Journal of Petroleum Geology, Vol.4,
No.1, pp. 103-107, 1981
©Copyright 2000 Scientific Press,
Ltd.
ORIGIN OF LIGHT
HYDROCARBONS IN CARBONATE OOLITES
J. Ferguson* and A. C. Ibe*
*Imperial College of Science and
Technology, Department of Geology, Royal School of Mines, Prince
Consort Road, London SW7 2BP.
The excellent porosity and permeability
characteristics of oolitic carbonates have been used to explain
their notably superior production of hydrocarbons, when compared
with most other reservoir rocks. However, we have found that
Recent ooid sands contain light hydrocarbons which we believe to
be authigenic. The significance of these hydrocarbons is not the
fact of their occurrence, but in the ratio of methane to the
other hydrocarbons present (ethane, propane, etc.). To our
knowledge, no similar discovery has been reported. This paper
seeks to account for the formation of these hydrocarbons, and to
relate the process to an overall scheme of petroleum genesis. In
addition to providing a new insight into the timing, depth and
nature of light hydrocarbon generation, the results present the
possibility of the role of oolites as source rock.
