Perspectives of non-structural traps as a tool for increasing resources and expanding hydrocarbon production

Most of the active fields, which are currently at a mature and/or late stage of development, were identified in the past by focusing on standard anticlinal and fault types of structural traps. Considering that, not many structural traps left undiscovered within the territories with good geological and geophysical coverage and developed infrastructure, there is an increased need to focus on remote regions that require large initial investments to carry out exploration work. As an alternative approach for increasing the resource base and expanding production for nearby developed fields, it is proposed to look for small non-structural traps, satellites of larger structural traps identified using 3D seismic data. These kinds of traps might have low geological risks and will not require large investments.

By combining the results of quantitative interpretation of seismic data with geological principles of identifying promising non-structural traps, a database of promising lithological traps was prepared, covering the area of study laterally and encompassing different stratigraphic layers. This integrated approach makes it possible to reduce geological risks when identifying promising non-structural traps.

It is important to carry out exploration and development of a group of non-structural traps in synergy with each other in order to increase the investment attractiveness of the project as a whole, due to the small resource potential of each of the objects.

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