RESERVOIR

ENGINEERING I
OIL PROPERTIES
CRUDE OIL PROPERTIES
• Fluid gravity
• Specific gravity of the solution gas
• Gas solubility
• Bubble-point pressure
• Oil formation volume factor
• Isothermal compressibility coefficient of undersaturated crude oils
• Oil density
• Total formation volume factor
• Crude oil viscosity
• Surface tension
CRUDE OIL AND SOLUTION GAS
GRAVITY
Although the density and specific gravity are used extensively in the
petroleum industry, the API gravity is the preferred gravity scale.

The specific gravity of the solution gas γg is described by the weighted

average of the specific gravities of the separated gas from each separator
where n = number of separators
Rsep = separator gas-oil ratio, scf/STB
sep = separator gas gravity
Rst = gas-oil ratio from the stock tank, scf/ STB
st = gas gravity from the stock tank
SOLUTION GOR-GAS SOLUBILITY
It is defined as the number of standard cubic feet of gas that will dissolve in
one stock-tank barrel of crude oil at certain pressure and temperature.
Standing's bubble point pressure correlation can be applied

where:
y = 0.00091 T - 0.0125API
Rs can be estimated also by the use of the Vazquez-Beggs
correlation.
T= reservoir temperature [F]
SOLUTION GOR-GAS SOLUBILITY
BUBLEPOINT PRESSURE

• Highest pressure at which a bubble of gas is first liberated from the oil.
• Standing correlation is widely accepted
• It is necessary to make an estimate of this crude oil property from the readily
available measured producing parameters

where:
y = 0.00091 T - 0.0125API
Rb = solution GOR at pressures above pb, scf/STB.
T= reservoir temperature [F]
VOLUME FACTOR
• Standing's Bo correlation was developed on the same database as his
bubble point pressure correlation.
• It is defined as the ratio of the volume of oil (plus the gas in solution)
at the prevailing reservoir temperature and pressure to the volume of
oil at standard conditions. It is always greater than one.

where:

T=Temperature, °F
γo = specific gravity of the stock-tank oil
γg = specific gravity of the solution gas
VOLUME FACTOR
Material balance method

where
ρo = density of the oil at the specified pressure and temperature,
lb/ft3.
VOLUME FACTOR
ISOTHERMAL COMPRESSIBILITY
COEFFICIENT
It helps to solve many reservoir engineering problems, including
transient fluid flow problems, and determination of the physical
properties of the undersaturated crude oil.

Above bubble point pressure:

ISOTHERMAL COMPRESSIBILITY
COEFFICIENT
The Vasquez-Beggs Correlation is given as:

Where:

T = temperature, °R
p = pressure above the bubble-point pressure, psia
Rsb = gas solubility at the bubble-point pressure
γgs = corrected gas gravity as defined below
CRUDE OIL DENSITY
The following equation may be used to calculate the density of the oil at pressure
below or equal to the bubble-point pressure.
CRUDE OIL DENSITY
Density of the oil at pressures above the bubble-point pressure can be
calculated with:

Where:
ρo = density of the oil at pressure p, lb/ft3
ρob = density of the oil at the bubble-point pressure, lb/ft3
co = isothermal compressibility coefficient at average pressure, psi−1
CRUDE OIL DENSITY
Vasquez-Beggs co equation:

Where:
TOTAL FORMATION VOLUME
FACTOR
It is used to describe the pressure-volume relationship of hydrocarbon
systems below their bubble-point pressure.
It is defined as the ratio of the total volume of the hydrocarbon mixture
at the prevailing pressure and temperature per unit volume of the stock-
tank oil.

Where:
Bt = total formation volume factor, bbl/STB
(Vo)p,T = volume of the oil at p and T, bbl
(Vg)p,T = volume of the liberated gas at p and T, bbl
(Vo)sc = volume of the oil at standard conditions, STB
TOTAL FORMATION VOLUME
FACTOR
TOTAL FORMATION VOLUME
FACTOR
Standing proposed a graphical correlation using the following
parameters for estimating the two-phase formation volume factor:
The gas solubility at pressure of interest, Rs
Solution gas gravity,
Oil gravity
Reservoir temperature, T
Pressure of interest, p
TOTAL FORMATION VOLUME
FACTOR
The parameter C is defined as:

Whitson and Brule (2000) expressed Standing’s graphical correlation

by the following mathematical form:
SATURATED OIL VISCOSITY
Estimation of the oil viscosity at pressures equal to or below the bubble-
point pressure is a two-step procedure:
Step 1. Calculate the viscosity of the oil without dissolved gas (dead oil),
μob, at the reservoir temperature.
Step 2. Adjust the dead-oil viscosity to account for the effect of the gas
solubility at the pressure of interest.
SATURATED OIL VISCOSITY
Chew and Connally correlation takes into account the amount of
dissolved gas volume.
The dissolved gas has a very profound impact on the viscosity of live oil

where:
μo = live oil viscosity, cP
μoD = viscosity of dead (gasless) oil, cP.
DEAD OIL VISCOSITY
Beal`s graphical correlation was mathematically expressed by Standing
as:

Where:
μod = viscosity of the dead oil as measured at 14.7 psia and reservoir
temperature, cp
T = temperature, °R
UNDERSATURATED OIL
VISCOSITY
The Vasquez-Beggs Correlation:
SURFACE TENSION
Sugden (1924) suggested a relationship that correlates the surface
tension of a pure liquid in equilibrium with its own vapor.

where:
σ is the surface tension and
Pch is a temperature-independent parameter and is called the parachor.
Fanchi (1985) correlated the parachor with molecular weight with a
simple linear equation.
SURFACE TENSION
For a complex hydrocarbon mixture, Katz et al. (1943) employed the Sugden
correlation for mixtures by introducing the compositions of the two phases.

Where:
xi = mole fraction of component i in the oil phase
yi = mole fraction of component i in the gas phase
n = total number of components in the system
SURFACE TENSION