An Interactive 5-Day Training Course
Structural Styles in Exploration & Development
Recognising Structural Styles and Their Traps
Secure your spot now!
Duration
5 Days
Price
$ 3,500
Starting From
12 Jul 2027
Home Geology and Geoscience Structural Styles in Exploration & Development
Structural Styles in Exploration & Development
Have Questions ?
Structural Styles in Exploration & Development - GG-SSTY-PEA27
| Code | Date | Time | Duration | Location | Currency | Early Bird Fee Per Person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GG-SSTY-PEA27 | 12 - 16 Jul 2027 | 10 AM CST | 4 Hours Per Day |
Online |
USD |
3500 |
Need this for a group? We deliver the same course in-house — face-to-face at your location or online — tailored to your assets and team level. Contact info@peassociations.com
Boost your team's skills and your budget! Enjoy group discounts for collaborative learning. Send an inquiry to info@peassociations.com.
Structural Styles in Exploration & Development
This training covers structural styles and their practical application. It works through extensional contractional strike-slip inversion and gravity driven structural systems, the characteristic geometries and trap inventory of each, their seismic recognition criteria, the compartmentalisation and reservoir consequences each produces, well planning considerations, and the application of style recognition in exploration and field development.
Description
Structures do not occur at random. Each tectonic setting produces a characteristic assemblage of geometries, and recognising the assemblage tells an interpreter what else to expect, which geometries are admissible and which are not, where traps should be sought and how the reservoir is likely to be compartmentalised. A seismic interpreter who recognises a domino fault system, a thrust duplex or a negative flower structure is working with a model that constrains the interpretation; one who picks faults without a style in mind is not.
This training is organised by style. Extensional systems are developed first: fault geometry, domino and listric systems, rollover anticlines, relay ramps, rift architecture and the traps each produces. Contractional systems follow, covering thrust belt architecture, ramps and flats, fault related folds, duplexes, triangle zones and detachment folding, together with their trap inventory and the specific interpretation and imaging difficulties they present. Strike-slip systems are then developed, covering transtension and transpression, flower structures, pull-apart basins and the out of plane complications they cause. Inversion follows, covering recognition criteria, null points, trap modification and the exploration opportunities and risks inversion creates. Gravity driven systems are then addressed, covering linked extension and contraction on passive margins, growth faults, toe thrusts and mobile substrate effects. For each style the training develops seismic recognition, trap types, compartmentalisation consequences and well planning considerations. The training closes with application in exploration and development workflows.
Style recognition constrains interpretation where data quality is poor, which is where it is most needed. In a structurally complex area with degraded imaging, the data permits many fault interpretations, most of which are geometrically impossible within any coherent structural system. Knowing that the setting is a thrust belt tells the interpreter that thrusts should verge consistently, that ramps and flats should alternate, that displacement should be transferred along strike rather than disappearing, and that hanging wall and footwall geometries must correspond. These constraints rule out most of the possibilities the data alone allows.
Each style compartmentalises reservoirs differently, which matters for development. Extensional systems produce fault blocks of predictable geometry with compartmentalisation controlled by fault throw and juxtaposition, usually assessable with established methods. Strike-slip systems produce complex, steeply dipping fault networks with rapid lateral changes and compartments that are difficult to map. Inversion produces reactivated faults whose sealing behaviour may have changed through their history. The expected compartmentalisation pattern follows from the style and should inform well spacing and surveillance before production data is available.
Inversion is underrecognised and it creates both opportunity and risk. An inverted basin contains structures that formed as extensional features and were later shortened, so a former depocentre becomes an anticline. These can be excellent traps, and the source rock that accumulated in the original depocentre may be favourably positioned. The risk is that inversion postdates charge, in which case the trap formed too late, or that reactivation breached a seal that had previously held. Recognising inversion and dating it is therefore directly commercial.
Finally, well planning depends on style more than is usually acknowledged. Steeply dipping beds in a thrust belt create wellbore stability and trajectory control problems that a gently dipping extensional setting does not. Repeated section is expected in thrust belts and indicates a drilling problem elsewhere. Overpressure distribution differs between styles. Anticipating these from the structural style avoids a category of operational surprise.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Identify extensional structural styles and their component geometries
- Identify contractional styles including thrust systems and fault related folds
- Recognise strike-slip systems and their characteristic structures
- Identify inversion structures and assess their timing
- Characterise gravity driven systems on passive margins
- Apply style specific recognition criteria to seismic interpretation
- Identify the trap inventory expected in each structural style
- Assess the compartmentalisation pattern each style produces
- Anticipate well planning and drilling issues by structural style
- Apply style recognition in exploration evaluation and field development
The training is interpretation practice across structural styles, using seismic data of varying quality from each setting. Participants identify the style from diagnostic features and then interpret within that framework, testing whether the resulting geometry is admissible. Interpretations made without a style framework are compared against those made with one. Trap inventories are generated from the style and compared against the discovered fields in each area. Compartmentalisation predictions are tested against production data.
Organisations sending participants to this training will:
- Improve structural interpretation in poor data areas
- Generate complete trap inventories rather than mapping obvious structures only
- Anticipate compartmentalisation patterns before production data
- Recognise inversion and assess its timing implications
- Reduce drilling surprises in structurally complex settings
- Build structural interpretation capability across teams
Participants will:
- Recognise structural styles from diagnostic features
- Interpret within a constraining structural framework
- Identify the full trap inventory of a given style
- Predict compartmentalisation from structural setting
- Anticipate drilling issues by style
- Interpret structurally complex data with greater confidence
- Seismic interpreters and exploration geophysicists
- Exploration and development geologists
- Structural geologists supporting subsurface teams
- Reservoir geologists working on faulted fields
- Well planners and operations geologists
- New ventures staff evaluating structurally complex acreage
- Geoscientists entering structurally complex areas
Module 1 - Structural Styles and Their Recognition
- Structural style concept and its value
- Relationship between tectonic setting and style
- Diagnostic features of each major style
- Using style to constrain interpretation
- Admissible and inadmissible geometries
- Mechanical stratigraphy and detachment levels
- Basement involved against thin skinned deformation
- Scale and hierarchy of structures
- Seismic imaging quality by style
- Workflow for style identification
- Avoiding forcing data into the wrong style
Module 2 - Extensional Styles
- Normal fault systems and their geometry
- Planar domino fault systems
- Listric faults and rollover anticlines
- Crestal collapse and antithetic faulting
- Relay ramps and transfer zones
- Half graben architecture
- Accommodation zones and polarity reversal
- Rift segmentation
- Low angle detachments and core complexes
- Extensional trap types
- Fault block and tilted block traps
- Compartmentalisation in extensional fields
Module 3 - Contractional Styles
- Thrust belt architecture and vergence
- Ramp and flat geometry
- Fault bend folds
- Fault propagation folds
- Detachment folds
- Duplexes and imbricate fans
- Triangle zones and passive roof duplexes
- Blind thrusts and their recognition
- Basement involved contraction
- Thrust belt trap types
- Subthrust and footwall plays
- Imaging difficulties in thrust belts
Module 4 - Strike-Slip Styles
- Strike-slip fault systems and their scale
- Riedel shears and fault patterns
- Transtension and transpression
- Positive and negative flower structures
- Pull-apart basin geometry
- Restraining and releasing bends
- En echelon fold and fault arrays
- Out of plane movement and interpretation limits
- Seismic recognition of strike-slip systems
- Strike-slip trap types
- Rapid lateral facies and structural change
- Compartmentalisation in strike-slip settings
Module 5 - Inversion Structures
- Inversion definition and mechanisms
- Positive and negative inversion
- Recognition criteria on seismic
- Null points and their identification
- Harpoon and arrowhead geometries
- Syn-rift and post-rift thickness relationships
- Partial and complete inversion
- Timing of inversion and its determination
- Inversion trap types and their quality
- Source rock position in inverted basins
- Trap formation timing against charge
- Seal breach risk from reactivation
Module 6 - Gravity Driven Systems
- Gravity gliding and spreading on margins
- Linked extension and contraction domains
- Growth fault systems and rollover
- Counter-regional fault systems
- Expansion indices and growth analysis
- Mobile substrate: salt and overpressured shale
- Shale diapirism and mud volcanoes
- Toe thrust and fold belts
- Detachment levels and their identification
- Trap types in gravity driven systems
- Overpressure distribution and its structural control
- Development implications on passive margins
Module 7 - Structural Controls on Reservoirs
- Fault compartmentalisation by style
- Fault density and block size
- Sub-seismic faulting and its effect
- Fault seal behaviour by structural setting
- Fracture distribution by structural style
- Structural control on reservoir quality
- Syndepositional structure and facies control
- Structural control on fluid contacts
- Pressure compartments and their structural basis
- Predicting compartmentalisation before production
- Surveillance design by structural style
- Development well spacing by style
Module 8 - Application in Exploration and Development
- Generating a trap inventory from style
- Prospect identification within a structural framework
- Structural risk in prospect evaluation
- Depth conversion issues by style
- Closure definition and its uncertainty
- Timing of structure relative to charge
- Well planning by structural style
- Wellbore stability in dipping beds
- Expected and unexpected repeated section
- Geosteering in structurally complex reservoirs
- Structural input to field development planning
- Case studies across structural styles
Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.
Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
All course bookings made through PEA are strictly non-refundable. By registering for a course, you acknowledge and accept that all fees are payable in full and are not subject to refund under any circumstances, including changes in personal or professional commitments or partial attendance.
PEA reserves the right to make reasonable adjustments to course content, trainers, or schedules where necessary, without entitling delegates to a refund. Comprehensive details of each course — including objectives, target audience, and content — are clearly outlined before enrolment, and it is the responsibility of the delegate to ensure the course's suitability prior to booking.
For any inquiries related to cancellations or bookings, please contact our support team, who will be happy to assist you.
