An Overview of North African Petroleum Systems as Revealed by Petroleum Geochemistry

Predictions of source rock type, geologic age, and thermal maturity can be made based on biomarkers from migrated crude oils whilst natural gas origin and maturity can be deduced from stable isotopic compositions. Various petroleum systems are mapped across northern Africa, based upon the predicted source rock type and age. The solid component of petroleum, asphaltenes, can be used as source rock kerogen surrogates to determine generation kinetic characteristics.