Abstract

ESCOBAR, Marcos et al. Biomarkers applications in the establishment of the origin, thermal maturity and alteration processes of the petroleum: Alturitas oil field,Venezuela. Rev. Téc. Ing. Univ. Zulia [online]. 2007, vol.30, n.Especial, pp.380-390. ISSN 0254-0770.

The identification of hopanes, steranes, n-alkanes, phenanthrenes, dibenzotiophenes, benzocarbazols and aromatic steroids was followed by using the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analytical technique on 30 crude oils from the Marcelina (Paleocene) reservoir at the Alturitas oil field, Maracaibo Lake Basin, Venezuela. The interpretation of the data, including the use of multivariate statistics, leads to the definition of a single non-biodegraded type of crude oil derived from a unique pulse of generation, migration and accumulation from a calcareous and thermally mature source rock deposited into an anoxic marine palaeoenvironment.

Keywords : Maracaibo Lake Basin; biomarkers; crude oils; GC-MS; Alturitas.