Micro-Scale Sealed Vessel (MSSV) pyrolysis and open-system pyrolysis of potential source rocks are performed in the laboratory at various constant heating rates. These experiments are carried out as proprietary work with the customers’ own samples or as multi-client work with samples from released exploration wells or from the ‘Stratigraphic Drilling’ campaigns on the Norwegian continental shelf. The results are the basis for multicomponent kinetic models which are used to assess the timing of hydrocarbon generation and the amounts generated depending on thermal history, quality and richness of the source rock.

The Kinetic Library (KinLib) is a collection of data sheets containing non-proprietary kinetic models for major source rocks from the northern North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea.

The laboratory’s chromatography and pyrolysis facilities are used for the characterization of source rocks, oils (including heavy fractions) and natural gases including hydrocarbons and sulfur compounds.