BTO3114

Formation & Reservoir Technology

Module 1: Reservoir Rocks & Fluids
Topic: Crude Oil Properties

Norasyikin Ismail, PhD

Faculty of Chemical & Process Engineering Technology
asyikinismail@ump.edu.my
 Learning Outcomes

At the end of this lesson, student should be able to:

1. Define crude oil properties used for reservoir
engineering calculations.
 Properties of Crude Oil Needed for Reservoir
Engineering Calculations:
○ Oil gravity, API gravity
○ Formation Volume Factor of oil Bo
○ Total Formation Volume Factor of oil Bt
○ Solution Gas oil Ratio Rs
○ Coefficient of Isothermal Compressibility Co
○ Oil Viscosity µo
 Oil Specific Gravity
● Oil specific gravity (γoil) has a small scale between 0.75 to 1.
● So, API gravity was introduced by American Petroleum Institute
(API) is a measure of how heavy or light a petroleum liquid is
compared to water

ρo ( P1 , T1 ) 141.5
γo = o
API = − 131.5
ρ w ( P1 , T1 ) γo
Brine

Crude
Oil

Water API
Gravity
 Formation Volume Factor of Oil, Bo
Volume of Oil + Dissolved gas
Bo = at Reservoir Pressure & Temp.
Gas out of Volume of Oil entering Stock
Solution
Surface (Ps,Ts) tank at Tsc, Psc
Units = Reservoir barrels (bbl) /Stock tank barrels (STB)

Reservoir (P,T)
 Solution Gas Oil Ratio (Rs)
● How much gas is dissolved in the oil volume per volume
basis
● Rs depends upon pressure
● Units [= ] SCF gas /STB oil
Total Formation Volume Factor Bt
Pb

Bg(Rsb-Rs)
Bob Gas
Oil
Oil Bo
Hg Hg
 Definition of Bt
● Also called Two-phase formation volume factor

Bt = Bo + Bg (Rsb − Rs )
Units…

bbl/STB + bbl/SCF * (SCF/STB)

The Coefficient of Isothermal Compressibility of Oil
● Provides Instantaneous change of volume with P at constant T

1  ∂V 
Co (PA , TA ) = −  ∂P 
V TA
Also with molar volume
and specific volume
 Oil Viscosity
● Viscosity is a measure of the resistance to flow exerted by a fluid
● This is called dynamic viscosity and has units of
centipoise = g mass / 100 sec cm
● Kinematic viscosity is viscosity / density, units are in
centistokes = centipoise /g/cc
 Needs of Crude Oil Viscosity
● Calculation of two-phase flow
● Gas-lift and pipeline design
● Calculate oil recovery either from natural depletion or from
recovery techniques such as waterflooding and gas-injection
processes
 Viscosity

Honey = 10,000 cP Water = 0.89 cP Crude Oil = 155,000cP

 Let’s Recap!

● Oil gravity, API gravity

● Formation Volume Factor of oil Bo
● Total Formation Volume Factor of oil Bt
● Solution Gas oil Ratio Rs
● Coefficient of Isothermal Compressibility Co
● Oil Viscosity µo
 In the next session…

● We will learn on reservoir fluids types.