Abstract: Oilgenerating parent material kerogen is the important target in petroleum geology study. The applicability of attenuated total reflectionfourier transform infrared (ATRFTIR) technique to analysis of kerogen was discussed in this paper. The spectra of kerogen from attenuated total reflection analysis were compared with those from the same samples but obtained using KBr pellet technique. The results showed that ① the spectra from ATR mode were almost the same as those from pellet absorbance mode, ② band absorbance from the ATR mode was much lower than that from pellet absorbance mode, ③ the FTIR structural parameters obtained from ATR technology and from pellet absorbance method were comparable. As the ATR technology did not need sample preparation, so it could reduce the moisture interference and therefore it was suitable for application in identification of kerogen types, research on thermal evolution degree and source comparison of kerogen.