Geochemical characteristics of crude oil in fluvial deposits from Maling oilfield of Ordos Basin, China

Maling oilfield is one of the earliest discovered oilfields in the Ordos Basin. It is also a typical representative of oil reservoirs in fluvial deposits. However, due to the deficiency of geochemical study on the crude oils and source rocks, the interpretation of the oil origin is largely based on the geological situation. Maling crude oils (21) and source rocks (14) from the basin have been systematically analyzed. The distribution of the biomarkers indicates that the crude oils mainly originated from source rocks deposited under a weakly reducing to sub-oxic, freshwater lacustrine environment. Besides algae, higher land plants have also made an important contribution to the source organic matter. Comparison of the distributions of the biomarkers suggests that there is a correlation between the Maling oilfield oils and the source rocks of the Yanchang Formation.