US 11,953,490 B2
Age differentiation of Late Cretaceous-Tertiary sourced oils
Chun Zhu, The Woodlands, TX (US); and Weixuan Li, The Woodlands, TX (US)
Assigned to ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Company, Spring, TX (US)
Filed by ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Company, Spring, TX (US)
Filed on Aug. 28, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/948,054.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/893,533, filed on Aug. 29, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0063378 A1, Mar. 4, 2021
Int. Cl. G01N 33/28 (2006.01); G06N 7/00 (2023.01); G06N 7/01 (2023.01); G06Q 10/06 (2023.01); G06Q 10/0631 (2023.01); G06Q 10/0637 (2023.01)
CPC G01N 33/2823 (2013.01) [G01N 33/2835 (2013.01); G06N 7/01 (2023.01); G06Q 10/06315 (2013.01); G06Q 10/0637 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
measuring a concentration of oleanane (O), C29 30-nor-neohopane (H29Ts), bicadalenes and methyl-bicadalenes (B), and C27 22,29,30-tris-nor-neohopane (Ts) in a hydrocarbon sample obtained from a subsurface location;
calculating an angiosperm index-1=[O]/([O]+[H29Ts]) and an angiosperm index-2=[O]+[B]/([O]+[B]+[Ts]);
estimating an age of the hydrocarbon sample based on a relationship between hydrocarbon age and the angiosperm index-1 and the angiosperm index-2;
using the relationship between the hydrocarbon age and the angiosperm index-1 and the angiosperm index-2 to determine a location from which to extract hydrocarbons from the subsurface location; and
extracting the hydrocarbons from the determined subsurface location;
wherein the relationship is determined by measuring the angiosperm index-1 and the angiosperm index-2 of multiple reference hydrocarbon samples having known ages and correlating the measured angiosperm indices-1 and the measured angiosperm indices-2 against the known ages of the multiple reference hydrocarbon samples.