Recent advances in organic petrology and organic geochemistry: an overview with some reference to ‘oil from coal’

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Abstract
Although organic petrology and organic geochemistry differ greatly in age, it is during the last 25 years that there has been an almost exponential expansion of research and literature in both fields. Much of the support for the developments that have taken place has come from industrial sources. The steel industry underpinned applied coal petrology in the 1960s to improve carbonization practice related to the production of metallurgical cokes. The petroleum industry has generally supported both organic petrology and organic geochemistry, with a principal aim of improving methods to assess rank (level of maturity) and type (source input) of both coals and kerogens. As precise a determination as possible of both these parameters is as essential in hydrocarbon-prospect appraisal as it is in the raising of coke quality.