By definition, relative permeability is the ratio of the effective permeability, when more than

one fluid is present, to the absolute permeability. Effective permeability is the measured
permeability of a porous medium to one fluid when another is present. The effective
permeability depends on the relative proportion of the two fluids present, or fluid saturation.
Therefore, relative permeability is also a function of fluid saturation. Although there are
models for predicting relative permeability, they are all empirically formulated from
measured data sets. Figure 7 shows typical relative permeability curves for an oil-water
system.