Recent developments in hydrogenation procedures allow the liquid hydrocarbon potential and the total liquid hydrocarbon content of source rocks to be determined directly. In essence, mild controlled hydrogenation. without the cleavage of C-C bonds, converts the recognized hydrocarbon precursors in immature source rocks, i.e. the largely aliphatic acids, alcohols, esters, etc., into the parent alkanes. These alkanes, which have a distinctive composition, are easily collected and determined in toto by routine analytical processes. Thus hydrocarbon potentials are immediately revealed.Since the bulk of Australian crudes are of land plant (humic) origin, initial investigations have been largely concentrated on vitrinites and inertinites separated from Australian coals. These studies have shown that:the formation, on hydrogenation, of alkanes with a distinctive composition is an excellent guide to sediment maturity and to hydrocarbon potential; hydrocarbon generation, although not hydrocarbon maturation, is complete when the reflectance of vitrinite in contributing sediments approximates 0.65 per cent; and no significant difference exists between the hydrocarbon potentials and the hydrocarbon content of associated inertinites and vitrinites when the reflectance of the latter is in the range 0.3 to 1.2 per cent. These findings provide a guide to basin potentials and an explanation for the unexpected prospectivity of inertinite-rich Australian sediments.Results of applying this procedure to sediment samples from exploratory wells in the Gippsland and Cooper Basins have generally followed trends seen with coal samples and confirmed the value of the method in determining hydrocarbon potentials.
