Rare earth elements (REE) refer to the lanthanide elements, from
La to Lu, which generally exhibit similar chemical properties
(Henderson, 1984; Rollison, 1993). Their chemical similarities
induce systematic partitioning in a variety of systems. Therefore
REE and their concentration patterns have been widely used in studies
of the origin of materials, and the physical and chemical environmental
variables of various geological processes (Henderson, 1984;
Murray et al., 1990; Jiang et al., 2007). Less attention has been paid to
the application of REE to petroleum systems.