Systematic differences among two subsets of petroleums selected geographically and by reservoir type were attributed to lithologically-characteristic migration phenomena. Most oils in offshore Louisiana Tertiary clastic reservoirs are deficient in light ends, evidently because of evaporative fractionation. Residual oils are enriched in cycloalkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons. Spuriously low evident maturities based upon concepts of paraffinicity are observed. Numerous oils are both fractionated and biodegraded. Mesozoic carbonate-sealed reservoirs at the margins of the basin generally contain pristine oils with intact light ends. However, many oils appear to be depleted in preferentially water soluble compounds: benzene, toluene, light cycloalkanes and phenanthrene, evidently due to aqueous fractionation during intraformational migration.