ARTICLES
Chinese Science Bulletin 2005 Vol. 50 No. 22 2628—2635
Oil cracking: An important
way for highly efficient gen-
eration of gas from marine
source rock kitchen
ZHAO Wenzhi1, WANG Zhaoyun1,
ZHANG Shuichang1, WANG Hongjun1
& WANG Yunpeng2
1. Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, Petro-
China, Beijing 100083, China;
2. Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Guangzhou 510640, China
Correspondence should be addressed to Wang Zhaoyun (email:
wzy@petrochina.com.cn)
Abstract The potentials of gas generation by kerogen in
the late period and by crude oil cracking are closely related
to the origin of natural gas in the high- to over mature ma-
rine area and their exploration perspectives. The carbon
structure of kerogens, with different types and at different
evolution stages, have been experimentally studied using the
high magnetic field solid 13C nuclear magnetic resonance
technique in order to determine the oil and gas potential of
kerogens. Results show that the contents of gas potential
carbon(GPC) of types I, II, III kerogens at the high- to over
mature stage are very low, indicating their weak
gas-generating capacity and limited gas production; however,
the content of oil potential carbon(OPC) of the low mature
type I kerogen is much higher, implying that a large amount
of crude oil generated during the oil-generating period will
be the material for later gas generation by oil cracking. The
kinetic experiment of gas generation by crude oil cracking
shows that, when the temperature is about 160℃(Ro=1.6%),
the crude oil will start to produce large amounts of gas; the
temperature range for major gas generation of crude oil is
higher than that of the kerogens, and the gas production is 2
to 4 times higher than that of kerogens. The natural gas de-
rived from oil cracking (called oil-cracked gas) is much
abundant in methyl hexamethylene, which is quite different
from the natural gas produced by thermal degradation of
kerogens (named kerogen degradation gas) at high- to over
mature stage.
Keywords: oil-cracked gas, kerogen degradation gas, hydrocar-
bon-generating matrix structure, solid 13C nuclear magnetic reso-
nance, oil potential carbon, gas potential carbon.
DOI:10.1360/982004-522
The Continental Oil Generation Theory has verified
that China is not an oil-poor country. However, will the
marine sequences be the next exploration field in China as
an important substitution for oil and gas exploration in
continental basins, and efficiently solve the problem of
energy shortage in China? To answer this question, accu-
rate assessment of the natural gas resources and their effi-
2628
cient gas pool are needed. At present, marine source rocks
distributed in the mid-lower part of the superimposed ba-
sins of China are commonly at a higher evolution stage
when a large amount of crude oil has been generated. Thus,
a series of questions arise: How about the gas generation
potential of these high- to over mature kerogens with Ro≥
1.6%? Can these marine source rocks form commercial
gas pool[1]? What are the real gas sources of the newly
found gas pools of marine origin (e.g. the Hetianhe gas
pool in Tarim basin, Luojiazhai and Tieshanpo gas pools
in Sichuan basin)? Does the natural gas originate from the
thermal cracking of the over mature source rocks, from
the early formed oil pool, or from the thermal cracking of
the disseminated soluble organic matter? What are their
respective contribution ratios? If we can find answers to
these questions, the formation mechanism of gas pools of
marine origin and their accumulation ways would be re-
vealed, which is helpful for oil and gas exploration.
1 Structural variation of kerogens during the hydro-
carbon generation process and the gas generation po-
tential of high- to over mature kerogens
Now, solid 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (SNMR)
technique is the most efficient method for studying the
material structure[2―5]. In our experiments, five groups of
samples with different types and at different evolution
degrees were collected for structural analysis by the
SNMR technique. The geochemical features of the sam-
ples and the experimental conditions are presented in Ta-
ble 1. Series A in Table 1 are kerogens of Irati oil shales
(Upper Permian) from Parana Basin of Brazil, prepared by
low-temperature thermal simulation with water at different
temperature stages, representing marine type I samples
from low mature to mature and high mature stages; Series
B are kerogens from lacustrine marlite of Shahejie Forma-
tion (Tertiary) from Bohaiwan basin in China, prepared by
the same method, representing lacustrine type I kerogens
from low mature to high mature stages; Series C are
kerogens from fen peat in Germany, standing for type II
kerogens from low mature to high mature stages; Series D
are type III kerogens at different evolution stages, which
are also collected from swamp environment in Germany;
Series E are marlites deposited in paralic environment of
Carboniferous-Permian sequence in the southern North
China, representing a complete evolution from low mature
to over mature stages.
The SNMR data were collected by the Solid-state 13C
CP/MAS+TOSS (cross polarization, magic angle spinning
and total side-band suppression) technique on a Bruker
MSL-400 spectrometer operating at 64 kHz for both 1H
and 13C[6]. The spinning frequency was 4 kHz, the cross
polarization contacting time was 1 ms, the repeat delay
time was 1.5 s, 1000 k points data were collected and zero
was added to 8000k, and the accumulated times was
2000―5000. The 13C NMR spectra are shown in Fig. 1.
Chinese Science Bulletin Vol. 50 No. 22 November 2005
 ARTICLES
Table 1 Geochemical features of samples analyzed by SNMR
Types of organic Sample No./ simulation
Series Samples Ro(%) Geochemical feature of sample
matter temperature /℃
1/230 0.65 TOC: 6.96%
2/250 0.74 Tmax: 422℃
A Irati oil shale I IH: 479 mg/g · TOC
3/310 1.19
S1: 6.30 mg/g
4/400 1.96 S2: 33.37 mg/g
1/primary samples 0.64 TOC: 4.75%
2/300 0.83 Ro: 0.64%
IH: 502 mg/g · TOC
B lacustrine marlite I 3/330 1.02 S1: 0.66 mg/g
4/360 1.76 S2: 23.86 mg/g
content of carbonate: 50.7%
1/230 0.52 TOC: 37.88%
2/310 1.01 Tmax: 401℃
C fen peat II 3/340 1.39 IH：158mg/g · TOC
4/370 1.80 S1：24.11 mg/g
5/400 2.07 S2：59.70mg/g
1/230 0.52 TOC：34.38%
2/310 1.04 Tmax：403℃
D bog peat III IH: 103 mg/g · TOC
3/370 1.67 S1: 50.66 mg/g
S2: 35.40 mg/g
1 0.58 TOC: 0.43%, IH: 40 mg/g · TOC
2 1.12 TOC: 1.27%, IH: 24 mg/g · TOC
naturally evolutionary
E III 3 1.43 TOC: 1.50%, IH: 21 mg/g · TOC
series
4 1.72 TOC: 1.37%, IH: 18 mg/g · TOC
5 2.51 TOC: 0.22%, IH: 20mg/g · TOC

Fig. 1. 13C CP/MAS＋TOSS spectra of the analyzed samples (chemical displacement value×106). (a) Kerogens from Irati oil shales; (b)
kerogens from lacustrine marlite; (c) kerogens from fen peat; (d) kerogens from bog peat; (e) kerogens from naturally evolutionary samples.
The sample features are given in Table1.

Chemical displacement values(CDV) varying within
0―90×106 represent carbon functional groups(including
aroly carbon) of fatty structure in kerogens, whereas CDV
of carbon functional groups of aromatic structure range
from 90×106 to 170×106, and CDV of carboxyl and
carbonyl from 165×106 to 220×106. In Fig. 1, for all
samples, the fatty-structure carbon, carboxyl and carbonyl
carbon gradually decrease during the hydrocarbon gen-
eration by kerogen degradation process, but the aro-
matic-structure carbon has almost no change and is pre-
served in the residual carbon. Therefore, the fatty-struc-
ture carbon may be the main contributor of oil and gas.
The ratio of the carbon content of fatty structure (the inte-
gration of the absorption intensity within 0―50×106 and
165×106―220×106) to that of the total structure (the
integration of the absorption intensity within 0―220×
106) is defined as the aliphatic carbon ratio (fal). Further-
more, the fatty-structure carbon can be categorized as the

Chinese Science Bulletin Vol. 50 No. 22 November 2005 2629

ARTICLES
oil potential carbon (Coil) and the gas potential carbon
(Cgas). Coil, being the main parental material of oil, in-
cludes methylene and methane in aliphatic carbon with
CDV within 25×106―45×106; Cgas, being the chief
parental material of gas, is composed of other aliphatic
carbon, carboxyl and carboxylatic carbon, with CDV
ranging within 0―25×106, 45×106―90×106 and 165×
106―220×106, respectively. According to the CDV of
each structure carbon mentioned above, by separat-
ing-peak simulation and original spectrum fitting using
different peak-shape parameters (the Gause/Lorentz ratio),
the quantitative integral of the absorption intensity of each
structure carbon is the carbon content of such structure
carbon.
Fig. 2 shows the aliphatic carbon ratio fal, the contents
of Coil and Cgas of different types of kerogens at different
evolution stages. By comparison, four features can be seen.
(1) the hydrocarbon potential of different parental materi-
als: In Fig. 2(a), the fal value of type I kerogen is higher
than that of type II, i.e. the fal value of type I kerogen
ranges from 63% to 71%, and the fal values of types II and
III kerogens range from 31% to 41%, indicating that the
parental material of type I kerogen has higher potential of
hydrocarbon generation than that of types II and III kero-
gens. Therefore, type I kerogen has strong hydrocarbon
generation potential. (2) Comparison of the oil and gas
production and the oil/gas ratio of the same parental mate-
rial during the process hydrocarbon generation by kerogen

Fig. 2. Comparisons of fal among different types of kerogens and content variations of Coil and Cgas during the hydrocarbon generation proc-
ess. (a) Comparison of fal among different types of kerogens (for sample features, see Fig. 1); (b)―(f) comparison of the content variations of
Coil and Cgas of the same types of kerogen during the hydrocarbon generation process.

2630 Chinese Science Bulletin Vol. 50 No. 22 November 2005


degradation: in Fig. 2(b)―(f), the content of Coil in type I
kerogen is higher than that of Cgas, reflecting that the total
oil production is higher than the gas production, i.e. high
oil/gas ratio. Thus, this kind of source rock kitchen will
produce a significant volume of liquid oil. In contrast, the
content of Coil of type II kerogen is lower than that of Cgas
of type III kerogen, indicating higher gas production than
oil production, i.e. high gas/oil ratio. (3) The content
variation of Coil of the same type of parental material at
different stages: During the oil generation period, the con-
tents of Coil of type I and III parental materials sharply
decrease, and at Ro = 1.3%, their values reduce to lower
than 10% and 5%, respectively, reflecting that lots of liq-
uid hydrocarbons have already been generated. At the high
mature stage, the content of Coil is very low and the deg-
radation rate is also very slow. (4) The content variation of
Cgas of the same type of parental material at different
stages: The Cgas contents of type I and III kerogens also
show a slight decrease during the oil generation period,
indicating that some gases are also produced, which
mainly results from the breakdown of carbon bond in
heavy and complex atoms[7,8]. Affected by the electric ab-
sorption of heavy and complex atoms (e.g. oxygen, nitro-
gen, etc.), the bond energy of this kind of carbon atoms
with their adjacent atoms is very weak. Hence, the natural
gas is formed during the early stage of thermal evolution.
At the over mature stage (Ro≥2.0%), the contents of both
Coil and Cgas are very low, resulting in limited gas genera-
tion.
From the above analyses, we can see that the structures
and contents of different kinds of kerogens with different
evolutionary stages are different, which determines the oil
and gas production and the oil/gas ratio in the process of
hydrocarbon generation. The gas generation potential of
over mature types I―III kerogens is small, because their
Cgas contents are very low. Thus, only considering the gas
generation potential of thermal degradation of kerogen in
late period, we may conclude that the gas resources in
Chinese marine sequences are limited and future explora-
tion is not bright.
2 Thermodynamic conditions and potential of gas
generation by crude oil cracking
2.1 The chief conditions for gas generation by oil
cracking
By analyzing the structure of the hydrocarbon-gener-
ating materials, we have found that the source rocks have
large amounts of high-quality hydrocarbon-generating
materials for oil generation. Next, we will compare the oil
and gas yields of types I and III source rocks obtained
from low-temperature thermal simulation with water. In
Table 1, series B samples are type I source rocks, and type
III source rocks are paralic marlite from the Taiyuan For-
mation (Carboniferous) in Bohaiwan Basin, with TOC of
Chinese Science Bulletin Vol. 50 No. 22 November 2005
ARTICLES
2.48%, Ro 0.8%, S1 0.26 mg/g, S2 1.34 mg/g, and IH 54.03
mg/g·TOC, respectively. The simulation experiment was
performed in the autoclave. Samples were heated to the
preset temperature, then kept for 72 hours. To enhance the
thermal evolution degree of hydrocarbon–generating ma-
terials, the stable temperature was kept for 20 days (the
critical temperature of water is 374.2℃, so the preset tem-
perature is lower than it; otherwise, the simulation system
changes to dry system). Fig. 3 shows the oil and gas yields
at different temperature intervals. The corresponding Ro
value was measured on kerogens prepared from the solid
product at the same temperature interval. Type I source
rocks can generate a large quantity of oil during the oil
generation period. Because the mechanism and efficiency
of hydrocarbon expulsion are different for different kinds
of source rocks, the generated liquid hydrocarbon has two
existing states: one is the scattered distributed liquid
hydrocarbon remained in the source rocks, and the other is
the paleo-oil pool accumulated by the expulsed oil from
source rocks. Both of them are the material basis for later
oil cracking to produce natural gas.
2.2 Occurring time and gas production generated by
crude oil cracking
It is well known that the crude oil is unstable at high
temperature[9―13]. However, the temperature of oil crack-
ing is determined by many factors[14―22], and so far the gas
generation potential is still unclear. Comparing the hydro-
carbon generation dynamics and the gas productions of
crude oil with that of kerogen, we can find the difference
between crude oil and kerogen. The oil samples were from
Ordovician oil in Well Lungu 2 in Lunnan area, Tarim
basin. Due to the higher evolutionary degree and lower
thermal maturation of the source rocks in this area, the
source rock samples were collected from the outcrop of
the mid-upper Proterzoic sequence in Zhangjiakou area,
North China. Table 2 lists the physical features of crude
oil and the geochemical data of kerogen.
A closed metal pipe system was adopted in our experi-
ment. The temperature increasing rates in the system are
2℃/h and 20℃/h, respectively. The total gas production
of one unit crude oil is 680 mL/g, and that of kerogen is
260 mL/g , the gas production of the tested oil is 2.6 times
higher than that of the kerogen (Fig. 4). The total gas pro-
duction of crude oil or kerogen varies with the structure of
the parental materials and their evolution degree. For the
hydrocarbon generation dynamics, the relation between
the natural transformation rate and the reflection rate un-
der different evolution conditions is shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 4 shows that, under different heating conditions
(e.g. rapid, middle and slow gas generation rates), the
transformation rates of natural gas produced by crude oil
and kerogen will be the same when they reach a certain
evolution state, so the transformation rate can be used to
2631
ARTICLES

Fig. 3. Comparison of oil and gas yields generated by type I and III source rocks derived from low-temperature thermal simulation
experiment with water. Ro values at the corresponding temperature interval are given in the figure). (a) Type I; (b) type III. 1, oil; 2, gas.

Table 2 Physical features and geochemical parameters of crude oil and kerogen obtained by kinetic experiment
Sample Area Depth/m Horizon Physical features and geochemical parameters
density, 20℃ viscosity solidifying fractionation sulphur con-
wax content (%)
Crude oil Lunnan, Tarim 4010 O /g ·cm-3 /mpa.s point/℃ point/℃ tent(%)
0.8573 9.037 30 102 18.15 0.17
Zhangjiakou, TOC(%) Tmax/℃ Ro(%) IH/mg·g−1TOC type
Kerogen outcrop Pt
North China 51.75 430 0.56 419 II1

Fig. 4. Gas yield generated by kerogen and crude oil cracking and their occurring time obtained by the gas generation kinetic experiment. (a)
Gas yield of oil & kerogen; (b) gas generation rate of kerogen; (c) gas generation rate of oil.

2632 Chinese Science Bulletin Vol. 50 No. 22 November 2005


study the gas production under different geological condi-
tions. The corresponding Ro value for the maximum gas
production by oil cracking is 1.6%, and in the main gas
generation period it varies from 1.6% to 3.5%; the corre-
sponding Ro value of type II kerogen for starting to pro-
duce a large quantity of gas is 1.1%. In the main gas gen-
eration period, it varies from 1.1% to 2.6%，indicating that
the maximum gas production caused by oil cracking hap-
pens much later than that by kerogen. The process of gas
generation by kerogen and the gas production in the
closed system include two parts, i.e. those from formerly
existing oil craking and from kerogen thermal degradation.
We carried out a experiment using the same sample to
compare the gas generation potential in the closed and
open systems. The tested samples were from Ordovician
marlite of Williston Basin, Canada, which are character-
ized by high abundance of organic matter and low thermal
evolution degree. The basic geochemical data are as fol-
lows: TOC 31.8%, Ro: 0.61%, IH: 377 mg/g·TOC, and the
type of the organic matter is type II1. Because the gas in
the open system will be generated and simultaneously be
released, the yielded gas is mainly generated by kerogen
thermal degradation. In the closed system, the yielded gas
is generated by both kerogen thermal degradation and oil
cracking. Therefore, the difference in gas production for
the two systems can be regarded as the gas production
generated by oil cracking.
Fig. 5 shows the experimental results. By comparing
the gas production and the occurring time of gas genera-
tion by kerogen degradation and oil cracking , we can find
that the maximum gas production by kerogen degradation
takes place at Ro=1.0%−1.8%, and the peak appears at
Ro<1.6%. In contrast, the maximum gas production by oil
cracking happens when Ro is larger than 1.6%, indicating
that gas generation by oil cracking happens later than that
by kerogen degradation, but the gas production of the
former is much larger than that of the latter. Approxi-
mately, the gas production generated by oil cracking is 4
times higher than that by kerogen degradation, implying
that the oil cracked gas is an important contributor for gas
pool formation in the high and over mature area. There-
fore, in the highly evolutionary marine area in China, ex-
ploration of natural gas generated by oil cracking has a
good future.
3 Differences in characteristics of oil-cracked gas and
kerogen thermal degradation gas
The simulation experiment performed by Behar et al.[23]
in the closed thermal pyrolysis system shows that, when
the value of ln(C1/C2) of the oil-cracked gas has a slight
variation, ln(C2/C3) will have a wide variation range;
whereas when the value of ln(C1/C2) of kerogen thermal
degradation gas varies greatly, ln(C2/C3) changes slightly.
We can analyze this phenomenon from the gas formation
mechanisms: The kerogen thermal degradation gas is
Chinese Science Bulletin Vol. 50 No. 22 November 2005
ARTICLES
mainly derived from the aromatic methyl and terminal
methyl in the kerogen structure, so the C1 content in-
creases with the increasing thermal degradation extent
much faster than that of C2 and C3; whereas the oil
cracked gas is dominantly generated by the breakdown of
carbon in the long chain fatty structure, so the contents of
C2 and C3 are higher.
Fig. 5. Comparison of gas yield generated by kerogen and crude oil
cracking for closed and open systems.
Fig. 6 shows the relation between ln(C1/C2) and
ln(C2/C3) obtained from the thermal simulation experi-
ment using the oil sample from Well Lungu 2 and Silurian
tar sand from Well Tazhong 11 in Tarim basin. Informa-
tion about the natural gases related to oil cracking with
marine origin from Tarim and Sichuan Basin is also given
in Fig. 6. Due to the differences in the component and
structure of the oil of different sources, the value of
ln(C1/C2) will change within different ranges, and the bet-
ter the oil quality, the higher the saturated hydrocarbon
content, and the smaller the ln(C1/C2) value. However, the
ln(C2/C3) value tends to increase because the gas fields
found in Tarim and East Sichuan basin have different gas
pool-forming periods and complex forming conditions.
The oil cracked gas and kerogen degradation gas are
mixed with different ratios, so the ln(C1/C2) value in-
creases and its variation range broadens. The area en-
closed by the dashed lines is the variation tendency and
range of the kerogen degradation gas.
In Fig. 7, the content of methyl hexamethylene in the
oil-cracked gas is much higher than that in the kerogen
degradation gas, so the values of methyl hexamethylene
/n-heptane and methyl hexamethylene/ hexamethylene
being higher than 1 can be used as a criterion for judging
the oil cracked gas. Based on the analysis of balance of C
and H atoms, after the breakdown of one end of the long
chain fatty compounds, the cyclic compounds are easy to
form due to the shortage of H atom.
In addition, because 1‰―3‰ carbon isotopic distilla-
tion occurs from kerogen to crude oil, and the isotopic
compositions of the natural gas are controlled by that of
2633
ARTICLES
Fig. 6. Plot of ln(C1/C2) versus ln(C2/C3) of the natural gases with
different origins. 1, oil-cracked gas, different simulation temperatures; 2,
oil-sand-cracked gas, different simulation temperatures; 3, Hetianhe; 4,
Tieshan; 5, Dukouhe; 6, Gaofengchang; 7, Wubaiti; 8, Fuchengzhai; 9,
Shaguanping; 10, Bandong.
Fig. 7. Values of methyl hexamethylene/n-heptane and methyl hexa-
methylene/hexamethylene of the natural gases with different origins. 1,
northeastern of Sichuan; 2, Hetianhe of Tarim; 3, main horst belt in the
central of Tarim; 4, north slope in the central of Tarim; 5, Sangnan of
Tarim; 6, Jilake of Tarim; 7, Lunnan of Tarim.
the initially gas-forming groups, the total carbon isotope
value of the oil-cracked gas is generally lower than that of
the kerogen degradation gas. However, under the practical
geological conditions, the forming characteristics of the
natural gas shows a mixing origin because of the instan-
taneous effect and the accumulation effect of the natural
gas during its forming process[24].
4 Oil cracking: an important way for highly efficient
gas generation in Chinese marine source rock kitchen
The thermal evolution degree of marine source rock
kitchens distributed in the middle and lower parts of Chi-
nese superimposed basins is relatively high (Ro>2.0%), so
the gas generation potential of this suite of sequences is
limited and future exploration of natural gas only by
kerogen thermal degradation is not optimistic. However,
the high quality marine hydrocarbon-generating materials
can lead to the maximum oil production during the
oil-generating period. Considering both the gas generation
potential of oil cracking and its occurring time, it is rea-
2634
sonable to believe that investigation on oil cracking gas
has opened a new exploration field in marine high- to over
mature area, because at the high evolution stage, the oil
derived from kerogen has transformed into the early oil,
and the gas production of one unit oil is 2―4 times higher
than that of kerogen, i.e. oil cracking has much higher gas
generation efficiency.
Fig. 8 illustrates the oil and gas production generated in
the middle and lower parts of marine organic matter in
Chinese superimposed basins, as well as their features. We
believe that, from the viewpoint of highly efficient gas
pool formation, the early formed oil pool and scattered
liquid hydrocarbon released by kerogen thermal degrada-
tion can be regarded as a transient accumulation process
of organic matters, which can accelerate the forming
process of gas pool. In other words, the rapid cracking of
crude oil at high temperature can make marine source
rocks a highly efficient gas kitchen.
Fig. 8. The hydrocarbon generation process of marine organic matter in
the middle and lower parts of Chinese superimposed basin and their
hydrocarbon generation model. Solid line is drawn according to Section
2.1, and dashed line is drawn according to Section 1 and Section 2.2.
5 Conclusions
(1) Using the solid 13C NMR technique, we have quan-
titatively analyze carbons in different structures of kero-
gen with various types and at different evolution degrees.
Results have shown that the structure of the parental ma-
terials of hydrocarbon generation decides their gas gen-
eration potential, oil and gas quantity and oil/gas ratio.
Type I parental material containing abundant Coil can pro-
Chinese Science Bulletin Vol. 50 No. 22 November 2005

duce a significant volume of oil during the oil-generating
period and can provide the basis for gas generation by oil
cracking. At the high- to over mature stage (Ro≥1.6%),
Cgas contents of both type I and type III parental materials
are very low, reflecting the weak gas generation potential
and limited gas production.
(2) The kinetic experiment of gas generation from the
crude oil has shown that, only at around 160℃ (Ro=
1.6%), the crude oil starts to produce natural gas by
large-scaled cracking, and its peak gas generation period
occurrs later than that of kerogens, and the process of gas
generation by oil cracking follows that by kerogens. The
oil-cracked gas production of one unit oil is 2―4 times
higher than that of kerogens , and the gas generation effi-
ciency of oil cracking is much higher. Oil-cracked gas is
abundant in methyl hexamethylene, which is quite differ-
ent from the composition and isotopes of kerogen degra-
dation gas. Thus, gas generation by oil cracking is the
main way for marine source rocks. In addition, the forma-
tion of paleo-oil pool and the rapid cracking of crude oil at
high temperature can make marine source rocks a high
efficient gas kitchen.
Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank Dr. Wang Huitong
in Experimental Center of the Research Institute of Petroleum Explora-
tion and Development (RIPED) for providing some samples in Table 1
and their geochemical data, and thank Dr. Zhang Guangya and Li
Hongbo (RIPED) for their help in crude oil sampling in Tarim Basin. The
NMR, thermal simulation and hydrocarbon generation dynamic experi-
ments were performed in Wuhan Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy
of Sciences (CAS), Beijing Institute of Geology and Geophysics, CAS,
Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry (CAS) and Experimental Center of
RIPED. This work was supported by the National 973 Natural Gas Pro-
ject (Grant No. 2001CB209100).
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(Received June 22, 2005; accepted September 19, 2005)
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