Data interpretation methods for petroleomics

The need of heavy and unconventional crude oil as an energy source is increasing day by day, so does the importance of petroleomics: the pursuit of detailed knowledge of heavy crude oil. Crude oil needs techniques with ultra-high resolving capabilities to resolve its complex characteristics. Therefore, ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry represented by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) has been successfully applied to the study of heavy and unconventional crude oils. The analysis of crude oil with high resolution mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) has pushed analysis to the limits of instrumental and methodological capabilities. Each high-resolution mass spectrum of crude oil may routinely contain over 50,000 peaks. To visualize and effectively study the large amount of data sets is not trivial. Therefore, data processing and visualization methods such as Kendrick mass defect and van Krevelen analyses and statistical analyses have played an important role. In this regard, it will not be an overstatement to say that the success of FT-ICR MS to the study of crude oil has been critically dependent on data processing methods. Therefore, this review offers introduction to peotroleomic data interpretation methods.