PgDip/MSc Oil and Gas Engineering/Petroleum Technology 1 Topic 10: Trapping Structures

Topic 10: Trapping Structures

Review

In this topic the student is introduced to the mechanisms which trap

hydrocarbons in the reservoir rock, thus preventing further migration.

Content
Introduction

In order for oil to be preserved the reservoir must be overlain by an impervious layer
known as the cap rock or seal. These are usually fine grained sediments such as shales
or evaporites. If the structure of this impervious layer is suitable, further migration of the
oil and gas is halted, and it is said to be trapped. The oil will accumulate beneath a trap
in the cap rock by displacing the water present in the pores. The size and shape of the
trap is mapped out by seismic techniques. Traps and reservoirs are often represented
by structure contour maps, similar to topographical maps but with the contours
representing depth below sea level (Figure 1). Cross sections can also be drawn from
these.
Figure 1. Structure Contour Maps.

Trap Features

A trap may contain oil, gas, or both, with water below. Figure 2 shows the different terms
and definitions. The highest point of the reservoir is the crest. The lowest point is the
spill point. The vertical height in between is the closure. Gas is lighter than oil, which is
lighter than water, and thus the gas-oil and oil-water contacts can be identified. A single
accumulation of oil or gas is a pool whereas a collection of pools is a field. The vertical
height of oil or gas between the crest and the spill point is the oil or gas column. In a
single well this is referred to as the pay. However, some of the formations within the
reservoir may be tight (low permeabilites and/or porosity) and may have to be
discounted. The remaining useful reservoir is the net pay or net reservoir.

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PgDip/MSc Oil and Gas Engineering/Petroleum Technology 1 Topic 10: Trapping Structures

Figure 2. Trap Nomenclature (after Selley, 1998).

The occurrence of oil and/or gas within a trap depends on the properties of the original
source rock (maturation processes), the containing reservoir rock and the cap rock. The
layering of contained fluids will obviously depend on density, with gas being at the top,
but may also vary with chemistry within the oil and the physical reservoir characteristics.
For example, the contacts between phases may be sharp of diffuse. A sharp transition
from water to oil or oil to gas indicates a permeable reservoir, whereas a diffuse
transition indicates low permeability and high capillary pressure. Varying water
saturation across the oil-water contact will indicate the likely producibility, while chemical
layering will affect how the reservoir is produced. The presence of a tar mat at the base
of the oil column, for example, may inhibit water flow into the reservoir on production
and hence affect reservoir pressures.
The seal or cap rock may be formed from any rock formation, just so long as it is
impermeable to the contained fluids. Seals are commonly porous, and can sometimes
be petroleum saturated, but do not permit further vertical movement of the
hydrocarbons. Shales are common seals but are porous. Fluid flow is inhibited by the
fine grain size and hence high capillary forces. Evaporites are the most effective sealing
rocks. In some instances a shale can selectively act as a seal for oil but not for gas.
Despite varying density and phase change characteristics, fluid contacts are generally
planar. This does not mean, however, that thay are horizontal. Identification of a tilted
contact and the reasons for the tilt are important for the implementation of correct drilling
and production methods. Tilting may be due to water flow through the reservoir,
diagenetic (cementation) changes within the water containing portions of the reservoir
(producing a seat seal) followed by tilting, or, by segregation by different geological
facies (Figure 3). In the last case it is migration rather than the position of the oil-water
contact that causes apparent tilting.
Several schemes have been proposed for the classification of traps over the years,
based on either the structure of the trap, shape, or its sealing rock. Structure is the most
common method and generally leads to four major classifications :
• structural;
• stratigraphic;
• hydrodynamic;
• combination.

These may in turn be broken down into numerous sub-groups which themselves are
sometimes classed in their own right. Any scheme is arbitrary.

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Figure 3. Tilting of Fluid Contacts (after Selley, 1998).

Structural Traps

Structural traps are caused by processes after deposition has ceased. They may be
caused by pure tectonic movement (folding and faulting) or by the movement of salt or
mud diapirs through the rock column, again leading to folding and faulting and perhaps
diagenesis. They may take many different forms. For the full potential of hydrocarbon
discovery and recovery a thorough understanding of regional structural geology is
needed.

Anticlinal Traps

Anticlinal traps are the easiest type of trap to find and interpret seismically, and are
therefore the most commonly developed for production around the World. The examples
of traps illustrated so far are all of the anticlinal (folded) type. This type of trap can be
divided into two main classes:
• compressional;
• compactional (drape).

Compressional anticlines are formed due to compression of the Earth’s crust by tectonic
forces and are often found adjacent to mountain chains. They tend to be regular and

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elongated perpendicular to the axis of crustal shortening. Compressional anticlines are

not always symmetrical, however, and the beds are not always deformed evenly. This
means that the position of the trap varies with depth, according to the position of the
crest of the anticline. Anticlines formed by lateral compression may be symmetrical or
asymmetrical, with the folds being concentric (parallel) or similar (Figure 4). An
understanding of the shape and size of the anticline is important when aiming to drill into
the reservoir near its high point.
In concentric folds the thickness and parallelism of the beds is constant. For all the
folded beds there is a common centre of curvature below which the fold cannot persist.
This is important when drilling, as the anticline will not continue to depths below the
centre of curvature. In similar folds the shape of the structure is constant at all levels.
This results in an apparent thinning at the flanks as opposed to the crests.
Figure 4. Compressional Anticlines.

Compactional (drape) anticlines are formed when sediments are deposited and compact
over existing geographical features, and are thus originally lithified in an anticlinal
structure. Compactional anticlines are more commonly found where the Earth’s crust is
under tension and where horsts or grabens have formed prior to deposition (Figure 5).
Differential deposition rates and thicknesses due to the underlying rock bed shape and
sedimentary flow, or biological activity and sediment production, for example, will affect
the resulting compaction and anticlinal shape. Subsequent diagenesis may also affect
the resultant reservoir morphology significantly. Compactional anticlines therefore tend
to be irregularly shaped, generally reflecting the underlying basement fault trends.
Closure tends to decrease with decreasing depth, ie, the anticlinal shape is greater
nearer the base rock.

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PgDip/MSc Oil and Gas Engineering/Petroleum Technology 1 Topic 10: Trapping Structures

Figure 5. Compaction or Drape Anticline (after Selley, 1998).

Fault Traps

Faulting plays an indirect part in many hydrocarbon field structures, with relatively few
caused by faulting alone. As we have seen from basic geology, areas of both faults and
folds are closely interlinked. A fault trap may be formed where a dipping bed is cut off
up-dip by a fault, setting it against something impermeable. Lateral closure must also
exist either by faulting or dip (Figure 6). Unlike anticlines, the sealing properties of a fault
are much more difficult to predict although certain principles apply.
Figure 6. Fault Traps.

Generally, if the throw of the fault is less than the strata thickness, it will not seal. Brittle
rocks are less likely to form sealing faults than ductile rocks. Faults in lithified rocks may
be accompanied by extensive fracturing which in itself can create a reservoir from an
originally impermeable rock. Later diagenesis around fractures and faults can again
change reservoir properties. Unlithified sands and shales tend to seal when faulted.
Smearing of clays and other impermeable materials along a fault face can form a seal
even if the two resultant adjacent rocks are permeable. Figure 7 shows examples of the
eight theoretical configurations of petroleum traps associated with faulting, assuming
that oil can flow across, but not up, the fault plane when permeable layers are adjacent.
Traps may be related to thrust, transverse or tensional faults.
As we have seen previously, folding and faulting often occur together. Folds formed by
compression may develop contain thrust faults, depending of course on the amount of
deformation and the rock properties. Characteristically, thrusting forms long linear fault
lines. Formation of a thrust fault through an anticline may simply slice an existing trap in
two (re Figure 6, right hand side) or perhaps create new traps in oversteep or overturned
folds that were previously non-sealing.

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Figure 7. Fault Configurations (after Bailey & Stoneley, 1981)

Transverse, or wrench, faults result in distinctive trap features. Transverse movement of

a basement block manifests itself as folds in the overlying sediments. Fold axes are
oblique to the wrench fault, indicating its direction of movement, and may, in some
instances, be offset by further faulting. Faulting from the basement block will fan upward
and outward into low angle faults. Vertical movement of the basement block may limit
upward faulting to only one side of the wrench fault (Figure 8). This is common where a
sedimentary basin is formed along a wrench fault. Most wrench faults have some
vertical movement involved.
Tensional, or growth, faults are common structural traps. Sediments that are deposited
above a tensioned and moving base will tend to fault. The fault throw in the deeper older
sediments will be greater than the shallower sediments. This leads to a charateristic
fault struture where angle decreases with depth. Roll-over anticlinal structures form
above as sedimentary strata dip towards the fault in order to fill the space caused by
separation (Figure 9). Growth faults and associated roll-over anticlines play a major role
in the migration and entrapment of oil in the Tertiary deposits of the Niger Delta.

Diapiric Traps

Diapiric traps are caused by the rising of sediments that are less dense than those
around and above them. Salt domes and overpressured clays (mud diapirs) affect
petroleum. Salt has a constant density as it does not compress, and will therefore be
naturally less dense than surrounding compacted sediments below certain depths. Over
pressured clays will have high porosity and will therefore be less dense than normally
pressured shales at the same depth.
The affect on overlying sediments of diapiric rise may simply be deformation and
formation of anticlinal structures. In other instances, however, the diapir may penetrate
the sedimentary layers forming faults, pinch or wedge-outs and truncations. Turtle back
anticlines form as the salt flows towards the rising column and surrounding sediments
fall into the space, forming a syncline around the base of the diapir. Figure 10 shows a
variety of traps caused by salt diapirs. Upward movement of salt often leads to
diagenetically produced limestone caps. If the salt reaches close to the surface, it may
dissolve and lead to collapse of surrounding rock structures
Entrapment due to salt movement is important in the Gulf of Mexico, Iran, the North
Sea (Ekofisk field) and the Arabian Gulf.
Diapiric traps are generally structural in form, but are not caused by tectonic forces as
such. As a result, they are often categorised seperately from structural traps

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Figure 8. Wrench Fault Structure (after Selley, 1998).

Figure 9. Niger Delta Fault System.

Figure 10. Varieties of Diapiric Traps.

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Stratigraphic Traps

Petroleum may be trapped where the reservoir itself is cut off up-dip and no other
structural control is needed. Changes in lithology may be caused by variations in original
deposition (eg, reefs and channels) or due to processes after deposition (eg, truncation
or diagenesis). Stratigraphic traps are harder to identify than structural traps and their
formation may be extremely complex. General classifications can be made, however,as
with structural traps, many stratigraphic traps may be grouped together in one reservoir
or field. Two major groupings are usually thought of:
• related to unconformities;
• unrelated to unconformities.

This classification is however arbitrary, as several stratigraphic trap types can occur
both at unconformities and in normal conformable strata.

Unconformity Related

Stratigraphic traps often form around unconformities. They can form above or below the
unconformity. In the simplest case a reservoir may be be formed below an unconformity
when strata are truncated and overstepped by an impermeable layer (Figure 11a). In
many existing sub-unconformity reservoirs, epidiagenesis (secondary solution porosity)
has enhanced the quality significantly.
Reservoirs occur above unconformities where permeable rocks overlay the
unconformity and are subsequently cut off by impermeable rock. The unconformity must
also be impermeable for reservoir formation. For example, shallow sands may ‘onlap’ an
unconformity and be cut off later (Figure 11b). If weathering of an unconformity takes
place, or it is naturally irregular, sands may be deposited in the strike valleys or
channels respectively and again be overlain by impermeable strata (Figure 11c).
Figure 11. Unconformity Related Traps.

Non-Unconformity Related

Non-unconformity related traps, or strictly speaking, traps that do not require the
presence of an unconformity for formation, are very diverse. This group can be further
distinguished by traps that are formed due to depositional processes, and those formed
by diagenetic processes.
Sands may be deposited and transported in a variety of ways. These processes,
sometimes coupled with variations in sea level, can lead to characteristic reservoir

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formations. Marine barrier sands may become totally enclosed in marine or lagoonal
shales. These sands will form traps parallel to the shoreline. More usually, regressive
barrier sands are deposited as sheets (eg, marine fans). These may again be cut off by
shales forming pinch-out or feather-edge traps. Beach sands often form excellent traps
as they are well sorted.
Sand transported along channels (eg, river deposits) that are overlain form channel
traps. Channel traps often contain other materials, such as clays, as sorting may be
poor. This in itself may in fact assist the formation of a trap by stopping migration of oil
along the channel.
Reefs form extremely important stratigraphic traps due to their porosity and
permeability characteristic. Development usually occurs in the form of domes
(pinnacles) or barriers. Reefs are often overlain by shales, which may act as the source
rock for the reef reservoir. Figure 12 illustrates various forms of depostional stratigraphic
traps.
Figure 12. Depositional Stratigraphic Traps.

Diagenesis plays an important role in reservoir quality, as has been seen in previous
topics. Diagenetic processes may also form trapping structures, and consequently
potential reservoirs (Figure 13). Any change in permeablilty or porosity can lead to
formation of a trap. If cementation occurs in the upper reaches of a porous and
permeable strata, an impermeable zone, hence trap, may be formed. Conversely,
solution porosity may lead to trap formation within a cemented rock. The degradation of
oil itself can also produce a trap. As oil contacts surface waters it will degrade due to
bacterial action. Residues from this can inhibit further hydrocarbon migration.

Hydrodynamic Traps

Oil accumulations trapped in this way are rare. The trap is due to water, which may have
entered in the hills, flowing gently through the reservoir and subsequently percolating
down-dip (Figure 14). The oil battles to migrate to the surface against the flow of the
water. The oil is thus held somewhere it would otherwise not be held. If the water flow
diminishes or ceases, the trap will no longer be effective. The hydrodynamic regime
within the reservoir is important. Water can flush oil out of an anticlinal trap for example.
Often the oil-water contact is tilted depending on the direction and intensity of water
flow.

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Figure 13. Diagenetic Traps.

Figure 14. Hydrodynamic Traps.

Combination Traps

Few traps are caused by one type of trapping mechanism. Faults and folds are closely
related, and many non-unconformity dependent traps can also occur in relation to
unconformities. Stratigraphic traps may also be altered by structural events. Pinchout,
onlap and truncation traps all require some form of closure along the strike. This closure
is very often be structural. Folded and faulted beds may be sealed by unconformities. All
these traps are termed combination traps.
An example of a combination trap is Argyll field in the North Sea. Oil is trapped in tilted
and faulted Permian to Jurassic reservoirs. These have been eroded unconformably and
overlain by cretaceous shales. Both the faulting and the unconformity control trapping.
Convergence of unconformities can lead to reservoirs with onlapping and subcropping
structures. The East Texas field contains cretaceous sand unconformably overlying
Washita group rocks. The sands and Washita rocks are truncated by Austin chalk which
unconformably overlies both.

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Prudoe Bay in Alaska involves an anticlinal structure, formed from sediments of widely
varying age, which has been both truncated by faulting and overlain by an unconformity.
The unconformably overlying shales act as both a source and seal in this case.
Different types of rock may also be involved within a field. The Augila field in Libya,
has sands and reefal carbonates below an unconformity, with fractured granite below
these, for example, all of which contain hydrocarbons.
The classifications presented within this topic simply serve to illustrate the main
mechanisms of trapping, as it would be almost impossible to list all combinations.

Relative Importance of Trap Types

Table 1 shows the relative frequency of each type of trap around the World. It can
clearly be seen that the anticlinal structure is by far the most important of all the trap
types. The data only concerns giant fields that are defined as those with more than 500
million barrels of recoverable reserves. The figures reflect Man’s ability to find oil, rather
than the total number of fields in the world, however, as anticlines is relatively easy to
find. Stratigraphic traps may be exceedingly difficult to identify.
Table 1. Relative Frequency of Trap Types Around the World.
Trap Type Number of Fields (%) Proportion of Reserves (%)
Structural 66 78
Stratigraphic 22 13
Combination 12 9
Hydrodynamic - -

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