Origin of oils accumulated in the Middle Cambrian reservoirs of the Polish part of the Baltic region

Abstract

We have examined 21 samples of crude oils accumulated in the Middle Cambrian sandstone reservoirs from the Polish part of the Baltic region. All the crude oils have similar parameters and indices, which suggests generation from the same source rock. Evaporative fractionation and biodegradation processes were detected in oil collected from the B4-N1/01 borehole. All crude oils have high gravities and low-sulphur contents, less than 0.3 wt.%, which suggests that their source rock contained low-sulphur kerogen deposited in a clastic environment. A low asphaltenes content (below 0.3 wt.%) and high saturate/aromatic hydrocarbon ratios indicate long migration distances or high thermal maturities. The longest migration distance was probably attained by oils from the arnowiec and B16 deposits. The biomarker data indicate an algal origin for the source organic matter deposited under conditions of clastic sedimentation. The stable carbon isotope data support this observation. The maturity of the oils analysed varies from ca. 0.75 to ca. 1.05% on the vitrinite reflectance scale. Unlike the B6, B16, Dębki and Żarnowiec accumulations, oils from the B3 and B4 accumulations reveal the lowest maturity.