petroleum trap: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	trap • oil trap • reservoir trap

Photos

Cross-sectional diagram showing three principal types of petroleum traps: an anticline trap with oil and gas beneath a cap rock, a fault trap where gas accumulates along a fault line, and a stratigraphic trap where gas is trapped in permeable limestone beneath impermeable rock layers. Labels identify geological features and fluid locations.

See All Images →

Topics

gas reservoir hydrodynamic trapping accumulation reservoir rock migration structural trap stratigraphic trap petroleum reservoir carrier bed fault trap fossil fuel tar sand pitch lake

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Key People

default image

Marion King Hubbert

American geophysicist