Current Status of Hydrocarbon Generation from Source Rocks Theory

Source rock is the most important component of a petroleum system, which directly affects the evaluation of resource potential in the sedimentary basins. Source rock characterization is the foundation of petroleum exploration in all basin research. There are two approaches to characterize hydrocarbon generation from source rocks. One is the kerogen thermal degradation and hydrocarbon generation theory proposed by Tissot and Welte (1978) based on organic geochemistry approach; the other one is called hydrocarbon generation from pore space limited source rocks as proposed in this book and based on a consideration of petroleum geochemistry. The similarities and differences between these two theories are comprehensively summarized in this chapter.