Catalytic activity of bimetallic nanoparticles based on iron and nickel sulfides for hydrogenolysis of heavy oil in case of Boca de Jaruco reservoir

•Catalysts promoted the hydrogenolysis of resins and asphaltenes.•The bimetallic catalyst based on nickel and iron metals with the mass ratio of 1:1 exhibits the best catalytic performance.•Hydrothermal treatment of heavy oil in the presence of bimetallic nanoparticles significantly reduced its viscosity.•The destruction products of asphaltene fragments were observed by GC–MS in the composition of saturates and aromatics.•The content of asphaltenes decreases with the increase of iron metal concentration in the composition of the bimetallic catalyst. This paper examines the transformation of heavy oil composition in porous media of carbonate reservoir rocks under hydrothermal processes in the presence of transition metal sulfides, which form in-situ from the organic-soluble precursors. It was revealed that catalysts significantly promoted the destruction of asphaltenes. Its content was reduced from 15 wt.% to 12 wt.% in the presence of iron-based catalyst. The bimetallic catalyst based on nickel and iron with the mass ratio of 1:1 exhibited the best performance in terms of reducing heavy oil viscosity. Combination of two different metals allowed to involve the wide ranges of carbon-heteroatom bonds, which are mainly concentrated in resins and asphaltenes, into the hydrogenolysis reactions. Irreversible reduction of heavy oil viscosity in-place not only eases the further downstream processes such as pipeline transportation and refinery, but also decreases carbon footprints of the produced oil owing to the increase in the intensity of hydrogenation processes. [Display omitted]