📘 Course Description:
This in-depth course provides geoscientists and engineers with a thorough understanding of structural and stratigraphic traps, their identification using seismic, well, and outcrop data, and their critical role in hydrocarbon entrapment and prospect evaluation. Participants will learn to distinguish between trap types, interpret their seismic signatures, and assess their effectiveness through real-world case studies and practical exercises.
🎯 Who Should Attend:
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Exploration & Development Geologists
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Structural Geologists and Stratigraphers
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Geophysicists involved in trap identification
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Petroleum Engineers working in prospect maturation
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Subsurface Team Leaders and Asset Managers
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Technical professionals in new ventures and appraisal
🧾 Training Format:
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Duration: 5 Days
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Delivery Mode: In-person / Virtual Live
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Materials: Course slides, seismic sections, case study packs
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Methodology: Lectures, practical exercises, seismic interpretation, group work
🗓️ Daily Agenda with Time Breakdown
🟦 Day 1 – Fundamentals of Hydrocarbon Traps
| Time | Topic |
|---|---|
| 09:00 – 09:30 | Welcome & Course Introduction |
| 09:30 – 10:30 | Basic Trap Concepts: Closure, Seal, Migration Paths |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | ☕ Coffee Break |
| 10:45 – 12:15 | Overview of Trap Classification: Structural vs Stratigraphic |
| 12:15 – 13:15 | 🍽️ Lunch Break |
| 13:15 – 14:45 | Seals, Cap Rocks, and Hydrocarbon Retention |
| 14:45 – 15:00 | ☕ Coffee Break |
| 15:00 – 16:30 | Introduction to Mapping Closures on Seismic and Structure Maps |
🟦 Day 2 – Structural Traps: Types and Identification
| Time | Topic |
|---|---|
| 09:00 – 10:30 | Anticlines, Fault Traps, Horsts and Grabens |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | ☕ Coffee Break |
| 10:45 – 12:15 | Growth Faults, Salt Tectonics, and Inversion Structures |
| 12:15 – 13:15 | 🍽️ Lunch Break |
| 13:15 – 14:45 | Interpreting Structural Traps from 2D/3D Seismic |
| 14:45 – 15:00 | ☕ Coffee Break |
| 15:00 – 16:30 | Hands-On Exercise: Mapping a Fault Trap |
🟦 Day 3 – Stratigraphic Traps: Concepts and Tools
| Time | Topic |
|---|---|
| 09:00 – 10:30 | Truncation, Onlap, Pinch-Outs, and Unconformities |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | ☕ Coffee Break |
| 10:45 – 12:15 | Seismic Facies Analysis & Stratigraphic Trap Recognition |
| 12:15 – 13:15 | 🍽️ Lunch Break |
| 13:15 – 14:45 | Depositional Traps: Channels, Reefs, Shoals, Bars |
| 14:45 – 15:00 | ☕ Coffee Break |
| 15:00 – 16:30 | Exercise: Identifying Stratigraphic Traps on Seismic Sections |
🟦 Day 4 – Trap Integrity, Risking, and Validation
| Time | Topic |
|---|---|
| 09:00 – 10:30 | Seal Integrity: Fault Seals, Capillary Entry Pressure, and Leakage |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | ☕ Coffee Break |
| 10:45 – 12:15 | Tools for Trap Risk Assessment and Prospect Ranking |
| 12:15 – 13:15 | 🍽️ Lunch Break |
| 13:15 – 14:45 | Pressure, Fluid Contacts, and Hydrocarbon Column Height |
| 14:45 – 15:00 | ☕ Coffee Break |
| 15:00 – 16:30 | Case Study: Successful & Failed Traps – Lessons Learned |
