The Correlation of Heavy Oils from Liaohe Oilfield by Means of Purified Asphaltene Pyrolysis

The western depression of Liaohe Basin is one of the most prolific heavy oil-generating area in China. The analysis has shown that there are many kinds of heavy oils with different composition depending upon the degree of degradation. The present paper distinguishes the main types of heavy oils of the western depression and conducts correlation of differrent types of heavy oils by pyrolysis of purified asphaltenes. The results show that the heavy oils from the western slope of the western depression of Liaohe Oilfield are generated from the same source but subjected to different degrees of degradation(mainly biodegradation).The pyrolysis of a S4 kerogen has shown the S4 formation may be one of the source rock for these heavy oils.