TRAP

2012
 Petroleum
Petroleum System Elements
System Elements

Anticlinal Trap
Top Seal Rock
(Impermeable)
Reservoir Rock
Potential (Porous/Permeable)
Migration Route

Source Rock
(Organic Rich)

24803
 Identify Traps
Use depth (or time) structure maps, with fault zones, to look for places where
significant accumulations of HC might be trapped:

• Structural traps
– e.g., anticlines, high-side fault blocks, low-side roll-overs
• Stratigraphic traps
– e.g., sub-unconformity traps, sand pinch-outs
• Combination traps (structure + stratigraphy)
– e.g., deep-water channel crossing an anticline
Traps General
•Anticlinal - Rock layers
folded into a dome
•Stratigraphic - Rock layers
changing from a good
reservoir to non-reservoir
due to change in rock type
(pinch-out), reservoir quality
(diagenesis),or removal
(erosional unconformity).
•Fault - Offset of rocks such
that oil and gas
accumulates in reservoir
rock
Structural Traps
The simplest form of
trap is a dome.
This is created by
upward movement or
folding of underlying
sediments.
an anticline is another
form of simple trap.
This is formed by the
folding of layers of
sedimentary rock.
 Structural Traps – A Simple Anticline
Synclinal Spill Point
A’ If HC charge is great
Low A Synclinal Spill Point A’
Controls HC Level

A Low

• HCs migrate to anticline

• Traps progressively fills down
• When HCs reaching the trap is greater, the trap is filled to a leak
point
• Here there is a synclinal leak point on the east side of the trap
 Structural Traps – A Simple Anticline
Synclinal Spill Point
A’ If HC charge is great
Low A HC Migrating to Trap A’
Controls HC Level

A Low

• HCs migrate to anticline

• Traps progressively fills down
• When HCs reaching the trap is small, the trap is under-
filled – it could hold more
• Here the trap is ‘charge-limited’ and is not filled to the
synclinal leak point
 Simple Model of HC Migration
• Generate oil and gas at lower left
• HCs ‘percolate’ into porous interval (white)
• Trap A fills with oil and gas – gas displaces oil
• Trap B fills with spilled oil and gas
• Seal at B will only hold a certain thickness of gas
• At trap B – gas leaks while oil spills

Trap C
Trap B Spillage of
Trap A Excess Gas
Traps with
unlimited charge

Migration Path
Of Spilled Oil
“Gas separator”

Source
Generating HCs
 HC Fill & Spill
Oil Spills
1. Early Charge: Some Oil, Minor Gas Trap B Up Fault

2. Peak Charge: Significant Oil, Some Gas

3. Late Charge: No Oil, Significant Gas

Trap A
Fault Leak
Gas Cap Spill Point
Displaces Oil Synclinal
Spill Point

Oil Spilled
from Trap A
to Trap B
Fault Traps
Faults occur when the rock
shears due to stresses.
Reservoirs often form in these
fault zones.
A porous and permeable layer
may trap fluids due to its
location alongside an
impermeable fault or its
juxtaposition alongside an
impermeable bed.
Faults are found in conjunction
with other structures such as
anticlines, domes and salt
domes.
 A ‘Synergistic’ Relationship
You can not get You can not get
all of the all of the
structural stratigraphic
information information
without working without working
the stratigraphy the structure
 Basic Observations: Profile View
We can recognize moderate- to large-scale
faults on seismic profiles by:
• Termination of reflections
• Offset in stratigraphic markers
• Abrupt changes in dip
• Abrupt changes in seismic patterns
• Fault plane reflections
• Associated folding or sag
• Discontinuities
 Coherency Data
Also known as Discontinuity or Variance
A derivative data volume based on trace-to-trace correlation
Data range from 0 to 1, (1 = neighboring traces are identical)
Amplitude Data Discontinuity

1856 ms 1856 ms
 Corendering of Data
1. The amplitude data is displayed (red-blue)
2. The coherency data below user-defined thresholds is over-
posted in black (very low values ) and gray (low values)

Opacity for the

Continuity Data

Black Gray Transparent

1856 ms
 Fault Identification: Profile Views
A
A B C

B N S W E
C

Faults must tie on

lines that intersect tie
or the interpretation
is not internally
consistent
 Interpreting Faults

Structural Structural
Observations Concepts
 Interpreting Faults

Structural Structural
Observations Concepts
• Fault segments on seismic lines • Tectonic Setting
• Fault plane orientation – Divergent zones
• Sense of motion – Convergent zones
• Magnitude of offset – Strike-slip zones
• Range of depths – Mobile substrate
• Relative timing • How Structures Evolve
– when faults moved – Fault-bend folds
– when structures grew – Fault-propagation folds
– Salt movement
– etc.
 Structural Styles Matrix

CONTRAC- UPLIFT,
EXTENSION LATERAL
TION SUBSIDENCE

extensional contractional strike-slip

BASEMENT basement
fault fault or wrench
INVOLVED warps
blocks blocks faulting

BASEMENT detached
fold-and- tear faults salt, shale
DETACHED normal
thrust belts (detached) diapirism
faulting
 Extensional Faults
basement involved basement detached

1 mile
Stratigraphic Traps
Stratigraphic traps describe
the traps associated with the
depositional environment.
Reefs, channels and bars are
from specific environments.
Unconformities exist due to
tectonic movements when a
formation ;an anticline in
the diagram is eroded ( it is
above ground level ). It is
then buried and more
sediments are added creating
the seal and hence the
reservoir.
 Stratigraphic Traps – Sub-Unconformity &
Reef
A A’ B B’

A
A’ B
B’
Combo Traps – Channel over an Anticline
Structure Stratigraphy
A A

A’ A’
Structure + Stratigraphy
A Cross Section
A A’

A’
 Diapirs Can Provide Good Traps
Salt and shale layers can
become mobile
when subjected to
differential loading

Imaging beneath salt is

very difficult, but the
rewards can be great!

Many oil and gas

fields have been
found associated
with salt & shale
diapirs
Salt Dome Trap
Salt Dome traps are caused
when "plastic" salt is forced
upwards. The salt dome
pierces through layers and
compresses rocks above. This
results in the formation of
various traps:
In domes created by
formations pushed up by the
salt. Along the flanks and
below the overhang in porous
rock abutting on the
impermeable salt itself.
Reservoir Structure
There are many other types of
structure. The criteria for a
structure is that it must have:
Closure, i.e. the fluids are unable
to escape.
Be large enough to be economical.
The exact form of the reservoir
depends on the depositional
environment and post depositional
events such as foldings and
faulting.
Reservoir Mapping

Reservoir contours are

usually measured to be
below Mean Sea Level
(MSL).
They can represent either
the reservoir formation
structure or fluid layers.
Most reservoir maps in
the world use m.s.l. as
the reference. Depths of
the layer increases away
from the crest of the
structure.
The reference is needed
because the drilling rig
can be on top of a
mountain or an offshore
platform. In each case the
measured depth of the
same layer is different as
the drilling reference is
different.
 Basin Modeling
Back-strip the Model Rock
Present-day & Fluid
0 Ma
Strata to Properties
Unravel Forward
the Basin’s through Time
History 18 Ma
Time Steps are Time Steps are
Limited to Mapped Regular Intervals as
Horizons Defined by the User
29 Ma

36 Ma

42 Ma
 Basin Modeling
• We start with the present-day stratigraphy
• Then we back-strip the interpreted sequences to get information
of basin formation and fill
• For some basins, we can deduce a heat flow history from the
subsidence history (exercise)
• Next we model basin fill forward through time at a uniform time
step (typically ½ or 1 Ma)
• If we have well data, we check our model
– Temperature data
– Organic maturity (vitrinite reflectance)
– Porosity
• Given a calibrated basin model, we predict
– HC generation from source intervals
– Reservoir porosity
 Typical Impedance Depth Trends
In general: 5 10
IMPEDANCE x 103
15 20 25
3
• Oil sands are lower impedance
than water sands and shales 4 SHALE
OIL
SAND
• Gas sands are lower impedance 5 Looking for
shallow gas

than oil sands

DEPTH x 103 FEET

6

• The difference in the impedance

7
tends to decrease with depth
8
• The larger the impedance Looking for
difference between the HC sand 9
deep oil

and it’s encasing shale, the

greater the anomaly 10
Data for Gulf Of Mexico Clastics
 Other Important Components

• Timing
– Did the Trap form before HC Migration began?
• Fill & Spill
– Has HC Generation Exceeded Trap Volume?
– Has there been Spillage from Trap to Trap?
– Where is the Oil?
• Preservation
– Has Oil been degraded in the reservoir - thermal cracking or
biodegradation?