Algerian oil well deposit derived asphaltene fraction was characterized by different MAS/NMR sequences to investigate asphaltene aromaticity and the best cross-polarization contact time. The aromaticity was estimated by single pulse sequence (SP), Hahn-echo ( HE), cross-polarization (CP) and variable cross-polarization (VACP) sequences. The values found ranging from 0.58 to 0.48 are of the same order of magnitude as ones published in the literature. The discrepancies between the values are thought to be relevant to both the specificity of each sequence and the asphaltene structure. Spectra band de-convolution enables us the determination of the average number of carbon atoms per side chain according to each sequence. The obtained values spanning from 3 to 7 are also sequence nature dependent. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.