The Barents Sea is a typical example of a multiple sourced hydrocarbon system, with several gas and oil fields. Previous studies have suggested a gas and oil-prone character of the source rocks, but a lack of success in oil discoveries characterizes this area. In this work, the geochemical characterization of source rocks using well data from six exploration wells in the south-western part of the Barents Sea is presented. We studied the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous Knurr, Hekkingen and Fuglen Fms. mainly formed by shales and mudstones. Here, the Passey’s method is applied to characterize the geochemical properties and organic matter of these formations by estimating total organic carbon content (TOC), the quantity of thermally generated hydrocarbons (S2), and hydrogen index (HI). Shale volume was also estimated to check the reliability of the calculated parameters. High shale volume values were found in all the formations, which are generally around 0.8 (volume fraction), indicating a predominance of shaly/muddy lithologies. However, some interbedded sandstones and siltstones are present, together with thinner dolomite and limestone layers. Our results show that Upper Jurassic source rocks such as Knurr Fm., which are often not object of geochemical studies, are mature and characterized by good organic carbon content. Good and very good organic carbon content are measured in the Fuglen and Hekkingen Fms., respectively. The hydrogen index suggests that all the source rocks are mixed gas-oil prone, with the Fuglen Fm. standing out as the most gas-prone between the studied formations. This study demonstrates that the Passey’s method can be an alternative to infer geological information when geochemical data are not available.

巴伦支海是具有多个气田和油田的多源碳氢化合物系统的典型示例。先前的研究表明该烃源岩具有天然气和石油易生的特征，但是该地区的石油发现缺乏成功的特征。在这项工作中，利用巴伦支海西南部的六个勘探井的井数据，对烃源岩进行了地球化学表征。我们研究了上侏罗统-下白垩统Knurr，Hekkingen和Fuglen Fms。主要由页岩和泥岩形成。在这里，Passey方法通过估计总有机碳含量（TOC），热生烃量（S2）和氢指数（HI）来表征这些地层的地球化学性质和有机质。还估算了页岩体积，以检查所计算参数的可靠性。在所有地层中均发现了较高的页岩体积值，通常约为0.8（体积分数），这表明页岩/泥质岩性占优势。但是，存在一些夹层砂岩和粉砂岩，以及较薄的白云岩和石灰岩层。我们的结果表明，通常不是地球化学研究对象的上侏罗统烃源岩，例如Knurr Fm，已经成熟并且具有良好的有机碳含量。分别在Fuglen和Hekkingen Fms中测量了良好和非常好的有机碳含量。氢指数表明，所有的烃源岩都是易混合的油气，具有Fuglen Fm。在研究的地层之间是最易发燃气的地方。