SUEZ UNIVERSITY ‫جامعة الس ـ ـوي ـ ـ ـ ـس‬

Different Types of Oil and Gas Traps, and Methods

of Classification

1
SUEZ UNIVERSITY ‫جامعة الس ـ ـوي ـ ـ ـ ـس‬

Abstract
In old ages, there were a lot of areas where oil spills out of the ground. Bitumen
formed from such naturally occurring crude oil has been collected and used since ancient
times, both for lighting and medicine. Prior to 1859, oil was also obtained from coal for
use in kerosene lamps. It was not until the adventures of Edwin Drake in 1859 at Oil
Creek near Titusville, West Pennsylvania, that oil was extracted in some quantity from
boreholes. He drilled the first well over the ages of about 25m deep, generating 8:10
bbl/day. but for many years, oil was extracted by digging shafts into the oil-bearing strata
because it was so thick that it would not flow into the well. At this time, oil exploration
consisted, to a large degree, of keeps track of oil seepage on the surface and for drilling
in the area, which did not entail much geological expertise.
It was then realized that oil or gas is first formed from organic matter, after that as
oil is less dense than water, it migrates from low-permeability rocks into high-permeability
reservoir rocks until it is trapped in layers of sedimentary rocks forming domes or
anticline structures. As oil is less dense than water and a low permeability layer is
required to prevent oil and gas from rising and escaping. This resulted in extensive
geological mapping of the surface-visible anticlines and domes.
This study aims to discuss the various types of oil and gas traps and the different
methods used in classifying them.
Traps consist of porous reservoir rocks overlaid by tight (low permeability) rocks
called cap rocks, which prevent oil or gas from moving through. Traps are classified by
the type of structure that forms them as following: structural traps formed by structural
deformation of rocks (folding, doming, or faulting), stratigraphic traps in the sedimentary
sequences that are related to primary features and do not require structural deformation
such as faulting or folding, and stratigraphic and structural trap combinations.

2
SUEZ UNIVERSITY ‫جامعة الس ـ ـوي ـ ـ ـ ـس‬

Introduction
Oil and natural gas produced from fields are found in porous and permeable rocks
(reservoirs) in which these liquids have been collected and built up throughout the huge
expanse of geological time. Oil and gas fields are geological features arising from four
types of geological features such as source rocks, reservoir rocks, seals, and traps that
have correlated (Figure 1). We can think of an oil trap as a barrel or bucket upside down
that can then be filled with oil that rises through the water until it is full, so it is where the
oil is found and the first target for experts in the exploration process (1).

Figure 1: Arrangement of oil and gas source rocks, a reservoir, a seal, and a trap in such a way as to
allow natural oil and gas accumulation.

3
SUEZ UNIVERSITY ‫جامعة الس ـ ـوي ـ ـ ـ ـس‬

1. Petroleum Formation and Migration

There are some stages that oil and gas go through before they are trapped, these
stages are accumulations of organic matter, breakdown of organic matter, the formation
of source rocks, early diagenesis of organic matter, kerogen, and migration of Petroleum.

Oil migrates from low-permeability rocks into high-permeability reservoir rocks

from which the oil can be produced. Petroleum migration's main driving factor is
buoyancy since it is less dense than water. Capillary forces and resistance to flowing
through rocks with low permeability are the forces acting against migration. We
differentiate between primary migration, which is the movement of petroleum from the
rock source (clay or shale) into the permeable carrier beds (sandstone or limestone) and
secondary migration, which is the continuous flow of oil and gas within carrier beds and
reservoirs (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Primary and Secondary Migrations of Petroleum

4
SUEZ UNIVERSITY ‫جامعة الس ـ ـوي ـ ـ ـ ـس‬

2. Trap Characteristics
After the secondary migration, the oil and natural gas begin to flow through the
reservoir rock pore spaces until any more oil and gas movements are blocked by the
reservoir rock physical structure and one or more seals. This configuration of the seals
and reservoir is called a trap. They must form structures that are closed at the top so
that they can collect oil and gas that is lighter than water. The point where the oil can
leak out of this structure is called the spill point. The closure is the maximum oil column
that the structure can hold before it leaks through the spill point (Figure 3). The contact
surface between gas and oil in the reservoir is called gas-oil contact (GOC) and the
contact between oil and water is called oil-water contact (OWC). Hydrocarbons may
leak through the cap rock, too. Cap rock may not be 100% effective in preventing the
upward flow of hydrocarbons, but it will still accumulate if the leakage rate is lower than
the supply rate up to the trap. Cap rocks are not completely waterproof but can be
impermeable to oil and gas because of capillary resistance in the small pores. Low
permeability cap rocks are generally shale or low permeability sandstones and
carbonate rocks.

Figure 3: Petroleum Traps Characteristics

5
SUEZ UNIVERSITY ‫جامعة الس ـ ـوي ـ ـ ـ ـس‬

3. Types of Traps (2)

There are many classifications of hydrocarbon traps in use, but the most common
classification classifies the traps into three classes as following: structural traps,
stratigraphic traps, and stratigraphic and structural trap combinations. In relation to the
petroleum migration, it is important to determine when structural traps were established.
Efficient traps will not be structures formed after the main phase of source rock
maturation and associated migration. In some cases, traps formed late can gather gas
that is produced normally and migrate later than oil. In comparison, stratigraphic traps
have been there all the time and the timing of the migration is not that significant.
However, they may be based on slight tilting of the involved strata.

3.1. Structural Traps

Such traps are types of rock which shape as a result of some structural deformation - a
bend or dip - of rock. Despite of different types of deformation, these traps take on
various forms and shapes. This deformation tends to take place over tens or hundreds
of millions of years after deposition of sediment which creates the seals and rocks
themselves (3). Structural traps are primarily the result of folding, faulting, or both (2).

3.1.1. Anticlinal (Fold) and Dome Traps

The conditions for this type are an impermeable cap rock, a porous reservoir rock and
closure occurs in all directions to prevent leakage (i.e., 4-way closure required for a
dome).

3.1.1.1. Anticlinal Trap

Simple (anticlinal) folding traps with axial climax (fold axis dipping in two or more
directions): The simplest type of trap is formed when a sandstone bed is folded into an

6
SUEZ UNIVERSITY ‫جامعة الس ـ ـوي ـ ـ ـ ـس‬
anticline that is overlain by tight (i.e. low permeability) shale. However, a single anticline
may not necessarily be a trap. The crest of the anticline must have an apical culmination
(i.e. a peak) somewhere along the fold axis so that hydrocarbons can be caught in a
trap. The seismic reflection is commonly used to detect anticlinal traps. In maturity most
of these simple traps were probably found on oilfields, but many anticlinal traps remain
to be discovered offshore and in new areas in prospect. An example of fold traps is
shown in (Figure 4).

3.1.1.2. Salt Domes

Strata curve upward around the salt dome creating traps against the sealing salt layers.
An example of this type is shown in (Figure 5).

3.1.1.3. Growth Domes

Domes or anticlines that form during sedimentation when one area subsides more slowly
than the surrounding areas. Their formation coincides with sedimentation (i.e. they form
during deposition), and not due to later folding (tectonic). Growth anticlines may form
due to differential compaction in the substratum over the salt domes or other upward-
projecting features (topographic highs on the buried landscape).

Figure 4: Anticlinal Trap Figure 5: Salt Domes Traps

7
SUEZ UNIVERSITY ‫جامعة الس ـ ـوي ـ ـ ـ ـس‬

3.2.2. Fault Traps

For reservoir rocks, the fault plane must have a sealing effect so that it functions as a
barrier to fluid migration

3.2.2.1. Normal faults

This is a fault along which the hanging wall has moved down relative to the footwall in
the direction of dip (Figure 6), for such cases it also termed gravity fault. Such a fault
system develops in response to a vertical direction of maximum compression. The
vertical compression is caused by the weight of the overlying rocks. An example of
normal fault petroleum traps is shown in (Figure 7).

Figure 6: Normal Fault Figure 7: Normal Fault Related Trap

3.2.2.2. Strike-slip faults

If the slip direction is parallel to the strike of the fault plane, the fault is termed a strike-
slip fault. It is usually a high-angle fault with vertical fault plane, as shown in (Figure 8).
Such a fault develops in response to a horizontal compression, combined with a
horizontal displacement. These may not be sealed due to incremental movements but

8
SUEZ UNIVERSITY ‫جامعة الس ـ ـوي ـ ـ ـ ـس‬
underlying-controlled strike-slip faults generate commonly good anticlinal structures in
overlying softer sediment.

Figure 8: Strike-Slip Faults

3.2.2.3. Fault Related Folding

Drag may occur on faults (Figure 9), so that, the layers appear to have been pulled down-
dip in the hanging wall or up-dip in the footwall.

Figure 9: Fault Related Folding

9
SUEZ UNIVERSITY ‫جامعة الس ـ ـوي ـ ـ ـ ـس‬

3.2. Stratigraphic Traps

Stratigraphic traps are formed when the reservoir layer is sealed by other layers or when
there is a change in the reservoir layer properties such as porosity and permeability. The
first type in which the reservoir layer is sealed by another impermeable layer occurs
when there is an inclined petroleum-bearing rock overlaid by another impermeable seal
rock. The second type in which oil and gas are trapped due to change in the reservoir
layer properties occurs when the reservoir properties such as permeability and porosity
are enough at the lower part and are very small at the upper part forming a good seal.
The third type occurs when the reservoir layer is surrounded by an impermeable layer
from all directions. Stratigraphic traps are classified into two classes as following: primary
stratigraphic traps and secondary stratigraphic traps (2).

3.2.1. Primary stratigraphic traps

They result from variations in facies that developed during sedimentation such as lenses,
pinch outs, and appropriate facies changes.

3.2.1.1. Porous Reefs

Reefs can often form stratigraphic traps. A

reef structure projects up from the seabed
and is often surrounded by shale sediments,
so oil may migrate from the shale into the reef
structure. An example of porous reefs
forming a trap is shown in (Figure 10). In this
case, structural traps are formed above the
reef and stratigraphic traps are formed within
Figure 10: Porous Reefs

10
SUEZ UNIVERSITY ‫جامعة الس ـ ـوي ـ ـ ـ ـس‬

3.2.1.2. Sandstone Channels

After deposition of a normal conformable

sequence, channels may cut it. These
channels will be filled with sand forming
stratigraphic traps and finally with proper
conditions, hydrocarbons will accumulate
within these stratigraphic traps (Figure 11).

Figure 11: Sandstone Channels

3.2.1.3. Unconformities
An unconformity is a hiatus in the normal geological sequence caused by a break in the
process of deposition, by erosion, or by structural deformation. It results in a missing
amount of sediments corresponding to a missing geological time as compared to the
normal sequence. It is made of two different series of strata separated by a surface of
unconformity. In this case, traps may form below or above the unconformity (Figure 12).

Figure 12: Traps associated with Unconformities

11
SUEZ UNIVERSITY ‫جامعة الس ـ ـوي ـ ـ ـ ـس‬

3.2.1.4. Pinch-out
The termination by thinning or tapering out
("pinching out") of a reservoir against a
nonporous sealing rock creates a favorable
geometry to trap hydrocarbons, particularly
if the adjacent sealing rock is a source rock
such as a shale (Figure 13).
Figure 13: Pinch-out Traps

3.2.2. Secondary Stratigraphic Traps

They result from variations that developed after sedimentation, mainly because of
diagenesis. These include variations due to porosity enhancement by dissolution or loss
by cementation. For example, folding occurs in an area with a limestone fracturing
causes secondary porosity where leaching at the non-reservoir Rock can allow
hydrocarbons to accumulate (Figure 14).

Figure 14: Fracturing in limestone causing oil trap

12
SUEZ UNIVERSITY ‫جامعة الس ـ ـوي ـ ـ ـ ـس‬

3.3. Combination Traps

A combination trap generally has a two-stage history. The first stage is the stratigraphic
element that is often formed early and caused by edge permeability of the reservoir rock.
The stratigraphic element may be lateral variation, truncation, unconformable overlap.
The second stage is the structure element that is nearly formed after the stratigraphic
element and cause the deformation that completes the trap. The structure element may
be folding or faulting. An example of combination traps is shown in (Figure 15) (2).

Figure 15: Example of Combination Traps

13
SUEZ UNIVERSITY ‫جامعة الس ـ ـوي ـ ـ ـ ـس‬

Conclusion
Petroleum undergoes two types of migrations before being accumulated. The first
migration type is referred as primary migration which is the movement of petroleum from
the rock source (clay or shale) into the permeable carrier beds (sandstone or limestone)
and secondary migration, which is the continuous flow of oil and gas within carrier beds
and reservoirs. Then oil and gas are trapped in traps that provide an accumulation space
and a seal to prevent further migration.

There are different types of traps such as: structural traps that result from structural
deformation of rocks, stratigraphic traps that result from variations in facies or
diagenesis, and combination traps that show the combined effect of structural and
stratigraphic elements.

References
1. Ronald F. Broadhead, Petroleum Geology: An Introduction, New Mexico Bureau of
Geology and Mineral Resources, a Division of New Mexico Institute of Mining and
Technology, 2002.
2. Kevin T. Biddle | Charles C. Wielchowsky, Hydrocarbon Traps, January 01, 1994.
3. Knut Bjørlykke, Petroleum Geoscience: From Sedimentary Environments to Rock
Physics, Springer; 2nd ed. 2015 edition (June 19, 2015).
4. John Dolson, Understanding Oil and Gas Shows and Seals in the Search for
Hydrocarbons, Springer; 1st ed. 2016 edition (June 15, 2016).
5. Petroleum Geology class from Chulalongkorn University Official website,
https://petgeo.weebly.com/stratigraphic-trap.html
6. Schlumberger Glossary,
https://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/en/Terms/p/pinch-out.aspx

14