About This Item

Share This Item

The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database

Journal of Petroleum Geology

Abstract

Journal of Petroleum Geology, vol. 27 ( 2 ), April 2004 , pp 207 - 209
Copyright copyrght.jpg (4253 bytes) 2004 by Scientific Press Ltd. All rights reserved.

SHORT NOTE

NMR ANALYSIS OF AMBER IN THE ZUBAIR FORMATION, KHAFJI OILFIELD (SAUDI ARABIA --KUWAIT): COAL AS AN OIL SOURCE ROCK?

George Poinar, Jr.1*, Joseph B. Lambert2 and Yuyang Wu2


1 Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.

2 Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.

* Corresponding author.

email: poinarg @science.oregonstate.edu

Amber samples obtained from coal deposits in the Zubair Formation at a depth of 1,800 m from the offshore Khafji oilfield (Saudi Arabia -- Kuwait Partitioned Neutral Zone) were subjected to NMR analysis. The resulting spectra identified the samples as originating from trees belonging to the genus Agathis. The NMR spectra were virtually identical to those obtained from Lower Cretaceous amber from Lebanon, Israel and Jordan, suggesting that a large forest of Agathis levantensis extended across the Arabian Plateau from the Levant to the Gulf. In this case, the forest would have extended a distance of approximately 1500 km, which would make it the largest amber-producing forest known. It is suggested that the oil in the Khafji and adjoining Safaniya oilfields could have been derived from coal produced, at least in part, by Agathis levantensis.

Pay-Per-View Purchase Options

The article is available through a document delivery service. Explain these Purchase Options.

Watermarked PDF Document: $14
Open PDF Document: $24