The Central Tertiary Basin of Svalbard – Organic Geochemical Insights from a Non-Prolific Petroleum System

Summary The present study provides insights from the Central Tertiary Basin (CTB) of Svalbard. Based on the research well BH 10-2008 we have investigated the hydrocarbon generation, expulsion and migration potential of sediments samples covering the Paleocene-Eocene transition. The research well has been drilled with saltwater, assuring a high quality of the sediment samples and no contamination. Although the CTB not being a prolific hydrocarbon provenance, it bears valuable insights into expulsion and migration related fractionation effects. Based on the generated results a back calculation approach incorporation a kerogen mixing calculation was applied. The results achieved by using the back calculation model reassemble the present-day distribution of hydrocarbons within the investigated core section.