.
Catagenesis (or “cracking”) turns kerogen into petroleum and natural gas
As temperatures and pressures increase (deeper burial) the process of catagenesis begins, which
is the thermal degradation of kerogen to form hydrocarbon chains. Importantly, the process of
catagenesis is catalyzed by the minerals that are deposited and persist through marine diagenesis.
The conditions of catagenesis determine the product, such that higher temperature and pressure
lead to more complete “cracking” of the kerogen and progressively lighter and smaller
hydrocarbons. Petroleum formation, then, requires a specific window of conditions; too hot and
the product will favor natural gas (small hydrocarbons), but too cold and the plankton will
remain trapped as kerogen.
Because the earth is filled entirely by layers of solid (or at significant depths) molten rock, the
petroleum it contains cannot exist within a self-contained “lake”, but must decide to live within
the small fraction of space (or pores) that exist in these rocks. Like the sponge in your kitchen
sink (albeit, less spongy and a bit heavier) certain kinds of rock (mainly sandstone and
limestone) contain pores large enough and with enough connections to serve as storage and
migration sites for oil or water or any other fluid wishing to call them home. Because most
hydrocarbons are lighter than water and rock, those that exist within the earth will tend to
migrate upwards until they reach the surface, or are trapped by an impermeable layer of rock.
There is a particular window of temperature that the zooplankton must find to form oil. If it is
too cold, the oil will remain trapped in the form of kerogen, but too hot and the oil will be
changed (through “thermal cracking”) into natural gas. Therefore, the formation of an oil
reservoir requires the unlikely gathering of three particular conditions: first, a source rock rich in
organic material (formed during diagenesis) must be buried to the appropriate depth to find a
desirable window; second, a porous and permeable (connected pores) reservoir rock is required
for it to accumulate in; and last a cap rock (seal) or other mechanism must be present to prevent
it from escaping to the surface. The geologic history of some places on earth makes them much
more likely to contain the necessary combination of conditions.