Several studies have indicated the presence of more than one generation of bitumen that could be isolated from rocks through sequential extraction or after demineralization or both. Nabbefeld et al. (2010a) and Holman et al. (2012, 2014) termed bitumen obtained after solvent extraction from the undigested rock as “Bitumen I" and that obtained by extraction after demineralization of rock as “Bitumen II.” The occurrence of different...

A 137-m continuous core from the Jurassic-Early Cretaceous marine derived oil shale with the maturity Ro about 0.7 %, representing the oil window in the Vaca Muerta Formation, Neuquén Basin, Argentina, was examined using geological, mineralogical, petrographic, and geochemistry techniques. Three distinct intervals were identified within the core: the upper carbonate-rich section with intense bioturbation, indicating dysoxic to...

This paper investigates chemical functional groups of the two extracted bitumen fractions in shales of the Jurassic to early Cretaceous Vaca Muerta Formation of the Neuquén Basin in Argentina, South America. The results indicate that Bitumen I is strongly aliphatic and appears to be genetically related to fluorescent amorphous organic matter. In contrast, Bitumen II consists of highly condensed, aromatic hydrocarbons, and has some...

Research focuses on analyzing the role of rock constituents in kerogen transformation. It includes mineral and organic matter characterization, kerogen and bitumen isolation, quantification, and determination of the critical factors of transformation ratio concerning generating mobile versus less mobile hydrocarbons. The results indicate that the ratio mainly depends on the distribution and type of kerogen in the basin, and secondly...

The main aim of this dissertation is to determine the role of mineral and organic matter constituents in kerogen transformation ratio. Practical aspects of the work include application of the results in the assessment of hydrocarbon production potential; to make process of hydrocarbon recovery more predictable consistent and efficient. The work used shale from the Vaca Muerta formation from the Nequen basin in Argentina. The formation...