10/17/2017

Traps
and the basic classification

http://www.aapgsuez.net/Scientific%20Articles/PetroleumTraps.php

Common Nomenclature in a Trap

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Depositional Environments and 
Reservoirs

Depositional environments and reservoir rocks at a glance

Depositional environments determine the basic architecture and geometry of

siliciclastic hydrocarbon reservoir rocks.

In nonmarine clastic settings

Sandstone reservoirs are deposited in fluvial, eolian, and lacustrine environments

In marine clastic settings

Sandstone reservoir rocks are deposits formed in deltaic, shallow marine, and deep
marine settings.

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Depositional Environments and 
Reservoirs
Collecting facies and reservoir rock properties of giant oil and gas fields in each
depositional setting sows that…

• The most prolific sandstone reservoir of giant oil and gas are deposited in
marine deltaic distributary mouth bars and distributary channels in delta
lobes.
• Stacking of delta lobes by channel avulsion and subsidence of inactive
lobes due to compaction of the underlying prodelta silts and clays
greatly increases the volume of reservoir sand.

• Tertiary deltaic sediments, underlying major modern deltas, offer likely

places to find these reservoir rocks in rollover anticlines.

• Shallow marine sediments provide the next most prolific reservoir facies,
which are deposited as barrier islands, beach, shoreface, and offshore bar
sands.

Depositional Environments and 
Reservoirs
Great potential exists for siliciclastic reservoir rocks in deep‐marine fans (turbidite
systems), occurring at the base of delta slopes of continental margin, rift or wrench
basins. However, deep marine clastic systems still being largely underexplored and
may be the focus in the current and future research.
• Many explorationists are thinking that in fact turbidite systems are the last
clastic exploration targets in the future

Advanced three‐dimensional seismic technology and the present knowledge of

seismic and sequence stratigraphy should help locate these sandstone reservoirs.

• Nonmarine clastic reservoirs offer excellent targets in some basins, such as the
fluvial sands of North Africa and the underexplored lacustrine‐related reservoir
rocks of China and pre‐salt rift basins of the Atlantic margin.

• Because of their high quality, areal extent, and thickness, eolian sand reservoirs
must always be considered, particularly in continental interior strata with
paleolatitudes in the 15°‐40° range north and south of the paleoequator
(paleodeserts).

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Reservoir Characterization

Reservoir characterization includes determination of:

• reservoir limits,
• structure,
• volume
• reservoir properties (porosity, permeability, net pay thickness,
heterogeneity, etc.).

The success of reservoir characterization depends on the comprehensive integration

of various geological disciplines, among them some of the principal are:

• Structural/Tectonics interpretation
• Seismic/sequence stratigraphy interpretation
• Facies analysis/ interpretation of environments
• Core/well log data interpretation
• Regional geological knowledge

All of them are essential parts in reservoir geological model building.

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Reservoir 
Heterogeneity

What Does Reservoir Heterogeneity 
Means?
Definition
(After McGraw‐Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms.)
A heterogeneous reservoir means a rock formation with two or more non‐
communicating sandbody members, commonly each having different specific‐ and
relative‐permeability characteristics.

The reservoir heterogeneity is defined as a variation in reservoir properties as a

function of space (3D).

Essentially, two types of heterogeneity are considered:

• Vertical heterogeneity
• Areal heterogeneity

These properties may include rock characteristics, thickness and geometry, facies,
porosity, permeability, saturation, faults and fractures.

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Levels of Heterogeneity
• A variety of types and scales of heterogeneity are found
in most reservoirs.
• At least four levels can be identified and heterogeneities
can be classified according to scale (Krause et al., 1987);
from the smallest to the largest scale, they are:

Smaller scale • Microscopic heterogeneities,

• Mesoscopic heterogeneities,
• Macroscopic heterogeneities,
Larger scale • Megascopic heterogeneities.

Scales of Reservoir Heterogeneity

Qualitative References

Small scale Large scale

Laboratory Outcrop Seismic

Semiquantitative References

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Scales of reservoir 
heterogeneity 
recognized in the 
silicilastic
reservoirs of the 
Bartlesville 
Sandstone in the 
Glenn Pool field, 
Oklahoma (after 
Kuykendall and 
Matson, 1992).
Common size of cores are from 4, 5 cm to 13,5 cm in diameter

Microscopic or pore/grain‐scale heterogeneities 
Related to pores and arrangement of grains (< single lamina 
scale), including pore volume (porosity, in blue in the thin 
section), pore sizes and shapes, grain‐to‐grain contacts that 
control permeability, and grain types.

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Mesoscopic or well‐scale heterogeneities

Can be recognized in the vertical
dimension, such as in cores or well logs
(image logs).
Such heterogeneities include bedding and
lithologic types, stratification styles, and
the nature of bedding contacts.

Macroscopic or interwell scale

Such heterogeneities occur at the scale of
production well spacing. They affect the
lateral bed continuity or discontinuity as a
result of stratigraphic pinch out, erosional
cut out, or faulting.

This is the most difficult scale of

heterogeneity to quantify, because the
technologies required to image interwell‐
scale heterogeneities often exhibit
resolutions that are too coarse for one to
observe the feature (subseismic resolution).
Cross‐hole tomography, 4D (time‐lapse)
seismic, and well tests can provide direct
information on the presence or absence of
such heterogeneities, but the inherent
resolution of definable features with 2D or
3D seismic often is too high to be able to
resolve important subseismic scale,
interwell heterogeneities.
On the interwell scale
1 acre is pproximately the same size as one football (soccer) pitch
or 16 tennis courts. A very traditional well spacing is 40 acres (=
16ha or 1874.3m²). However, many factors will dictate how far
apart wells will be drilled.
In offshore developments, wells are drilled directionally from the
offshore platform, and drilling costs are very high, spacing may be
100 (40ha or 4685.6m²) to 160 acres (64ha or 7497.0m²). On the
other extreme, steam flooding shallow sands and enhanced oil
recovery pilots, where the cost of drilling is much lower, the
spacing may be only 5 (2ha or 234.28m²) to 10 acres (4ha or
468.56m²) per well.

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Megascopic, or fieldwide heterogeneities,

such as overall geometry and large‐scale
reservoir architecture (related to structure
and/or depositional environment), normally
can be delineated by 2D or 3D seismic, well
tests, production information, and field‐wide
well log correlation.
It is important to note that the size of the
depositional system that comprises a field
normally exceeds the size of the field itself. For
this reason, regional mapping and field
correlations should be extended beyond the
geographic confines of the field.

Hierarchical Scales of Geologic 
Heterogeneity (Levels)
Mesoscopic, macroscopic, and megascopic heterogeneities of sandstone reservoirs can
be subdivided further, according to the scale of the feature (Slatt and Mark, 2004).

For fluvial systems (as an example), these subdivisions, or levels, are:

Meso‐ Macro and megascopic heterogeneities of Fluvial Sandstone reservoirs

Level 1 Regional environment of  Continental mixed or marine
deposition
Level 2 Major type of deposit Example if continental:
Workflow steps

alluvial, fluvial, eolian, or lacustrine
Level 3 More specific types of  Example if continental fluvial:
deposit Meandering river, braided river or incised valley 
fill
Level 4 Architectural elements Example if continental fluvial and meandering 
river deposit and floodplain, point bar, cut bank, 
mud plug, fining upward cycle, and cross‐bedded 
elements.
All depositional systems can be subdivided at these levels (following a logical workflow).

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Example of Level 1 and 2: Regional environment and major type of deposit

Level 1 Regional environment of  Continental
deposition
Level 2 Major type of deposit fluvial, eolian or lacustrine or 
alluvial fan

Example of Level 1, 2 and 3: From regional environment to major type of deposit and more

specific type
Level 1 Regional environment of deposition Continental
Level 2 Major type of deposit Fluvial
Level 3 More specific types of deposit meandering or braided river or incised valley fill

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Level 3 environments that may occur within each Level 2 environment. In this
example, Level 2 fluvial environments and deposits occur as meandering river, incised
valley fill or braided river systems. Each system has its own unique characteristics and
trends. The three photos are of modern surficial deposits.

Meso‐ Macro and megascopic heterogeneities of Sandstone reservoirs

Level 1 Regional environment of deposition
Level 2 Major type of deposit
Level 3 More specific types of deposit
Level 4 Architectural elements
Continental
Fluvial
Meandering river deposits
Point bar deposit and cut bank ‐> mud plug or 
fining upward cycle ‐> cross‐bedded elements.

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Level 4 environments and deposits are composed of smaller scale features which
are part of Level 3 deposits. In this example, the meandering river (Level 3) is composed of a
series of features. From upper left to lower right, these features are a modern meandering
river and floodplain, a map reconstruction of part of the modern Mississippi River showing
point bar (reservoir) sands isolated by mud plugs, the point bar and cut bank sides of a
meander bend, cross bedded, point bar sands along a trench wall, the ideal vertical
stratigraphy of a point bar deposit, and a 3D model showing the complexities of the modern
Mississippi River example. (Mississippi River examples were provided by D. Jordan.) R. Slatt (

The above discussion refers only to

stratigraphic and sedimentological features
of reservoirs and not to tectonic or
structural features. Tectonic or structural
features include:
• folds,
• faults,
• fractures,
• diapirs (salt and shale),
• microfractures,
• Stylolites (chemical compaction)

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The above tectonic and structural features can have a profound effect on reservoir
performance.

For example, at one end of the scale, faults can isolate rock bodies horizontally into
different compartments, particularly if a fault offset juxtaposes sandstone against
shale or a significant amount of fault gouge builds up within the fault zone (Fig. 1.24).

Example: a strike‐slip fault with a component

of throw has juxtaposed thinner bedded
sandstones against shales on the upper half
of the wall (horizontal compartment).
Sandstone is juxtaposed against sandstone on
the lower half, but a thick gouge zone
of fine‐grained, crushed sandstone separates
both sides of the fault. The curve on the left
side of the wall is an outcrop gamma ray log
superimposed on the quarry wall.

Fracture corridors in sandstones Lain Bush, Schlumberger; Geo 2010; Oil Review Middle East Isuue 2 2010

Fracture corridors vary in length and size (between 10m wide x 100m high and 1km long).
They are not restricted to carbonates. The example is from sandstones in Algeria and are up
to 10m wide with no vertical displacement and also have many small fractures associated

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At the other end of the scale, open faults

can facilitate hydrocarbon migration into
reservoir intervals and can enhance fluid
communication across the faulted intervals.
• Reservoirs that produce hydrocarbons
directly from fractures are common but
often may be short‐lived (e.g.,
“fractured reservoirs”).

Oil seeps in fractured limestones

In addition to structural and pore‐level characteristics, Level 4 (architectural

elements) is probably the most important in reservoir characterization because
properties at this scale often control or influence the reservoir’s performance and
because they are often subseismic in scale.

Therefore, geologic knowledge must replace direct imaging. Unfortunately, even with
geologic information, many reservoirs are only described at Levels 1–3 and are
structurally understood only in the broadest sense.

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Review on the architectural element 

approach
The 'architectural‐element' approach provides a systematic means for describing
sedimentary systems, organizing observations and measurements for diverse settings.

For example deep‐water sedimentary settings include lithofacies assemblages and their
geometries, vertical profiles, and other internal and external characteristics that occur
repeatedly and are often predictably (Sprague et al., 2002).

The hierarchy of “architectural elements" and their boundaries is directly related to

the hierarchy of "stratal units" of sequence stratigraphy. Collectively these genetically
related stratigraphic building blocks form the sedimentary architecture of the
deepwater depositional system.

This hierarchical framework of the units is based solely on the physical stratigraphy of
the strata and their thickness is time independent.

The elements show a progressive increase in scale from the deposit of a single
sediment gravity flow (single bed) to the accumulated deposits that comprise entire
slope or basin floor successions (complex system set).
• When integrated with biostratigraphic data they provide part of the framework
from which cycles of base level rise and fall may be interpreted.
• This approach enables the classification and eventually interpretation of these
sedimentary rocks and the prediction of their lateral extent as a three‐dimensional
architecture across the basin.

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The interpretation of deepwater systems involving elements often mixes a top‐down

and bottom up approach to the hierarchies of the classification.

The top‐down system first establishes the gross depositional relationships of the
deepwater sediments including the basic geomorphology of the depositional basin
and the sea floor topography in the vicinity of the deepwater sediment accumulation.

In the second step the first is sub‐divided into the main and general architectural
elements of the deepwater fan that are traced and described from the sediment
source to seaward in terms of their depositional dimensions.

The general architectural elements are based on bounding surfaces, and the gross
facies geometries and composition so neophytes and specialists alike find it easy to
identify, understand and map them.
These in order of decreasing complexity include:
• basin margin slope
• base of slope
• basinfloor fan complexes
• canyons
• feeder channels and levees,
• overbank sheets and drapes
• mounds & lobes
• contourites

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Microscopic heterogeneities can be also subdivided according to features such as:

• grain‐size distribution,
• porosity,
• permeability,
• capillarity,
• grain‐packing arrangements,
• well log signature.

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Aiming Reservoir Characterization…

Two stonecutters were asked what they were doing. 
The first said,
“I’m cutting this stone into blocks”. 
The second replied, 
“I’m on a team that is building a cathedral”

Basic Principles and Applications of 
Reservoir Characterization
Overview

The volume of information that is being generated and made publicly available about
oil and gas reservoirs is increasing at an exponential rate, as is most “knowledge”.

Partly because of the volume and the nature of available information, and
the lessons learned and discussed from specific projects, the field of reservoir
characterization is approaching a healthy level of maturity.
• A substantial part of the improvement is related to the use of computers loaded
with specific and highly specialized software.

We all acknowledge the advances that have been made in oil and gas
exploration and development as a result of computers, there are however a number of
occasions of computer overuse, i.e., using the computer instead of knowledge to
attempt to solve a problem.
Nowadays, and more times than desired, professional skills are oriented to produce
“nintendo geologists” instead to produce geologists, enginyers, etc, to solve problems.
A balance is necessary and you should always take that into account.

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“The principal goal of reservoir characterization is figure out the nature to 
obtain higher recoveries with fewer wells in better positions at minimum 
cost through optimization”
(Halderson and Damsleth, 1993).

The characterization of reservoirs has evolved, during the past 20 years, from a
simple engineering evaluation, to multidisciplinary teams of geologists,
geophysicists, petrophysicists, and petroleum engineers working together.

Compartmentalization and
Connectivity of reservoirs
Oil and gas reservoirs are commonly perceived as relatively simple and uniform
geologic features. However the reality is that they are quite complex, and they
can be subdivided into architectural elements or compartments on the basis of
several structural and stratigraphic features.

A key concept:
Architectural element = Compartment

Architectural elements
In architecture, architectural elements are the unique details and component
parts that, together, form the architectural style of houses, buildings and
structures.

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Is compartmentalization the exception or the rule? 
A common thinking is that a
reservoir is a relatively simple and
uniform geologic rock unit with
porosity and permeability.
However, people involved in oil
industry know that reservoir rocks
are quite complex features.

In the real world, each reservoir 
can be subdivided into 
architectural elements ‐in fact 
sedimentary compartments‐ on 
the basis of several structural 
and stratigraphic features, and 
compartmentalized reservoirs 
are the rule, rather than the 
exception. 

Significance of Compartmentalization
A compartmentalized coastal reservoir is illustrated below. Various isolated
components that together comprise the entire sandstone body are illustrated.
Hypothetical wells have been equally spaced.

In the example is shown a coastal sandstone

sequence that might be considered to be a
continuous deposit.

But in fact, the sandstone body is broken

into component parts, deposited within
different depositional environments of the
coastal zone. Some of these sandstones
(yellow) are encased in shale (orange), and
are thus isolated or compartmentalized from
other adjacent sandstone deposits.

Six equally spaced wells illustrate that, in this

hypothetical example, two deposits (the
inlet fill and the barrier core), have not been
penetrated by a well, and would thus
contain undeveloped reserves.
from Galloway and Hobday (1983), Modified by R. Slatt (…) 

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Significance of compartmentalization
Because of this equal well spacing, some of the isolated components will not be
drilled or produced, and the field will not live up to its production potential.

Even if barriers to fluid communication – such as the shales in this example – break as
a result of production pressure drawdown, production of the hydrocarbons within the
isolated compartment will have been delayed.

Lack of understanding of compartmentalization can have a very profound effect on

waterflood performance.

For example, the upper sandstone

body shown in the right hand Fig.
was mapped originally as a single
sandstone body, on the basis of
well control. A waterflood was
designed on this basis, and it failed
to provide the anticipated results.

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When a geologist reexamined the log and core characteristics, he recognized that
indentations in the log response represented thin shales (blue in the section below)
that could be mapped across the field, and that mutually separated the sandstone
into a series of isolated sandstone lenses. The shales prevented the injected water
from reaching the targeted sandstones.

P.B.D.T= Plug back Total depth

=
After the study

From a single 
homogeneous ss
body

Isopach map showing the six compartments (F–K)

of isolated (by shales) sandstone lenses that
comprise the sandstone reservoir. (Figure provided
by W.J. Ebanks Jr.)

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Nature of Compartimentalization
A good analogy for reservoirs is a pocket knife with a number of attachments
or component parts (Fig. Swis knife).

The total volume and shape of the knife is analogous to

a new‐field discovery, in which the data are only
sufficient to estimate the volume, external shape, and
gross internal properties.

Once the field is discovered, the different components

of the knife are analogous to the different
“architectural elements” and internal properties of the
reservoir, because each is characterized by a different
size, shape, and performance capability.

Even within a mature field that contains a large number of wells and production
information, the undrilled areas between the wells (the “interwell areas”) – even if
they are small – represent areas of geologic uncertainty.
The interwell area can offer surprises that may hinder or enhance oil and gas
production.

For example, faults and stratigraphic

pinchouts can prevent fluid
communication between a waterflood
injection well and a producing well, thus
reducing the effectiveness of the
waterflood plan.

Many failed waterfloods are a result of

such common but undetected features
inside a reservoir.

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Even 3D seismic reflection surveys, which now are commonly acquired for reservoir
characterization, do not image all of the features inside a reservoir that may control
performance. Such features have been termed “subseismic‐scale” features (Slatt and
Weimer, 1999).

Thus, reservoirs typically consist of a number of component parts or architectural

elements that, together, comprise the reservoir, but that individually control
the volume of hydrocarbons present and the production behavior of the reservoir.

These architectural elements are defined by the

• size,
• geometry,
• orientation,
• internal continuity,
• vertical connectivity
of reservoir and seal beds, as well as by their reservoir quality.

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