SPE 77386

Analysis of Black Oil PVT Reports Revisited

William D. McCain, Jr., Texas A&M University

Bo = (B oE )(B oSb ) at p>pb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2a)

Copyright 2002, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.

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Abstract
Combinations of data from two laboratory procedures,
differential liberation and separator test, are used to determine
values of oil formation volume factors and solution gas-oil
ratios for pressures below the bubblepoint pressure of the
reservoir oil. The equation commonly used to calculate the
solution gas -oil ratio is incorrect: the correct equation is
derived. The equation used to calculate the oil formation
volume factors is correct; however, a derivation illustrating the
underlying assumptions has not been published.
This
derivation is also examined.
Introduction
The bad news is that the equation usually used in the
petroleum industry to calculate solution gas -oil ratios from
black oil PVT reports,
R s = R sSb (R sDb R sD )

BoSb
, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1)
BoDb

is incorrectly formulated.
The good news is that the errors at high pressures, where
solution gas -oil ratios are more often used, are not severe. A
correct formulation of the equation will improve estimates of
solution gas -oil ratio throughout the full range of
depletion pressures.
Further good news is that the equations used to calculate
oil formation volume factors from black oil PVT reports,

and
Bo = ( BoD )

BoSb
at p<pb , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2b)
BoDb

are correct.
This paper presents a brief discussion of the laboratory
procedures, which will lead to the derivations of Eq. 2b and a
correct replacement for Eq. 1.
Laboratory Procedures
The two laboratory procedures that provide the necessary
data are the differential liberation (sometimes called
differential vaporization or differential distillation) and the
separator test (sometimes, incorrectly, called flash test). Each
of these laboratory procedures will be described briefly. What
will be seen is that each procedure starts with a quantity of
reservoir oil in the laboratory cell at its bubblepoint pressure at
the reservoir temperature. In each procedure, gas is removed
in a sequence of flash vaporizations, with the resulting liquid
ending
up
at
atmospheric
pressure
and
60F
(standard conditions).
Differential Liberation.
Theoretically, the differential
liberation starts with a liquid at some pressure and
temperature, then the liquid is partially vaporized, and each
small increment of vapor is at once removed from the contact
with the liquid.1 Thus, the liquid is in equilibrium at any
instant with a small amount of vapor. This procedure is
somewhat tedious, so the petroleum industry emulates the
differential liberation with a series of flash vaporizations in
which a definite fraction of a batch of liquid is vaporized and
kept in intimate contact with the liquid until the gas is
withdrawn at the end of each step in the series.
In practice, the process starts with a sample of reservoir
oil at its bubblepoint pressure in the laboratory cell with the
temperature controlled at reservoir temperature. A dozen or
so steps (the exact number depends on the starting bubblepoint
pressure) consisting of flash vaporizations are carried out.
Each step starts with a pressure reduction at constant reservoir
temperature. This causes gas to be vaporized. The gas is

WILLIAM D. MCCAIN, JR.

allowed to come to equilibrium with the liquid at the lower

pressure and reservoir temperature, and then the gas is
removed, and its quantity and specific gravity are measured.
The volumes of the liquid remaining at the end of each step
are determined. The last flash vaporization step ends at
atmospheric pressure. Then the temperature of the remaining
liquid is reduced to 60F and the liquid volume is adjusted to
maintain the pressure at 0 psig. This final liquid is called the
residual liquid from the differential liberation or, simply,
residual oil.
The volumes of gas removed in all steps are added; this is
the amount of gas in solution at bubblepoint pressure. The gas
volumes are decremented to determine the gas remaining in
solution at the pressure at the end of each step.
Finally, the volumes of gas in solution (in standard cubic
feet, scf) and the volumes of the oil in the cell (in reservoir
barrels, res. bbl) at the end of each step are divided by the
volume of the residual oil (at atmospheric pressure and 60F).
These are presented in the laboratory report as gas in solution,
scf/residual barrel, and relative oil volume, reservoir
barrel/residual barrel. Other properties, such as reservoir oil
density, incremental gas specific gravity, and gas
compressibility factor, are also measured and reported.
Separator Test. The separator test starts with a sample of the
reservoir oil at its bubblepoint pressure in the laboratory cell at
reservoir temperature (same as the start of the differential
liberation). A measured volume of the reservoir oil is expelled
through a sequence of two (usually, though sometimes three)
flash vaporizations. In the first, at separator temperature and
pressure, the gas that was vaporized is removed, and the liquid
goes to the second flash at stock-tank temperature and
atmospheric pressure. The volume of resulting liquid is
determined at atmospheric pressure and 60F; this liquid is
usually called stock-tank oil and the volume is reported in
stock-tank barrels, STB, which also could be interpreted as
standard barrels.
The volumes and specific gravities of the gases from the
two flash vaporizations are measured. The two gas volumes
are added, and the sum is reported as solution gas-oil ratio at
the bubblepoint, scf/STB. The volume of reservoir oil that
was expelled at the start of the test is divided by the volume of
stock-tank oil (at standard conditions) and reported as oil
formation volume factor at the bubblepoint, res. bbl/STB. The
density of the stock-tank oil is measured and usually reported
in API.
Example Laboratory Data
Table 1 shows selected data from a differential liberation
and a separator test for a black oil. The bubblepoint pressure
is 3043 psig at a reservoir temperature of 262F.
The quantity and properties of oil and gas produced by the
two procedures are different. However, this is difficult to see
in the formats in which the data are presented. A comparison
of the results of the two procedures may be made by placing
the data on a basis of one barrel of reservoir oil at bubblepoint
pressure and reservoir temperature. The oil in place at the

SPE 77386

bubblepoint is the starting point of both processes and is

independent of the process. Table 2 shows this comparison
for the data of Table 1. The quantity of oil resulting from the
separator test is eighteen percent higher than the oil resulting
from the differential liberation. The quantity of gas resulting
from the separator test is fifteen percent lower than the gas
from the differential liberation.
And compositions and
properties of the resulting oils and gases differ significantly, as
represented by the different API gravities of the oils and
specific gravities of the gases.
Calculation of Oil Formation Volume Factors
The ratio
1
residual bbl
BoDb res. bbl @ p b B oSb residual bbl
=
. . . . . . . . . . . (3)
1
STB
BoDb
STB
BoSb res. bbl @ p b
provides a convenient relationship between residual barrels
from the differential liberation and stock-tank barrels from the
separator test. The term reservoir barrel at bubblepoint
pressure (at reservoir temperature), which appears twice on the
left-hand side of Eq. 3, can be eliminated since both laboratory
procedures start with the reservoir oil in the laboratory cell at
its bubblepoint pressure at reservoir temperature.
The change in volume of oil in the reservoir during
pressure depletion can be written as
BoSb Bo = ( BoDb BoD )

BoSb
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (4)
BoDb

The units of this equation are

change in res bbl of oil change in res bbl of oil residual bbl
=

STB
residual bbl
STB

Under the assumption that the change in volume (res. bbl) of

oil in the reservoir is the result of a differential liberation
process, the change units in the numerator of each side of
the equation are identical. Thus, the equation is correct.
Eq. 4 can be rearranged as
Bo = BoD

BoSb
, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2b)
BoDb

which is the equation generally used in the petroleum industry

to calculate oil formation volume factors from differential
liberation and separator test data.
Note that the use of Eq. 2b requires that the ratio of the
volumes of residual oil to stock-tank oil remains constant (for
a particular oil sample), regardless of the starting pressure.
The limited experimental data that are available show that this
is true.2

SPE 77386

ANALYSIS OF BLACK OIL PVT REPORTS REVISITED

There are very limited data to test the results of Eqs. 2a

and 2b against measured oil formation volume factors.
However, Dodson, et al.,2 provided one set of data. Dodson,
et al., proposed a laboratory procedure for determining oil
formation volume factors (and solution gas -oil ratios) that is
generally considered more accurate than the differential
liberation/separator test procedure usually used and discussed
in this paper. Unfortunately their composite liberation,
although considered a superior method,3 requires a large
sample of reservoir fluid and is very time consuming in the
laboratory. Thus, it is not used in routine laboratory analysis.
But Dodson, et al., did provide one example of a routine
laboratory report and the results of a composite liberation for
the same black oil. Fig. 1 shows values of oil formation
volume factor calculated with Eqs. 2a and 2b compared with
the more accurate results of the composite liberation.
The small differences between the results of Eq. 2b and
the data from the composite liberation are approximately one
percent, well within experimental accuracy. The composite
liberation is an entirely different laboratory procedure; the
differential liberation/separator test discussed here is the
industrys (less expensive) method of approximating the
composite liberation.
Calculation of Solution Gas-oil Ratios
Eq. 1 is used commonly in the petroleum industry to combine
data from differential liberation and separator tests to calculate
solution gas -oil ratios. The validity of this equation can be
examined easily by rearrangement:
R sSb R s = ( RsDb R sD )

BoSb
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (5)
BoDb

The units are

gas liberated in sep test, scf gas libera ted in diff lib, scf residual bbl
=

STB
residual bbl
STB

Eq. 5 shows that the gas volume liberated during the

separator test has been set equal to the gas volume liberated
during the differential liberation. If the sources of the data are
not taken into account, the units, scf/STB, appear to be
correct. However, Table 2 shows that the gas liberated during
a separator test is significantly different in quantity and quality
from the gas liberated during a differential liberation. The
ratio BoSb /BoDb in Eq. 5 takes into account the differences in
the oils from the separator test and differential liberation, but
the differences in the gases are ignored.
Thus, the material balance expressed in Eq. 5 must be
incorrect. It follows that values of solution gas-oil ratio
calculated with Eq. 1 must be in error! In fact, this is
illustrated every time the equation is used because calculated
values of solution gas -oil ratio are generally negative at
low pressures.

The correct formulation is as follows. The equation must

calculate the gas remaining in solution in the reservoir oil at a
pressure after pressure depletion from p b to some p, Rs ,
scf/STB. Further, Rs should be the amount of gas to be
liberated through a separator/stock-tank sequence.
RsSb is the gas originally in solution in the reservoir oil at
its bubblepoint pressure as measured in a separator test, scf of
gas from sep. test/STB. RsDb RsD is the volume of gas
liberated in the reservoir during a differential liberation from
p b to p, scf of diff. lib. gas/residual bbl.
The ratio
scf of gas from sep. test
R sSb
STB
RsDb scf of gas from diff. lib.
residual bbl
takes into account both the difference in the two oils, residual
bbl/STB, and the difference in the two gases, scf of gas from
sep. test/scf of gas from diff. lib.
Thus,

( R sDb R sD )

R sSb
RsDb

scf of gas lib. by diff. lib. scf of gas from sep. test, residual bbl

residual bbl
scf of gas from diff. lib., STB

is the gas differentially liberated converted to scf of sep.

gas/STB. The difference between the gas originally in
solution and the gas liberated during depletion from pb to p is
the gas remaining is solution at p.
R s = R sSb (R

sDb

R sD )

R sSb
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (6)
R sDb

Again, there is the assumption that the differential liberation

mimics the depletion in an oil reservoir, i.e., the gas remaining
in solution is that left after gas has been removed by
differential liberation.
Eq. 6 can be rearranged into a simpler form
R s = R sD

R sSb
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (7)
R sDb

The use of Eq. 7 implies that the ratio of the gas liberated
by separator test to the gas liberated by differential liberation
be constant (for a particular oil sample), regardless of the
starting pressure. The limited available data from Dodson, et
al.2 show this to be true.
Again, the Dodson, et al.2 data are the only data available
to use in comparing the results of Eq. 1 and Eq. 7 with
experimental solution gas -oil ratios measured at pressures
below bubblepoint pressure of the oil.

WILLIAM D. MCCAIN, JR.

Fig. 2 shows the results of Eqs. 1 and 7 using the data

from the routine laboratory report compared with the more
accurate results of the composite liberation. Eq. 7 gives
values of Rs , which fit the composite liberation more closely
than the results of Eq. 1. Further, the values of Rs from Eq. 7
converge to zero at 0 psig (as required by the definition of Rs ),
while the values from Eq. 1 are negative at low pressures.
The small differences between the results of Eq. 7 and the
composite liberation data in Fig. 2, as well as the good
comparison of the results of Eqs. 2a and 2b in Fig. 1, show
that the simpler, less costly, routinely used PVT procedures
give results adequate for reservoir engineering work.
The difference between the results of Eq. 7 and Eq. 1 in
Fig. 2 are not very dramatic. However, notice that the
Dodson, et al.2 oil does not have much dissolved gas, with Rsb
of about 600 scf/STB. Fig. 3 shows that the oil of Table 1,
which has about 1000 scf/STB originally in solution, shows a
much larger difference between the results of the two
equations, about thirty percent at a reservoir pressure of
1100 psig.
Conclusions
Eqs. 2a, 2b, and 7 are the correct equations for calculating oil
formation volume factors and solution gas-oil ratios at
reservoir pressures below the bubblepoint pressure when
combining the data from differential liberation with separator
test data.
The use of differential liberation data for these
calculations is nearly as accurate as the more costly composite
liberation data and is certainly adequate for reservoir
engineering calculations.
Nomenclature
Bo
Oil formation volume factors at pressure,
=
res. bbl/STB
BoSb
Oil formation volume factor at bubblepoint
=
pressure measured in a separator test, res.
bbl @ p b /STB
BoD
Oil relative volumes at pressures less than
=
bubblepoint pressure measured in a
differential liberation, res. bbl/residual bbl
BoDb
Oil relative volume at bubblepoint pressure
=
measured in a differential liberation, res. bbl
@ p b /residual bbl
BoE
Oil relative volume at pressures above
=
bubblepoint pressure measured in a constant
mass expansion, res. bbl/res. bbl @ p b
Rs
Solution gas-oil ratios at pressures less than
=
bubblepoint pressure, scf/STB
RsSb
Solution gas-oil ratio at bubblepoint
=
pressure measured in a separator test, scf
from separator test /STB
RsD
Solution gas-oil ratios at pressures less than
=
bubblepoint pressure measured in a
differential liberation, scf from differential
liberation/residual bbl

RsDb

SPE 77386

Solution gas-oil ratio at

pressure measured in a
liberation,
scf
from
liberation/residual bbl

bubblepoint
differential
differential

References
1. Dodge, B.F.: Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics,
McGraw-Hill, New York (1944), 592.
2. Dodson, C.R., Goodwill, D., and Mayer, E.H.:
Application of Laboratory PVT Data to Reservoir
Engineering Problems, Trans., AIME (1953) 198, 287
298.
3. Moses, P.L.: Engineering Applications of Phase
Behavior of Crude Oil and Condensate Systems, J. Pet.
Tech. (July 1986) 38, 715 723.
TABLE 1. SELECTED DATA FROM DIFFERENTIAL LIBERATION
AND SEPARATOR TEST OF A BLACK OIL
Differential Liberation at 262F

Gas in
Solution,
scf/residual bbl
1401
1307
1140
998
868
751
642
537
436
331
235
176
0
at 60F =

Pressure,
psig
3043
2900
2600
2300
2000
1700
1400
1100
800
500
263
143
0
0

Relative Oil
Volume,
res. bbl/residual bbl
2.022
1.965
1.866
1.783
1.709
1.644
1.584
1.526
1.468
1.407
1.339
1.290
1.111
1.000

Incremental
Gas
Specific
Gravity
0.822
0.867
0.858
0.853
0.856
0.861
0.881
0.922
1.008
1.197
1.432
2.194

Gravity of Residual Oil = 43.2API @ 60F

Flash
Vapori zation
Separator
Stock
Tank

Pressure,
psig
100
0

SEPARATOR TEST
Oil
Formation
Volume
Factor,
Temper- Gas-oil
res.
ature,
Ratio,
bbl/
F
scf/STB
STB
70
935
72

102
1037*

1.714**

*Solution gas-oil ratio at bubblepoint pressure

**Oil formation volume factor at bubblepoint pressure

Stocktank Oil
Gravity,
API @
60F

48.0

Gas
Specific
Gravity
0.775
1.309

ANALYSIS OF BLACK OIL PVT REPORTS REVISITED

TABLE 2. THE VOLUMES AND PROPERTIES OF THE OIL AND

GAS RESULTING FROM THE TWO LABORATO RY PROCEDURES
ARE QUITE DIFFERENT (DATA FROM TABLE 1)
Differential
Liberation
Separator Test
Volume of oil at standard
residual bbl
STB
0.495
0.583
conditions at end of
res. bbl @ P b
res. bbl @ P b
process
Gravity of oil at standard
43.2API
48.0API
conditions at end of
process
Volume of total gas at
scf
scf
692.9
605.0
standard conditions
res.
bbl
@
P
res.
bbl
@ Pb
b
liberated during process
Weighted average specific
gravity at standard
conditions of total gas
liberated during process

1.0931

0.8252

Fig. 1 Comparison showing excellent fit of oil formation

volume factors calculated from routine laboratory PVT
data using Eqs. 2a and 2b with data from composite
liberation.

Fig. 2 Comparison of solution gas-oil ratios calculated

from routine laboratory PVT data using Eqs. 1 and 7 with
data from composite liberation showing that Eq. 7 has a
better fit.
700

600

500
Solution gas-oil ratio, scf/STB

SPE 77386

400

300

200

100

0
1.3
-100
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

Reservoir pressure, psig

data from composite liberation

calculated with Eq. 7

calculated with Eq. 1

Fig. 3 Comparison of solution gas-oil ratios calculated

from routine laboratory PVT data using Eqs. 1 and 7,
showing that the deviation between the results is greater
when initial solution gas-oil ratio is large.

1.2

1.15

1200

1.1
1000

1.05

800

1
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Reservoir pressure, psig

data from composite liberation

calculated with Eqs. 2a and 2b

4000

Solution gas-oil ratio, scf/STB

Oil formation volume factor, res. bbl/STB

1.25

600

400

200

-200
0

500

1000

1500

2000

Reservoir pressure, psig

Eq. 7

Eq. 1

2500

3000

3500