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Possible origin of deep hydrocarbons and transformation of complex petroleum systems within the Earth's crust
KTH, School of Industrial Engineering and Management (ITM), Energy Technology, Heat and Power Technology.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8199-5625
Federal Research Center for Problems of Chemical Physics and Medicinal Chemistry, Moscow Region, Chernogolovka, 142432, Russia.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6078-4650
Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University, Saint Petersburg, 199106, Russia.
The Zavaritsky Institute of Geology and Geochemistry, Ekaterinburg, 620016, Russia.
2026 (English)In: Petroleum Science, ISSN 1672-5107, E-ISSN 1995-8226Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

We demonstrate that the conditions established in laboratory settings—such as initial reaction products, thermobaric parameters, and redox environments—are indeed analogous to those that may exist in the Earth's upper mantle. The experimental results confirmed that hydrocarbon fluids with diverse compositions can form within the upper mantle. This leads us to propose that these fluids, generated through mantle-magmatic processes, can migrate from sub-crustal zones along deep faults and fractures and be injected under high pressure into the rock, ultimately forming oil and gas deposits. As the ascending fluid cools and the partial pressure of hydrogen decreases, it transforms into liquid oil and subsequently into polymeric insoluble carbonaceous matter (kerogen) within “oil source” rocks. Our findings provide thermodynamic support for the idea that phase transitions involving CO2, H2O, oil, and kerogens can occur not only in the kerogen → oil but also in the oil → kerogen direction. The reversibility of phase equilibrium allows us to approach these transitions from an inorganic perspective. Consequently, we can assert that kerogen may be a product of the dehydrogenation of oil and gas. Our experimental results, which investigate the distribution of vanadyl and nickel porphyrin complexes in oils from various productive horizons, support our hypothesis that biomarkers in oils may result from the dissolution and assimilation of dispersed organic matter by ascending, high-temperature hydrocarbon fluids, rather than serving as definitive evidence of a biogenic origin.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier BV , 2026.
Keywords [en]
Abiogenic hydrocarbons, Biomarkers, Hydrocarbon origin, Kerogen, Mantle, Oil
National Category
Catalytic Processes Geochemistry
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-379327DOI: 10.1016/j.petsci.2025.11.004Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105035093484OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-379327DiVA, id: diva2:2053503
Note

QC 20260416

Available from: 2026-04-16 Created: 2026-04-16 Last updated: 2026-04-16Bibliographically approved

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Kutcherov, Vladimir G.

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