Print this pageUtilization of Diamondoid Hydrocarbons for Determination of Source, Thermal Maturity and Extent of Thermal Cracking
DAHL, JEREMY, J. MICHAEL MOLDOWAN, KEN E. PETERS, GEORGE E. CLAYPOOL, and MELODYE A. ROONEY
Diamondoid hydrocarbons, which include adamantanes, diamantanes, triamantanes, their higher adamantalogs and substituted homologs, can provide important information about source, thermal maturity and the extent of oil cracking in oils and condensates. Because of their thermal stabilities, diamondoids are especially useful in highly mature condensates in which biomarkers are absent Although it has been suggested that various diamondoid ratios can be used as thermal maturity indicators, based on a study of diamondoid distributions in highly mature condensates sourced from the Smackover and Tuscaloosa Formations, Gulf Coast, USA, we show that many of these same ratios are also source dependent. Based on our work: (1) care should be taken to take source and source facies into account when using diamondoid ratios for thermal maturity determinations and (2) diamondoid distributions in condensates can be used for source determination.