The purpose of this project is to develop and test improved kinetic models of petroleum generation and cracking, pore pressure buildup, and fluid expulsion. The work was performed jointly between Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Research Organization of the Venezuelan National Petroleum Company under Annex 12 of an agreement between DOE and the Venezuelan Ministry of Energy and Mines. Laboratory experiments were conducted at both LLNL and INTEVEP to obtain the reaction rate and product composition information needed to develop chemical kinetic models. Experiments at INTEVEP included hydrous pyrolysis and characterization of oils by gas and liquid chromatography. Experiments at LLNL included programmed pyrolysis in open and self-purging reactors, sometimes including on-line gas analysis by tandem mass spectrometry, and characterization of oils by gas chromatography and nuclear magnetic resonance. The PMOD code was used to develop a detailed pyrolysis mechanism from the extensive laboratory data. This mechanism is able to predict yield of bitumen, oil, and gas as a function of time and temperature for such diverse laboratory conditions as hydrous pyrolysis and rapid, programmed, open pyrolysis. PMOD calculations were compared to geologic observations for 22 wells in the Maracaibo basin. When permeability parameters are chosen to match calculated pore pressures with measured present day values, the PMOD calculations indicate that organic maturation reactions contribute a significant fraction of the overpressure during oil generation and early oil cracking. Calculations agreed with observed geochemical maturity parameters of the source rock. 37 refs., 64 figs., 20 tabs.