As a tool in petroleum exploration, oil-to-oil correlation offers a means of detecting the migration of oil within or between formations. Oil-to-source rock correlations identify specific source beds that generated the prtroleum. In order to accomplish these tasks, a variety of techniques have been used, including gas chromatographic analysis of various hydrocarbon boiling point ranges, mass spectral group type analysis, carbon isotope ratios, and gas chromatographic-mass spectral analysis of biological marker hydorcarbons.

This report deals with a comparison of the results of these techniques in an attempt to correlate 9 oils and 15 source rock samples from five different formations from the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. Oils were compared to each other using the above-mentioned chemical parameters in an attempt to subdivide them into groups. Source rocks samples were first evaluated to determine if they were capable of generating oil, prior to their comparison to the crude oils. Although individual data types allowed some differentiation of the oils, the data yielded no consistent grouping of oils or pairing of oils with source rocks. Additional work will be necessary in order to determine the source of the North Slope oils.