The changes of hydrocarbon generation and potential in source rocks under semi-closed conditions with 50–840 bar water pressure

ABSTRACTIn order to investigate the effects of water pressure on hydrocarbon yields and potential in source rocks, carbonaceous mudstone from drilling in Liaohe Basin was pyrolyzed in simulation with constant water pressure and high-water-pressure experiments. Results demonstrate that the times of expelling hydrocarbon remarkably promote source rocks yielding liquid hydrocarbons. Increasing water pressure may increase the reaction of generating bitumen and oil, and enhance liquid hydrocarbons generation. Results of TOC, Rock-Eval, and elemental analysis in this study suggest that carbonaceous mudstone dominated by type-III kerogen remains a large number of hydrocarbon-generating potential, which may indicate that carbonaceous mudstone has a good potential to yield deep oil and natural gas. Besides, vitrinite reflectance may be the most suitable parameter to describe the maturity of source rocks.