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Petroleum geochemistry

Sulphur greases the wheels

Nature volume 391, pages 128–129 (1998)Cite this article

What, in detail, are the fundamental chemical reactions that generate petroleum? Quite simply, we don't know. Such information is essential in developing predictive models for locating and exploiting deposits of oil and natural gas, but has remained elusive due to the complexity of the sedimentary systems in which petroleum forms. In his paper on page 164 of this issue1, Lewan takes a large step in the right direction — he presents a new hypothesis, based on laboratory experiments, that gives organically derived sulphur species a pivotal role in regulating the rate of petroleum generation.

Lewan proposes that sulphur radicals initiate the breaking of C-C bonds within kerogen (insoluble sedimentary organic matter) to produce the many hydrocarbon fragments that constitute oil, the sulphur radicals being derived from the thermal decomposition of kerogen itself. This view compares with the conventional wisdom that holds that the decomposition of kerogen to form oil is strictly a thermally driven, kinetic process, dominated by the strength of molecular bonding2,3. Thus, in the past, the inherent weakness of C-S and S-S bonds has been seen as being responsible for the faster generation of petroleum from kerogens that are enriched in sulphur.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, 02543, Massachusetts, USA

    Jeffrey S. Seewald

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  1. Jeffrey S. Seewald
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Seewald, J. Sulphur greases the wheels. Nature 391, 128–129 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/34301

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