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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
AAPG Bulletin
Abstract
AAPG Bulletin, V.
Multidisciplinary 
thermal
maturity studies using vitrinite reflectance and
fluid inclusion microthermometry: A new calibration of old techniques
thermal maturity studies using vitrinite reflectance and
fluid inclusion microthermometry: A new calibration of old techniquesRick C. Tobin,1 Brenda L. Claxton2
1BP Amoco Corporation, 200 Westlake Park Boulevard, Houston,
Texas 77079; email: [email protected]
2Integrated Geodata Services, 13823 Purple Martin, Houston, Texas 77083; email:
[email protected]
AUTHORS
Rick Tobin is a senior geologist with BP Amoco's Upstream
Technology Group in Houston, specializing in reservoir quality prediction. He received
geology degrees from James Madison University (B.S., 1977) and the University of
Cincinnati (M.S. 1980, Ph.D. 1982). His technical specialties and current research
interests include sedimentology, sedimentary petrology, fluid inclusion microthermometry,
and related thermal maturity technologies. Tobin is an active member of AAPG, SEPM, and
Sigma Xi.
Brenda Claxton has worked exclusively on integrating vitrinite
reflectance data with other organic and inorganic thermal indices in a multidisciplinary
technology team since beginning her career with Amoco in 1975. Her major focus has been to
create a thermal and geochemical database to predict expulsion timing for basin modeling,
in-reservoir increases of API gravity for product quality, and timing of reservoir
destruction for exploration. She is a founding member of the Society for Organic
Petrology.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to thank Don Hall, Ronald Nelson, Dennis Prezbindowski, and Zvi Sofer for constructive reviews of an earlier version of this manuscript. Thanks are also extended to AAPG reviewers, David Houseknecht, Jerry Sweeney, and an anonymous reviewer for improving the paper. Dick Larese and John Wheeler provided the experimental data in Figure 3. Thanks also to BP Amoco Corporation for permission to publish this work.
ABSTRACT
A critical component of petroleum exploration risk assessment
involves quantifying the risks associated with the presence of a viable hydrocarbon
system. This requires an accurate estimate of thermal maturity and thermal history.
However, in some sedimentary basins, traditional organic-based maturity tools such as
vitrinite reflectance cannot be used because of various geologic and sampling limitations.
This article establishes fluid inclusion microthermometry as a new inorganic thermal
maturity tool that can be used to help fill the void in these situations. This tool uses
an empirical calibration of fluid inclusion data and vitrinite reflectance data to
estimate thermal maturity.
Our empirical approach uses rigorous sample selection criteria that
improve the statistical chance of analyzing aqueous fluid inclusions that have been
thermally reequilibrated (stretched). This empirical calibration is based on a worldwide
set of data that yield a logarithmic correlation having r2 = 0.96 for an
ideal sample set and r2 = 0.81 for a nonideal sample set. The amount of
data scatter (absolute deviation of measured vitrinite reflectance in % Ro)
from the logarithmic correlation line is minimal (±0.12% Ro for the ideal data
set). This new calibration, along with the sample selection and data analysis procedures
described in this study, forms the basis for a new thermal
maturity technique.
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