The Advantage of Rock-Eval Pyrolysis, LC, and GC/MS in Characterizing Organic Matter: A Case Study of the El-Khaligue-4 Well, Central Gulf of Suez, Egypt

Abstract

The present article compares rock-Eval pyrolysis, liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry data from a geochemical study of El-Khaligue-4 well organic-rich samples, in Central Gulf of Suez, in order to obtain independent parameters on organic matter source, composition, and thermal maturity. The results reflected a clear evidence of marine organic matter as indicated by the hydrogen index, n-alkanes distribution, predominance of saturated hydrocarbons, and the high concentration of steranes. The thermal maturity was estimated by Tmax, 20S/(20S + 20R) steranes and the diasteranes index shows the relative high thermal maturity. These data reveal a close relation between rock-Eval pyrolysis, liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry data, and show that these methods remain valuable and practical for geochemical characterization of sedimentary organic matter.

Keywords:

• Central Gulf of Suez
• El-Khaligue-4 well
• gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
• liquid chromatography
• rock-Eval pyrolysis