Asphaltenes from reservoir oils, source rock bitumen and the kerogen of related source rocks of the Duvernay Formation (WCSB) have been studied in order to compare their petroleum generation characteristics. Open system bulk petroleum pyrolysis for bulk kinetic evaluation and geological extrapolation and pyrolysis GC experiments for petroleum compositional characterisation were applied in order to evaluate the reliability of petroleum asphaltenes in source rock evaluation studies in which a potential source rock sample is not available. Kinetic parameters and resulting geological extrapolations of petroleum formation calculated on immature source rock kerogens and asphaltenes fit exactly to corresponding parameters measured on asphaltenes precipitated on low mature oils. In contrast molecular characteristics such as aromaticity and the amount of alkylated thiophenes reveal highest values in source rock asphaltenes, while oil asphaltenes demonstrate lowest aromaticity. Source rock kerogens seem to represent an intermediate between both types of asphaltenes at low levels of maturity. Interestingly the molecular ratios observed in products formed from oil asphaltenes fit exactly to those observed in natural oils and support the application of petroleum asphaltenes to predict petroleum formation and especially petroleum compositional characteristics. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.