Reactivity of organic compounds during water–rock interactions

Conversion of BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene) to the corresponding alkyl phenols is also thermodynamically feasible and is known to be mediated by microbes. The relative abundances of BTEX and of alkyl phenols in North Sea formation waters are remarkably similar (Dale et al. 1997; Fig. 1), suggesting a fundamental geochemical control. Whilst the consistent distributions might in principle indicate metastable equilibrium, the data are consistent with simple partition equilibrium between oil and water (Fig. 1).