DUAN Yi, ZHAO Yang, YAO Jing-li, ZHANG Bo-xiang, WU Ying-zhong, CAO Xi-xi, XU Li
Accepted: 2019-09-18
Light hydrocarbon analytical technology,being an important research method of petroleum geochemistry,was used widely in the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas reservoirs.By reviewing the previous studies,the present research situation,problems and development trend of light hydrocarbon geochemistry were systematically analyzed.At present,there are mainly two theoretical systems of thermal cracking and catalysis in light hydrocarbon formation mechanism.The former emphasizes on the role of thermal kinetics during the process of light hydrocarbon formation,and the latter stresses the catalysis of transition metals.However,there are still some limitations in the two theories.The thermal cracking neglects the catalysis of transition metals from sedimentary rocks to light hydrocarbon formation,and the catalysis ignores the thermodynamic excitation effect on the catalytic activity.Light hydrocarbon plays an important role in the application of petroleum geochemistry,such as the investigation of natural gas origin,the determination of organic matter type and the depositional environment of source rock,the indication of oil and gas maturity,oil-source correlations,the determination of secondary alteration and the migration of oil and gas,the preservation condition and the connectivity analysis of oil and gas reservoirs.Research trends in light hydrocarbon geochemistry theory are to strengthen basic research of light hydrocarbon genesis theory,and to attract attention to other discipline theoretical advantages.The applied research of light hydrocarbon should be combined with the methods of individual compound isotope with biomarker compound analyses and should fully consider the impact of the factors such as geology and light hydrocarbon analysis methods.