Organic geochemistry and petrography of Kazhdumi (Albian–Cenomanian) and Pabdeh (Paleogene) potential source rocks in southern part of the Dezful Embayment, Iran

There are several source rock units in the Zagros Basin, but the Cretaceous Kazhdumi and Paleogene Pabdeh formations probably have produced the majority of the commercial hydrocarbons in this area. Among the hydrocarbon provinces of Iran, the Dezful Embayment, which is located southwest of Zagros Mountains, is one of the most prolific regions in the Middle East. Numerous studies have been made in the northern part of the Dezful Embayment, but relatively few have been done in its southern part. The present study focuses on organic matter characterization of two potential source rocks (Kazhdumi and Pabdeh formations) in southern part of the Dezful Embayment. Cuttings samples (114) were collected from 10 wells and evaluated using Rock–Eval pyrolysis and organic petrography in order to characterize the content and type of organic matter and thermal maturity. The results showed that the average total organic carbon (TOC) content of Kazhdumi and Pabdeh formations are 2.48 and 1.62 wt%, respectively. The highest TOC contents for both formations are found in the northern compartment and decreased gradually toward the south. Pyrolysis data reveal that organic matter has a fair to very good hydrocarbon generation potential and are classified as Type II–III and Type III. Rock–Eval Tmax and vitrinite reflectance show that the majority of samples are in the early mature to mature stage of the oil generation window.