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Petroleum Traps

Petroleum traps are subsurface reservoirs that contain petroleum deposits confined by porous and impermeable rock formations. There are three main types of traps: structural traps formed by folding and faulting of reservoir rocks; stratigraphic traps formed by variations in rock layers; and combination traps involving both structural and stratigraphic elements. Important structural traps include anticlines, domes, and faults that create concave shapes holding petroleum deposits. Stratigraphic traps result from facies changes or unconformities truncating reservoir rocks. Combination traps commonly involve salt dome intrusions that impact nearby rock formations creating traps. The timing of trap formation relative to petroleum migration is also important for determining whether deposits will accumulate.

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285 views8 pages

Petroleum Traps

Petroleum traps are subsurface reservoirs that contain petroleum deposits confined by porous and impermeable rock formations. There are three main types of traps: structural traps formed by folding and faulting of reservoir rocks; stratigraphic traps formed by variations in rock layers; and combination traps involving both structural and stratigraphic elements. Important structural traps include anticlines, domes, and faults that create concave shapes holding petroleum deposits. Stratigraphic traps result from facies changes or unconformities truncating reservoir rocks. Combination traps commonly involve salt dome intrusions that impact nearby rock formations creating traps. The timing of trap formation relative to petroleum migration is also important for determining whether deposits will accumulate.

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Petroleum Geology

Petroleum Traps

BY:
Jood Hashim Mohamed Sultan
Index:
178012
Petroleum Traps
Petroleum trap is subsurface reservoir of petroleum. The oil is always
accompanied by water and often by natural gas; all are confined in porous
rock, usually such sedimentary rocks as sandstones, arkoses and fissured
limestones.
The natural gas being lightest, occupies the top of the trap and is underlain
by the oil and then the water. A layer of impervious rock, called the roof
rock, prevents the upward or lateral escape of the petroleum.

o The conditions necessary for the formation of an oil trap are as follows:
1. The porous reservoir rocks must have a favorable structure such as an
anticline fold or dome, to hold oil.
2. There must be an impervious cap rock or roof rock to check the upward
migration of oil.
3. The structural deformation of rocks must not be very severe. Intensely
fractured rocks may render traps ineffective by causing leakage.
A hydrocarbon reservoir has a distinctive shape or configuration, that
prevents the escape of hydrocarbons that migrate into it.

o Geologists classify reservoir shapes, or traps into the following types:


 Structural traps.
 Stratigraphic traps.
 Combination traps.

Structural Traps:
Structural traps are created when the seal or barrier is concave upward.
The geometry is formed by tectonic processes after deposition of the
reservoir beds involved. This concave nature may be due to local
deformation as a result of folding, faulting or both of the reservoir rock.

Some of the important structural traps are as follows.


a) Anticlines and domes:
An anticline is an example of rocks which are previously flat, but have been
bent into an arch. Oil that finds its way into a reservoir rock that has been
bent into an arch will flow to the crest of the arch, and get stuck.
Folds result in the physical bending [deformation] of the rock units without
breaking. The rock units undergo bending very slowly over a long periods of
geologic time. These types of traps are often found adjacent to mountain
ranges.

Fig1, Anticlines Trap


b) Fault Traps:
Fault traps are formed by the movement of rock along fault line. In some
cases, the reservoir rock has moved opposite a layer of impermeable rock.
The impermeable rock thus prevents the oil from escaping. In other cases,
the fault itself can be a very effective trap, when a fault affects inclined
strata, a reservoir rock may be blocked off by an impervious shale there by
creating an oil trap. Commonly, faults form traps in combination with other
structural features such as folding.

Fig2, Fault Trap


c) Salt domes
This kind of trap originates when salt is deposited by shallow seas. Later,
A sinking seafloor deposits organic rich shale over the salt, which is in turn
covered with layers of sandstone and shale. Deeply buried salt tends to rise
unevenly in swells or salt domes, and any oil generated within the sediments
is trapped where the sandstones are pushed up over or adjacent to the salt
dome .Where, salt domes intruded into the sedimentary rocks, good oil traps
are formed. Here the oil accumulates near the upturned edges of the
reservoir rock which are sealed by the salt.

Fig3, Salt domes

Stratigraphic Traps:
The main trap- making element in a stratigraphic trap is some variation in
the lithology or stratigraphy, or both of the reservoir rock. The variation may
be facies change, variable porosity and permeability or an up-structure
termination of the reservoir rock.

The following may be the setup to give rise to such traps.


i. A reservoir rock may be truncated by an unconformity or overlapped.
ii. There may be changes along the bedding.
iii. The boundary between two kinds of rocks may favor the formation of a
reservoir. The boundary may be sharp or gradational.

The two classes of stratigraphic traps are:


a) Primary Stratigraphic Traps:
Such traps are also known as ‘digenetic’ and ‘depositional’ traps. Thus
primary stratigraphic traps formed during deposition or digenesis of the
sediments.
b) Secondary Stratigraphic Traps:
These are the result of some stratigraphic variation that developed after the
deposition and digenesis of the reservoir rock. They are almost always
associated with unconformities, they may be called unconformity traps.
E.g.: for stratigraphic traps is the Monroe gas field in Morehouse parish,
Louisiana [U.S.A].

Fig4, stratigraphic Traps

Combination Traps:
The combined (or mixed) traps are combinations of structure and lithology.
In such traps, a stratigraphic element may be the cause for the permeability
of a reservoir rock. A structural element caused by deformation may
combine with the stratigraphic element to give rise to a trap. Additionally,
the down-dip flow of formation water may increase the trapping effects.
A great variety of traps, which are combinations of structural & stratigraphic
traps, is associated with intrusion of deep- seated rocks into overlying
sediments.
A common trap that would be an example of a combination trap is a salt
dome. The great majority of such traps are in sediments associated with rock
salt intrusions, traced in the Gulf coast region, U.S.A, Northern Germany,
The North Sea and in Russia.
Oil pools associated with them are known as salt- dome or salt-plug pools.
When salt plugs rise through soft sedimentary rocks, they affect the
stratigraphy and structure of adjacent rocks and traps for the accumulation of
petroleum are created. This has been well observed in the Gulf coast, Texas,
Louisiana and Mississippi, where the plugs are still moving.

Fig5, Combination Traps.


Timing of trap formation:
The timing of trap formation is related to petroleum migration and the
formation of the trap. This is an important aspect to be considered in the
accumulation of petroleum. If the trap formation is before migration, then
they will be the productive. On the other hand, where trap formation post-
dates its petroleum migration, they could be barren. In post migration,
structural changes by faults, they permit petroleum to undergo further
migration.

Oil is found in reservoirs in sedimentary rock. It is composed of compressed


hydrocarbons, and was formed millions of years ago in a process that began
when aquatic plant and animal remains where covered by layers of
sediments(particles of rock and mineral).As bacteria and chemicals broke
down the organic plants and animal material, increasing layers of sediments
settled on top. Heat and pressure transformed the layers of sediment into
sandstone, limestone and other types of sedimentary rocks, and transformed
the organic matter into petroleum. Tiny pores in the rock allowed the
petroleum to seep in. These ‘reservoir rocks' hold the oil like a sponge,
confined by other non-porous layers that form a trap.
References:
 Principles of engineering geology, k.M
 Geology of petroleum, second edition, A.I.LEVORSEN,C B S
Publishers,1986,(14-64).
 Principles of physical geology, ARTHUR HOLMES, Ronald Publishers,
1945,(343-351).
 WEBSITES:
 www.wikipedia.com.
 http://www.topogeo.com
 http://oilandgas.com
 http://sc-geoscience.com

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