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Oilfluidcharacteristics

Oilreservoirsareclassifiedaccordingtotheirfluidtype.Therearethreebroadoilclasses.Inorderofincreasingmolecularweight,theyarevolatileoil,blackoil,andheavyoil.
Heavyoilreservoirsareofminorinterestduringpressuredepletionbecausetheytypicallyyieldonlymarginalamountsofoilbecauseoftheirlowdissolvedgascontentsandhigh
fluidviscosities.Thedistinguishingcharacteristicbetweenvolatileandblackoilsisthestocktankoilcontentoftheirequilibriumgases.Equilibriumgasesliberatedfromvolatileoils
containappreciablestocktankorcondensableliquidswhereasthegasesfromblackoilscontainnegligiblestocktankliquids.Whilethisdistinctionleadstoonlyslightlydifferent
recoverystrategies,itleadstoverydifferentmethodsofanalysisandmathematicalmodelingrequirements.

Contents
1Volatileandblackoilfluidcharacteristics
2Oilfluidproperties
3References
4NoteworthypapersinOnePetro
5Externallinks
6Seealso

Volatileandblackoilfluidcharacteristics
Thepetroleumfluidspectrumisgradational.Thereisnostrictdefinitionofvolatileandblackoilsthereareonlygeneralguidelinesandcharacteristics.Despitethislackofprecision
andtheoccasionalconfusionitbrings,classificationisquiteusefulandpopular.
Molecularweightisausefulyardstick.Blackoilstypicallyrangefrom70to150inmolecularweightbutmayrangeashighas190to210.Incontrast,volatileoilsarelowerin
molecularweightthanblackoilsandtypicallyrangefrom43to70.Oilswithmolecularweightsgreaterthan210usuallyareclassifiedasheavyoils.Fluidswithmolecularweightsof
lessthan43aregenerallygases,whichincludegascondensates,wetgases,anddrygases.Amolecularweightof43marksthelowermolecularweightlimitofvolatileoils.
Blackandvolatileoilsaresometimessubdividedintodifferentfluidtypes.Forinstance,volatileoilsincludenearcriticalfluidsandhighshrinkageoils.Nearcriticalfluidsrepresent
lightvolatileoilsandcanincludesomeveryrichcondensates.Highshrinkageoilsrepresentthehighmolecularweightendofvolatileoilsandcanincludesomelightblackoils.
Volatileandblackoilsarecharacterizedintermsofanumberofdifferentproperties.Table1summarizestheircharacteristics.Thistableincludesthepropertiesofthefullrangeof
petroleumfluids,includinggases.

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Table1

Thedefiningpropertythatdistinguishesblackandvolatileoilsisthevolatilizedoilcontentoftheirequilibriumgases.Thevolatilizedoilcontentofagasrepresentsitscondensable
liquidportion.Condensablereferstotheportionthatcondensesor"dropsout"duringpressurereductionandultimatelyresultsasstocktankliquid.Condensationmaytakeplace
withinthereservoirasthegaspassesthroughtheleaseseparators.Physically,intermediatehydrocarboncomponents,typicallyC2throughC7,dominatethisfraction.Volatilizedoil
alsoiscalledleasecondensateordistillate.Gascondensatesandwetgasesalsocontainvolatilizedoil.Volatilizedoilisreportedconventionallyaspartofthecrudeoilreservesand
production.Itshouldnotbeconfusedwithandisdistinctlydifferentfromnaturalgasliquids.Naturalgasliquidsarederivedfromthegasprocessingplantandarecalledplant
products.
Thevolatilizedoilcontentofgasesisquantifiedintermsoftheirvolatilizedoil/gasratio,typicallyexpressedinunitsofSTB/MMscforstocktankm3perstdm3ofseparatorgas.
Thevolatilizedoil/gasratioofequilibriumgasesofblackoilsisusuallylessthan1to10STB/MMscf(approximately0.04to0.4gal/Mscf).Thevolatilizedoilcontentofthesegases
issolowthatitusuallyisignored.Incontrast,thevolatilizedoilcontentofgasesfromvolatileoilsismuchgreater.Theirvolatilizedoil/gasratiotypicallyrangesfrom10to300
STB/MMscfor0.4to8gal/Mscf.
Severalbenchmarkpropertiescanbecorrelatedwiththereservoirfluidsinitialmolecularweight.Fig.1plotstheinitialformationvolumefactor(FVF)andinitialdissolvedgas/oil
ratio(GOR)asafunctionofreservoirfluidmolecularweightfor36reservoirfluids.TheabscissainFig.1spansfromamolecularweightof15to180.Thisrangeofmolecular
weightscoversthefullspectrumofpetroleumfluidsrangingfromdrygasestoheavyoils.

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Fig.1(a)Initialformationvolumefactor(FVF)
and(b)initialdissolvedGORasafunctionof
initialfluidmolecularweight.

VolatileoilsexhibitaninitialoilFVFintherangeof1.5to3.0.BlackoilsexhibitaninitialoilFVFintherangeof1.1to1.5.VolatileoilsexhibitaninitialGORintherangeof900
to3,500scf/STB.BlackoilsexhibitaninitialGORintherangeof200to900scf/STB.Theserelationsestablishmolecularweightasacrediblecorrelatingparameter.McCain[1]has
foundsuccessintheuseoftheheptanespluscontentasacorrelatingparameter.
TheinverseoftheoilFVFyieldsameasureoftheoriginaloilinplace(OOIP)perunitvolumeofreservoirporespace.BecausetheoilFVFisgreaterforvolatileoilsthanblackoils,
thelatteryieldgreaterOOIPperunitvolume.Blackoilreservoirscontain850to1130STB/acreft(bulk)whilevolatileoilreservoirscontainless,typically400to850STB/acreft.
Althoughvolatileoilreservoirscontainlessoilperunitvolume,theytypicallyyieldslightlyhigheroilrecoveriesthanblackoilreservoirsbecauseoftheirhigherdissolvedgas
contentandloweroilviscosity.Ultimately,volatileoilreservoirsmayyieldgreateroilreservesthanblackoilreservoirs.Lightblackoilsandheavyvolatileoilsareamongthemost
economicallyattractivereservoirfluids.
Therehasbeennosystematicstudytodeterminetherelativepercentageofblackoilandvolatileoilreservoirshowever,anexaminationoftheworlds500largestreservoirsreveals
thatblackoilreservoirsoverwhelminglydominatethegroup.[2]Onereasontherearemoreblackoilthanvolatileoilreservoirsisthatthelatterarecharacteristicallylocatedat
greaterdepthsthantheformer.Asexplorationcontinuestogodeeper,morevolatileoilreservoirscanbeexpectedtobediscovered.

Oilfluidproperties
Blackandvolatileoils,aswellasotherpetroleumfluids,arecharacterizedroutinelyintermsoftheirstandardpressure/volume/temperature(PVT)parameters:
Oilformationvolumefactor(FVF)(Bo)(/Oil_formation_volume_factor)
GasFVF(Bg)(/index.php?title=Gas_density_and_formation_volume_factor&action=edit&redlink=1)
DissolvedGOR(Rs)
Volatilizedoil/gasratio(Rv)
Thesefluidproperties,inadditiontosomeothers,areprerequisitesforawidevarietyofreservoirengineeringcalculations,includingestimatingtheoriginaloilinplace(OOIP)and
originalgasinplace(OGIP)andmaterialbalancecalculations.
Table2tabulatesandFig.2plotsthestandardPVTparametersasafunctionofpressureforablackoilfromawestTexasreservoirlocatedatadepthof6,700ftwithaninitial
pressureof3,100psiaandatemperatureof131F.OnlythePVTpropertiesbelow2,000psiaarelisted.Thefluidexhibitedabubblepoint(/Oil_bubblepoint_pressure)at
approximately1,688psiaandhadamolecularweightof81.Table3summarizesitscompositionalanalysis.ThefluidhasaninitialoilFVFof1.467RB/STBanddissolvedGORof
838scf/STB.Theequilibriumgascontainsnegligiblevolatilizedoil.Fig.3plotstheoilandgasviscositiesasafunctionofpressure.

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Fig.2StandardPVTpropertiesasafunctionof
pressureforawestTexasblackoil.

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Fig.3Oilandgasviscositiesasafunctionof
pressureforwestTexasblackoil.

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(/File%3AVol5_Page_0906_Image_0001.png)

Table2

Table3

Table4tabulatesandFig.4plotsthestandardPVTparametersforavolatileoilfromanorthcentralLouisianareservoirlocatedatadepthofapproximately10,000ftwithaninitial
pressureof5,070psiaandatemperatureof246F.[3][4]Thefluidexhibitedabubblepointatapproximately4,677psiaandhadamolecularweightof47.Table5summarizesthe
initialfluidcomposition.ThefluidhasaninitialoilFVFof2.704RB/STBanddissolvedGORof2,909scf/STB.Thebubblepointgashadavolatilizedoil/gasratioofapproximately
120STB/MMscf.Thevolatilizedoil/gasratiodecreaseswithpressureuntilapressureof998psiaisreached.Atpressuresbetween998and598psia,thevolatilizedoil/gasratio
increasesslightly.

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Table4

(/File%3AVol5_Page_0909_Image_0001.png)
Fig.4StandardPVTpropertiesasafunctionof
pressureforaLouisianavolatileoil.

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Table5

ThestandardPVTparametersofvolatileandblackoilsaredeterminedexperimentallywithdifferentlaboratoryprocedures.Blackoilsareevaluatedwithadifferentialvaporization
(DV)experiment[5][6]incontrast,volatileoilsareevaluatedwithconstantvolumedepletion(CVD).[7][8]Sometimes,however,volatileoilsuseaspecializedDVexperiment[9]
insteadofaCVDexperiment.ThespecializedDVexperimentincludesasteptomeasurethevolatilizedoilcontentofequilibriumgases.
ThestandardPVTparametersforblackoilsarespecifiedroutinelyincommercialPVTreports.McCainprovidessomeexamplePVTreports.[10]ThereportedPVTparameters,
however,mayormaynotbeadjustedfortheeffectsofsurfaceseparators.Surfaceseparatorsmaximizethestocktankliquidyieldasfluidspassthroughthem.TheoilFVFand
dissolvedGORofadjustedpropertiesarecharacteristicallylessthanunadjustedproperties.IfthePVTreportspecifiestheadjustedparameters,thennofurtheradjustmentisrequired.
Ifonlytherawparametersarespecified,thenadjustmentisneeded.>VariousempiricalmethodsareusedtocorrectthestandardPVTparametersfortheeffectsofseparators.[11][12]
[5]Generally,correctionisveryimportant.Forexample,theunadjustedbubblepointoilFVFandthedissolvedGORfortheexampleblackoilinTable1are1.584RB/stocktank
barrels(STB)and1,007scf/STB,respectively.Onadjustmentforseparatorsat100psia,thecorrespondingoilFVFanddissolvedGORare1.467RB/STBand838.5scf/STB,
reflectingincreasedstocktankliquidrecovery.FailuretocorrectthestandardPVTparametersforseparatorscanleadtosubstantialerrorsinsubsequentreservoirengineering
calculationsincludingthevolumetricOOIPandOGIPcalculations.Volatileoilsareevenmoresensitivetotheeffectsofseparatorsthanblackoils.Volatileoils,however,are
subjectedtoanentirelydifferentlaboratoryprocedureformeasurement.
ThestandardPVTparametersforvolatileoilsrarelyaregivenincommercialPVTreports.TheymustbecalculatedfromCVDmeasurements.Inorderofincreasingcomplexity,the
threemethodstocalculatestandardPVTparametersare:
WalshTowleralgorithm[13]
WhitsonTorpmethod[7]
Equationofstate(/Equations_of_state)(EOS)method[14][15]
TheWalshTowleralgorithmusesrecoverydatadirectlyfromtheCVDmeasurementandcomputesthecorrespondingproperties.Thismethodissuitedforspreadsheetcalculation
andisfastandsimple.TheWhitsonTorpmethod,incontrast,usesequilibriumgascompositiondataandcomputesthepropertieswithStandings[16]lowpressureKvaluesanda
stocktankliquiddensitycorrelationsuchastheAlaniKennedyEOS.[17]Thismethodrequiresiterative,Kvalueflashcalculations.Althoughthismethodismorecomputationally
intensivethantheWalshTowleralgorithm,itismoreversatilebecauseitallowsforarbitraryseparatorconditions.TheEOSmethodismuchmorecomputationallyintensivethanthe
othermethods.ThismethodtunesacubicEOStotheattendingphasebehaviorandthenusestheEOStosimulatetheCVDnumericallyandestimatethePVTparameters.This
methodregularlyusescommercialsoftware.Themethodsyieldvirtuallyidenticalresultsdespitetheirdifferences.

References
1. McCainJr.,W.D.1994.HeavyComponentsControlReservoirFluidBehavior.JPetTechnol46(9):746750.SPE28214PA.http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/28214PA
(http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/28214PA).
2. Carmalt,S.W.andSt.John,B.1984.GiantOilandGasFields.InFutureofPetroleumProvincesoftheWorld,ed.M.T.Halbouty.AmericanAssn.ofPetroleumGeologists.
3. Cordell,J.C.andEbert,C.K.1965.ACaseHistoryComparisonofPredictedandActualPerformanceofaReservoirProducingVolatileCrudeOil.JPetTechnol17(11):
12911293.SPE1209PA.http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/1209PA(http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/1209PA)
4. Jacoby,R.H.andBerry,V.J.Jr.1957.AMethodforPredictingDepletionPerformanceofaReservoirProducingVolatileCrudeOil.Trans.,AIME210:27.
5. 5.05.1Amyx,J.W.,Bass,D.M.,andWhiting,R.L.1960.PetroleumReservoirEngineeringPhysicalProperties.NewYorkCity:McGrawHillBookCo.Inc.

6. Dodson,C.R.,Goodwill,D,andMayer,E.H.1953.ApplicationofLaboratoryPVTDatatoReservoirEngineeringProblems.Trans.,AIME198:287.
7. 7.07.1Whitson,C.H.andTorp,S.B.1983.EvaluatingConstantVolumeDepletionData.JPetTechnol35(3):610620.SPE10067PA.http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/10067PA
(http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/10067PA)
8. Ahmed,T.1989.HydrocarbonPhaseBehavior.Houston,Texas:GulfPublishingCo.
9. Reudelhuber,F.O.andHinds,R.F.1957.ACompositionalMaterialBalanceMethodforPredictionofRecoveryfromVolatileOilDepletionDriveReservoirs.Trans.,AIME
210,19.
10. McCain,W.D.1990.ThePropertiesofPetroleumFluids.Tulsa,Oklahoma:PennWellPublishingCo.
11. Moses,P.L.1986.EngineeringApplicationsofPhaseBehaviorofCrudeOilandCondensateSystems(includesassociatedpapers16046,16177,16390,16440,19214and
19893).JPetTechnol38(7):715723.SPE15835PA.http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/15835PA(http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/15835PA)
12. Poettmann,F.H.andThompson,R.S.:"DiscussionofEngineeringApplicationsofPhaseBehaviorofCrudeOilandCondensateSystems,"JPT(November1986)1263.
13. Walsh,M.P.andTowler,B.F.1995.MethodComputesPVTPropertiesforGasCondensates.Oil&GasJ.(31July):83.
14. Coats,K.H.andSmart,G.T.1986.ApplicationofaRegressionBasedEOSPVTProgramtoLaboratoryData.SPEResEng1(3):277299.SPE11197PA.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/11197PA(http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/11197PA)
15. Cook,R.E.,Jacoby,R.H.,andRamesh,A.B.1974.ABetaTypeReservoirSimulatorforApproximatingCompositionalEffectsDuringGasInjection.SocietyofPetroleum
EngineersJournal14(5):471481.SPE4272PA.http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/4272PA(http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/4272PA)
16. Standing,M.B.1979.ASetofEquationsforComputingEquilibriumRatiosofaCrudeOil/NaturalGasSystematPressuresBelow1,000psia.JPetTechnol31(9):1193
1195.SPE7903PA.http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/7903PA(http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/7903PA).
17. Alani,G.H.andKennedy,H.T.1960.VolumesofLiquidHydrocarbonsatHighTemperaturesandPressures.Trans.,AIME219,288.

NoteworthypapersinOnePetro
UsethissectiontolistpapersinOnePetrothatareaderwhowantstolearnmoreshoulddefinitelyread

Externallinks
UsethissectiontoprovidelinkstorelevantmaterialonwebsitesotherthanPetroWikiandOnePetro

Seealso
Crudeoilcharacterization(/Crude_oil_characterization)
Materialbalanceinoilreservoirs(/Material_balance_in_oil_reservoirs)
PEH:OilReservoirPrimaryDriveMechanisms(/PEH%3AOil_Reservoir_Primary_Drive_Mechanisms)

(https://www.onepetro.org/search?q=Oilfluidcharacteristics)

(http://scholar.google.ca/scholar?q=Oilfluidcharacteristics)

(http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Oilfluidcharacteristics)

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title=Special%3ASearch&redirs=1&fulltext=Search&ns0=1&ns4=1&ns500=1&redirs=1&title=Special%3ASearch&advanced=1&fulltext=Advanced+search&search=Oilfluid
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