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Effect of Biodegradation and Water Washing on Crude Oil Composition

  • Chapter
Organic Geochemistry

Part of the book series: Topics in Geobiology ((TGBI,volume 11))

Abstract

The study of crude oil geochemistry becomes difficult when crude oils are altered by microbial action (biodegradation) and water washing. Parameters used for comparison of oils to determine genetic relationships (i.e., oil-oil correlation), depositional environments, and time of oil generation (i.e., thermal maturity of source rock at time of oil generation/expulsion) are altered by microbial degradation and/or water washing. Much of this knowledge comes from petroleum geochemists, who have been documenting case histories of such occurrences through the years (e.g., Winters and Williams, 1969; Bailey et al., 1973a, b; Rubinstein et al., 1977; Connan et al., 1975, 1980; Seifert and Moldowan, 1979; Rullkötter and Wendisch, 1982; Volkman et al., 1983; Momper and Williams, 1984; Palmer, 1984; Williams et al., 1986).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Amoco Production Company, Research Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 74102, USA

    Susan E. Palmer

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  1. Susan E. Palmer
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geology and Geophysics, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

    Michael H. Engel

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

    Stephen A. Macko

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© 1993 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Palmer, S.E. (1993). Effect of Biodegradation and Water Washing on Crude Oil Composition. In: Engel, M.H., Macko, S.A. (eds) Organic Geochemistry. Topics in Geobiology, vol 11. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2890-6_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2890-6_23

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6252-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-2890-6

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