SPE 132756

Bubble Point Pressure Empirical Correlation

B. Moradi, SPE, Islamic Azad University-Omidieh; E. Malekzadeh, National Iranian Oil Company; M. Amani, SPE,
Texas A&M University; F.H.Boukadi, SPE, University of Louisiana at Lafayette; R. Kharrat, SPE, Petroleum
University of Technology

Copyright 2010, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Trinidad and Tobago Energy Resources Conference held in Port of Spain, Trinidad, 27–30 June 2010.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
Bubble point pressure is an important reservoir fluid property. Ideally, Bubble point pressure is determined experimentally
in the laboratory; However, this value is not always available and correlations are consequently used to determine it.
At this work, first the published bubble point pressure are reviewed and then a new correlation is developed to estimate
bubble point pressure of crude oils in worldwide range.
This correlation is applicable for crude oils of ºAPI ranging between 6 to 57.
The comparison of this new correlation with other published ones shows that it is much more accurate than the other ones.
The average absolute deviation error (percent) of the new correlation is about 16.96%.

Introduction
In reservoir studies, from material balance calculations to simulation, fluid properties are always required to estimate the
oil in place volumes, surface volumes, and the transport parameters that interact with the flow. The variations of PVT
properties during depletion phase are also needed to evaluate the reservoir performance and to design surface and subsurface
facilities.
Ideally, PVT properties are experimentally measured in laboratory. When such direct measurements are not available, PVT
correlations from the literature are often used. The study will be carried out to model the bubble point pressure.
The bubble-point pressure (Pb) of a hydrocarbon system is defined as the highest pressure at which a bubble of gas is first
liberated from the oil. This important property can be measured experimentally for a crude oil system by conducting a
constant-composition expansion test.
In the absence of the experimentally measured bubble point pressure, it is necessary for the engineer to make an estimate of
this crude oil property from the readily available measured producing parameters. Several graphical and mathematical
correlations for determining Pb have been proposed during the last sex decades.

Literature Review
Since the 1940’s engineers have realized the importance of developing empirical correlation for bubble point pressure.
Studies carried out in this field resulted in the development of new correlations. Several studies of this kind were published by
Katz, Standing, Lasater and Cronquist. For several years, these correlations were the only source available for estimating
bubble point pressure when experimental data were unavailable. In the last thirty years there has been an increasing interest in
developing new correlations for crude oils obtained from the various regions in the world. Vazquez & Beggs, Glaso, Al-
Marhoun,McCain, Al Shammasi and Dindoruk carried out some of the recent studies. A summary of these published
correlation models is provided in Table 1 including the forms of correlation used and details of the data used for each
development.
2 SPE 132756

Table 1: Previous bubble point correlation

No. of
Samples Data
Authors Correlation
Origin Points
Used
Rs T API
Pb a1 10 a5
γg
Standing
California 105 a1 = 18.2, a 2 = 0.83, a3 = 0.00091, a4 = 0.0125, a5 = 1.4
(1947)
Bo= 1.0240-2.150 (bbl/STB), T= 100-258 (˚F), Rs= 20-1425(SCF/STB), API=16.5-63.8
γg=0.59-0.95, Pb=130-7000 (psi)
pf T 459.67
Pb
γg
R
Canada West Yg = R
Mid M

Continental Mo a3 – a4 API a5 API

Lasater (1958) U.S.A. 158 pf a6 – a7 γg a8 γg
South
America a1 = 379. 3, a2 = 350, a3 = 725.32143, a4 = 16.03333, a5 = 0.09524, a6 = 0.38418
a7 = 1.20081, a8 = 9.64868

Bo= - (bbl/STB), T= 82-272 (˚F), Rs= 3-12905(SCF/STB), API=17.9-51.1 , γg=0.574-1.223

Pb=48-5780 (psi)
Rs API
Pb a1 10 T
γgs
Psep
γgs γg 1 5.915 10 Tsep API log
114.7
Vazquez &
World Wide 5008
Beggs (1980) If API<=30 => a 1 = 27.64 , a2 = 1.0937, a3 = 11.172
If API >30 => a1 = 56.06, a2 = 1.187, a3 = 10.393

Bo= 1.028-2.226 (bbl/STB), T= 75-294 (˚F), Rs= 0-2199 (SCF/STB), API= 15.3-59.3
γg=0.65-1.28, Pb=15=6055 (psi)
G G
Pb 10
Rs
G T API
γg
Glaso (1980) North Sea 41
a1 = 1.7669, a2 = 1.7447, a3 = 0.30218, a4 = 0.816, a5 = 0.172, a6 = –0.989

Bo= 1.032-2.588(bbl/STB), T= 80-280 (˚F), Rs= 90-2637 (SCF/STB), API= 22.3-48.1

γg=0.65-1.276, Pb=165-7142 (psi)
Pb a1 Rs γg γo T 460

Al-Marhoun a1 = 5.38088e-3, a2 = 0.715082, a3 = –1.877840, a4 = 3.143700, a5 = 1.326570

Middle East 160
(1988)
Bo= 1.032-1.997 (bbl/STB), T= 74-240 (˚F), Rs= 26-1602 (SCF/STB), API= 19.4-44.6
γg=0.75-1.367, Pb=130-3573(psi)
Pb a1 Cpb a2
Rs T API
McCain (1991) WorldWide 100 Cpb 10
γg

a1=18.2, a2=1.4, a3=0.83, a4=0.00091, a5=0.0125

Rs
Pb API
a1 γg 10 T
Kartoatmodjo
and Schmidt World Wide 5392 If API <=30 => a1=0.05958, a2=0.7972, a3= 13.1405, a4= 0.9986
(1991) If API <=30 => a1=0.03150, a2=0.7587, a3= 11.280, a4= 0.9145

Bo= 1.007-2.747(bbl/STB), T= 75-320 (˚F), Rs= 0-2890 (SCF/STB), API= 14.4-59

γg=0.4824-1.1.668, Pb=24.7-4746.7(psi)
Al-Marhoun (1988),New calculated constants

Dokla & Osman a1 = 0.836386e4, a2 = 0.724047, a3 = –1.01049, a4 = 0.107991, a5 = –0.952584

U.A.E 51
(1992)
Bo= 1.216-2.493 (bbl/STB), T= 190-275 (˚F), Rs= 181-2266 (SCF/STB), API=28.2-40.3
γg=0.798-1.29, Pb=590-4640 (psi)
SPE 132756 3

No. of
Samples Data
Authors Correlation
Origin Points
Used

Pb = a1 K Rs – a3
K Exp a4 T– a5 API – a6 γg
Macary and El-
Batanoney Gulf of Suez 90 a1 = 204.257, a2= 0.51, a3 = 4.7927, a4 = 0.00077, a5 = 0.0097, a6= 0.4003
(1992)
Bo= 1.2-2 (bbl/STB), T= 130-290 (˚F), Rs= 200-1200 (SCF/STB), API= 25-40, γg=0.7-1
Pb=1200-4600 (psi)
Standing (1947),New calculated constants
Rs
Pb a1 10 a4
γg
Gulf of Mexico X a5 T a7 API
Petrosky &
Texas 81
Farshad (1993) a1 = 112.727, a2=0.5774, a3 = 0.8439, a4 = 12.340, a5 = 4.561e-5, a6=1.3911
Louisiana
a7= 7.916e-4

Bo= 1.118-1.623 (bbl/STB), T= 114-288 (˚F), Rs= 217-1406 (SCF/STB), API= 16.3-45.0
γg=0.58-0.85, Pb=1574-6528
Standing (1947) ,correlation with one change
Rs
Pb a1 10 T API
a5
γg
b6
Omar &Todd X b1 b2 Bo b3 γg b4 Bo b5 γg
Malaysia 93 Bo γg
(1993)
b1 = 1.4256, b2 = –0.2608, b3 = –0.4596, b4 = 0.04481, b5 = 0.2360, b6 = –0.1077

Bo= 1.085-1.954 (bbl/STB), T= 125-280 (˚F), Rs= 142-1440 (SCF/STB), API= 26.6-53.2
γg=0.612-1.32, Pb= 790-3851 (psi)
Standing (1947),New calculated constants
R . . T
If 10<API<=22.3 => Pb 15.7286 . API
γ

Kartoatmodjo and Schmidt (1991),New calculated constants

R
22.3< API< =31.1=> Pb . API
γ .
Mediterraean . T

De Ghetto & Basin, Africa, Psp

3700 γgcorr γg P 1 0.1595 API .
Tsp .
Log
Villa (1994) Persian Gulf 114.7
and North Sea
Standing (1947),New calculated constants
R . . T
API> 31.1=>Pb 31.7648 . API
γ

Bo= 1.034-2.887(bbl/STB), T= 59-194 (˚F), Rs= 8.61-3298.66 (SCF/STB), API= 6-56.8

γg=0.624-1.789, Pb=107.33-6613.82(psi)
Glaso (1980),New calculated constants
G – G
Pb 10
Farshad,
Leblance, G γg Rs 10 T API

Garber & Colombia 98

Osorio [Single a1 = 0.3058, a2= 1.9013, a3 = 0.26, a4 = –1.378, a5 = 1.053, a6= 0.00069, a7 = 0.0208
Stage] (1996)
Bo= 1.007-2.747(bbl/STB), T= 75-320 (˚F), Rs= 0-2890 (SCF/STB), API= 14.4-59
γg=0.4824-1.1.668, Pb=24.7-4746.7(psi)
γ
1 2 4
γ
Almehaideb
UAE 62 a1 = –620.592, a2= 6.23087, a3 = 1.38559, a4 = 2.89868
(1997)
Bo= 1.142-3.562 (bbl/STB), T= 190-306 (˚F), Rs= 128-3871 (SCF/STB), API= 30.9-48.6
γg=0.746-1.116, Pb= 501-4822 (psi)
1 3
4 5 6 γ
Hanafy, Macary,
ElNadi, Baiomi
Egypt 324 a1=204.257, a2=0.51, a3=-4.7927, a4=0.00077, a5=-0.0097, a6=-0.4003
& El Batanony
(February 1997)
Bo= 1.032-4.35 (bbl/STB), T= 107-327 (˚F), Rs= 7-4272 (SCF/STB), API= 17.8-48.8
γg=0.623-1.627, Pb=36-5003 (psi)
4 SPE 132756

No. of
Samples Data
Authors Correlation
Origin Points
Used
Pb=a1*Rs+a2
Hanafy, Macary,
ElNadi, Baiomi a1=3.205,a2=157.27
Egypt 324
& El Batanony
(March 1997) Bo= 1.032-4.35 (bbl/STB), T= 107-327 (˚F), Rs= 7-4272 (SCF/STB), API= 17.8-48.8
γg=0.623-1.627, Pb=36-5003 (psi)
6.894757 1 2 0.1801175 3 γ 4 γ
30.24 32 /1.8 6 0.1801175 γ
7 0.1801175 γ
8 0.1801175 32 /1.8
Boukadi, Al-
9 γ γ 10 γ 32 /1.8
Alawi, Al-
11 γ 32 /1.8
Bemani & Al- Oman 45
Bemani
a1=-172.29, a2=148.41, a3=404.22,a4=968.94, a5=30.24,a6=1 .66, a7=3.06, a8=25.28
(1999)
a9=17.14,a10=69.21, a11=168.71

Bo=1.03-1.61 (bbl/STB), T=114.53-197.33 (˚F), Rs= 35.315-3813.984 (SCF/STB)

API=18.98-67.72, γg=0.58-1.12, Pb= 29.153-2007.902 (psi)
Petrosky-Farshad (1993) New calculated constants plus one new constant
1 γ 10 4
Velarde,
6 8
Blasingame &
McCain World Wide 2097
a1= 1091.47, a2=0.081465, a3= 0.161488, a4=0.740152, a5=5.354891, a6=0.013098
(1999)
a7=0.282372, a8=8.2*10^-6, a9= 2.176124

T=74-327 (˚F), Rs= 10-1870 (SCF/STB), API=12-55 , γg=0.556-1.367, Pb= 70-6700 (psi)
γ 2 γ γ 460 γ

Al-Shammasi a1=5.527215, a2=-1.841408, a3=0.783716

WorldWide 1661
(1999)
Bo= 1.02-2.916(bbl/STB), T=74-341.6 (˚F), Rs= 6-32.98.6 (SCF/STB), API=6-63.7 , γg=0.51-3.44
Pb= 31.70-7127 (psi)

8 10 11
γ
1 3

5 2
γ
Dindoruk &
Christman Gulf of Mexico 99
a1=1.42828E-10, a2=2.844591797, a3=-6.74896E-04, a4=1.225226436
(2001)
a5=0.033383304, a6=-0.272945957, a7=-0.084226069, a8=1.869979257
a9=1.221486524, a10=1.370508349, a11=0.011688308

Bo= 1.0844-2.8984(bbl/STB), T=117-276 (˚F), Rs= 133-3050 (SCF/STB), API=14.7-40

γg=0.6017-1.0270, Pb= 926-12230 (psi)
2 6
1 10
4 γ 8
Bolondarzadeh,
Hashemi & 166 a1=27.16 , a2=3.4394 , a3=0.57102 , a4=0.56807 , a5=0.922092 , a6=3.7387 , a7=0.2304
Iran
Soltani (2006) a8=6.27605 , a9=0.42469 , a10=30.28

Bo= 1.1851-1.8492(bbl/STB), Rs= 334-1527 (SCF/STB), Pb= 100-5300 (psi)

1 γ γ
Mehran,
Movagharnejad
Iran 387 a1=3.146, a2=0.8035 , a3= -1.3114, a4= 3.3925, a5= 0.3466
and Didanloo
(2006)
Bo= 1.09-3.23 (bbl/STB), T=77.5-306 (˚F), Rs=83-3539 (SCF/STB), γg=0.335-1.872
Standing (1947),New calculated constants
Rs γ
Pb 10.4566 10 . T .
8.6817
γg
a6
Hemmati & X a1 a2 Bo  a3 γg a4 Bob^2 a5 γg
Iran 287 γg Bo
Kharrat (2007)
a=1.5897, a2=0.2735, a3=0.4429, a4 =0.04692, a5=0.1440, a6 =0.1596

Bo= 1.091-2.54 (bbl/STB), T=77.5-290 (˚F), Rs=125-2189.25 (SCF/STB), API=18.8-48.34

γg=0.523-1.415, Pb=348-5156
SPE 132756 5

No. of
Samples Data
Authors Correlation
Origin Points
Used
Rs
Q a1
Rs γo
a2
a1 S
S a3 a4 API
Pb a6 a7 Q a8 Q
Pb T a10
Ikiensikimama Pb
Niger Delta 250 γg
& Ogboja (2009)
a1= 336.0064009, a2 = 6.7063984, a4 = 0.677706662, a3 = 47.57094772
a5= 1.530935619, a7 =-2.316548789, a6 = 0.243181338, a8= 10.60657909
a9 = 1.518030465, a10 = 635.4152349

Bo= - (bbl/STB), T=122.3-264 (˚F), Rs=19-2948.8 (SCF/STB), API=14.78-53.23 , γg=0.564-1.294

Pb= 67-6560 (psi)

DATA ANALYSIS
Data used for this work is published in the literature and consists of reservoir temperature, oil gravity, total solution gas oil
ratio, oil formation volume factor and average gas gravity for bubble point pressure. This selection is based on the input
requirements by the majority of published correlations. A total of 1177 data sets from 9 different published literature papers
were collected and checked for accuracy. Another 634 data sets originated from Iranian reservoirs from unpublished sources
making a total of 1801 data sets.
Table 2 shows the data sources and the number of data sets collected for each source.

Table 2: Data source

Geographical Location Sourse Count

All Over the World ref. 2 385

All Over the World ref. 11 195

Alaska ref. 15 45

Alaska ref. 39 8

Nigeria Delta ref. 8 23

Malaysia ref. 38 93

Middle East ref. 6 160

Middle East ref. 14 22

UAE ref. 13 51

Pakistan ref. 29 185

Iran and Persian Gulf Unpublished 634

Total 1801

Table 3: Range of data

PVT parameter Min. Max. Mean

Rs(SCF/STB) 8.861 16267 552.412

P(psi) 36 7127 1790.284

T(˚F) 69.98 341.6 183.656

˚API 6 56.8 33.129

γg 0.52 3.44 0.947

6 SPE 132756

Development of the bubble point pressure Correlation

Most of the published empirical bubble point pressure correlations utilize the following generalized relationship:

Pb=f (Rs, γg, γo, T) ..……………....................................................................................................................………… Eq.1

The nonlinear multiple regression analysis was used to develop the following relation:

.
1 131.5 3 460 ...……………...… Eq.2

5 6 7 ...………...................................................................……........................… Eq.3

a1=1.10382622244782 a2= 6.20868199092533

a3= -1.84068688374902 a4= 0.688750576134232
a5= 65.853149 a6= 0.00040668902
a7= 0.00000015472455

The above correlation was originated from studying PVT data on 1801 data points. The average absolute relative error
(percent) of the correlation was reported at 16.96% with a standard deviation of 15.22%.
Result of compression between other published correlations and developed new is presented in table 4.

Table 4: Summary of Error for bubble point pressure for New and Other Published Correlation

Authors %A.A.D.E %St. Dev Authors %A.A.D.E %St. Dev

Farshad, Leblance, Garber &

Standing (1947) 28.37 35.05 26.06 31.05
Osorio [Single Stage] (1996)

Lasater (1958)
57.17 63.61 Almehaideb (1997) 63.10 70.74

Hanafy, Macary, ElNadi, Baiomi &

Vazquez & Beggs (1980) 28.26 32.11 67.01 79.59
El Batanony (February 1997)

Hanafy, Macary, ElNadi, Baiomi &

Glaso (1980) 43.95 47.63 117.14 128.62
El Batanony (March 1997)

Boukadi, Al-Alawi, Al-Bemani &

Al-Marhoun (1988) 42.54 47.49 98.38 108.77
Al-Bemani (1999)

Kartoatmodjo, and Schmidt Velarde, Blasingame & McCain

25.47 30.96 29.51 35.26
(1991) (1999)

McCain (1991) 28.21 33.65 Al-Shammasi (1999) 21.42 24.08

Dokla & Osman (1992) 55.77 57.58 Dindoruk & Christman (2001) 49.25 56.43

Bolondarzadeh, Hashemi &

Macary and El-Batanoney (1992) 54.29 57.55 180.19 191.79
Soltani (2006)

Mehran, Movagharnejad
Petrosky & Farshad (1993) 42.84 46.75 175.78 190.95
and Didanloo (2006)

Omar &Todd (1993) 71.09 79.68 Hemmati & Kharrat (2007) 135.58 150.29

De Ghetto& Villa (1995) 25.21 28.89 Ikiensikimama & Ogboja (2009) 92.37 102.20

This Study 16.96 15.22

SPE 132756 7

Figure 1. Bubble point pressure distribution diagram

Figure 2. Absolute Relative Eroor pressure distribution diagram

8 SPE 132756

8000

7000

Calculated Bubble Point Pressure (psi)

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
Measured Bubble Point Pressure (psi)

Figure 3. Cross plot of calculated versus measured bubble point pressure for new correlation

1.2

0.8

0.4
Relative Errorof

0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60

-0.4

-0.8

-1.2
API Gravity

Figure 4. Relative error versus API gravity plot

SPE 132756 9

Conclusions
Based on the results of this study, the following conclusions are obtained:
1- New empirical bubble point pressure correlation for universal crude oils have been developed.
2- The proposed correlation has a wide range of validity, and is superior to other published correlations in the literature.
3- The new bubble point pressure correlation provided the highest accuracy of the correlations evaluated; however, the
other published correlations also produced excellent estimates of bubble point pressures.
4- The Proposed correlations can be tuned for other basins/areas, or certain class of oils.
5- Proposed correlation is used to generate differential liberation tables for reservoir simulation.

Nomenclature
AADE= Average Absolute Deviation Error
API=Stock-tank oil gravity, °API
Bo= Oil Formation Volume Factor, bbl/stb
OFVF= Oil Formation Volume Factor
Pb= Bubble point pressure, psia
PVT=Pressure Volume Temperature
Rs= Solution gas-oil-ratio,SCF/STB
St. Dev. =Standard Deviation
T = Temperature, ˚ F
γg=Gas specific gravity (air=1)
γg100=Gas specific gravity (air=1) at 100 psi
γgPsp=Gas specific gravity (air=1) at pressure separator
γo=Oil specific gravity (Water=1)

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Appendix A— Statistical Error Analysis

There are three main statistical parameters that are being considered in this study. These parameters help to evaluate the
accuracy of the predicted fluid properties obtained from the black oil correlations.

Average Percent Relative Error

This is an indication of the relative deviation in percent from the experimental values and is given as:

1
SPE 132756 11

Ei is the relative deviation in percent of an estimated value from an experimental value and is defined by

100, 1,2,3, … ,

Where xexp and xest represent the estimated and experimental values, respectively. The lower the value of Er, the more
equally distributed are the errors between positive and negative values.

Average Absolute Percent Relative Error (AAPRE)

This parameter is to measure the average value of the absolute relative deviation of the measured value from the
experimental data. The value of AAPRE is expressed in percent. The parameter can be defined as

1
| | 100

and indicates the relative absolute deviation in percent from the experimental values. A lower value of AAPRE implies
better agreement between the estimated and experimental values.

Standard Deviation
Standard deviation, Sx, of the estimated values with respect to the experimental values can be calculated using the
following equation:

1
1

The accuracy of the correlation is determined by the value of the standard deviation, where a smaller value indicates higher
accuracy. The value of standard deviation is usually expressed in percent.