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.