Source-dependent biomarker properties of five crude oils from the Gulf of Suez, Egypt

Biomarkers and compound-specific stable carbon isotope of n-alkanes in crude oils from Eastern Llanos Basin, Colombia

“…Tricyclic terpanes present high concentration in oil derived from bacterial organic matter (Peters and Moldowan, 1993) while oils derived from terrestrial organic matter are generally below detection levels (Philp and Gilbert, 1986;Barakat et al, 1997). Gammacerane has been used as a biomarker for hypersaline marine and nonmarine depositional environments (Peters and Moldowan, 1993).…”

Organic geochemistry indicates Gebel El Zeit, Gulf of Suez, is a source of bitumen used in some Egyptian mummies

“…The results show that the distributions of n-alkanes in the crude oil samples are very similar. The ratios of pristane/n-C 17 (Pr/n-C 17 ), phytane/n-C 18 (Ph/n-C 18 ), and Pr/Ph indicate that they resulted from chemical transformation of organic material from mixed marine/terreginous sources (Lijmbach, 1975;Barakat et al, 1997). These ratios are typical of oils generated from Lower Miocene formation source rocks.…”

“…The geochemical characteristics are consistent with an origin from siliciclastic source rock deposited in normal salinity under oxic/suboxic marine conditions, and linked to terrestrial inputs (continental runoff) within predominantly Tertiary basins. Both crude oil samples and oil seeps appear to be derived from the Lower Miocene Rudeis Formation source rocks in the southern part of the Gulf of Suez and northern part of the Red Sea (Mostafa, 1993;Alsharhan and Saleh, 1997;Barakat et al, 1997;Mostafa et al, 1998). Important sourceindicating features include a dominance of C 27 -steranes, a high relative abundance of diasteranes and oleanane; C 29 /C 30 Ͻ 1, C 35 /C 34 homohopane ratios Ͻ 1, and the paucity of gammacerane (Figure 4).…”

“…The Gulf of Suez is an intercontinental rift consisting of an elongated graben about 300 km long and 30 km wide between the Sinai Peninsula and the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Various putative source rocks deposited in distinct, well-defined environments exist within the Gulf of Suez basin, and several models for oil generation and oil/source correlations have been proposed (Rohrback, 1983;Shahin, 1988;Mostafa, 1993;Robison, 1995;Barakat et al, 1997). Based on previous work (Robison, 1995), the Eocene Thebes, the Late Cretaceous Brown limestone, and the Lower Miocene Rudeis Formation are probably the primary source rocks for the region, with the latter being the main contributor to the oils in the south-central and southern portion of the Gulf.…”

Crude Oil Geochemistry Dependent Biomarker Distributions in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt

“…Comprehensive studies published on the source rock potential in the Gulf of Suez were by Shahin and Shehab, 1984;Chowdhary and Taha, 1987;Alsharhan and Salah,1995;Barakat et al, 1997;Lindquist, 1998;Weaver, 2000;Younes, 2001;Younes, 2003 a and b;Alsharhan, 2003;and El-Ghamri and Mostafa, 2004. They found that the Black Shale of the Nubia-B, Upper Cretaceous Brown Limestone, Middle Eocene Thebes Formation and the Lower Miocene Rudeis Shale all appear to have good source rock potential in the Gulf of Suez.…”