Formation Volume Factor

The formation volume factor

is an engineering variable developed to facilitate
material balance calculations and use of flow
equations in reservoir engineering.
Since volume of the phases is varies greatly with
P and T, defining the conditions at which
volumes are reported is also necessary.
The reference conditions at which the volumes
are reported are referred to as standard or
base conditions.
The oil and gas formation volume factors are
defined and ilustrated as follows..
Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 1
 Oil Formation Volume Factor
The early use of formation volume factor was
limited to dry gases and black oils. Thus the
classical material balance equations was
developed and used for these two types of
reservoir fluids. Later in 1994, (almost 60
years after the first introduction of MBE) the
modern MBE equations were developed which
involved a new concept called volatilized oil
gas ratio, Rv.
The following is a treatment of the oil and gas
formation volume factors.

Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 2

 Oil Formation Volume Factor
The treatment of the FVFs will be dealt with in
stages. Starting with dry gas and black oil FVS
and then illustrating the same concepts for
volatile oil and retrograde gases.

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 Gas Formation Volume Factor
The gas formation volume factor is defined as
the volume of an gas phase sample at reservoir
conditions divided by the volume of gas phase
yielded by the same sample at standard
conditions. In equation form,

Bg = Volume of a gas phase sample in reservoir at reservoir Tand P

Volume of gas phase yielded by the same sample at Tsc and Psc

The units are cuft of gas at reservoir conditions per cuft of gas at
standard conditions, cuft/SCF.
The standard volume of gas is usually reported at 600F and 14.7
psia
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 Illustration of Bg for Dry Gases
• Consider a dry gas phase sample in a PVT cell of volume
VGR at reservoir T and P. Let this sample be brought to
surface conditions yielding a VGSC volume of gas. Note dry
gases yield no liquid phase at surface conditions, hence,
the dry gas formation volume factor is:

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 Example of a reservoir dry gas sample
during its journey to surface

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 Derivation of Bg for dry gases
• From real gas low we have
PSCVGSC PRVGR
=
z SC TSC z RTR

VGR P z RTR
• Rearranging Bg = = SC
VGSC z SCTSC PR

Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 7

Gas Formation volume factor

But Tsc = 520oR and Psc= 14.65 psia, and for

all practical purposes zsc = 1,

Then
Bg= ZT (14.65)/(1.0)(520)P
= 0.0282ZT/P cu ft/scf

Bg = (0.0282 zT/P cu ft/scf) (bbl/5.615 cu ft)

= 0.00502 zT/P res bbl/scf.
T = Temp in R and P = pressure in psia.
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Example 5-2 MCCain : Calculate a value of the formation
volume factor of a. dry gas with a specific gravity of
0.818 at reservoir temperature of 2200F and reservoir
pressure of 2100 psig.

Solution
1. Estimate pseudocritical properties,
calculate pseudoreduced properties, and
get a value of z-factor.
2. Tpc =4060R and Ppc = 647 psia at γg =
0.818, Fig. 3.11 McCain
Tpr = (220+460)/406 = 1.68 and
Ppr = (2100+14.7)/ 647=3.27.
z = 0.855, figure 3-7 MCCain
Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 9
Example 5.2

2. Calculate Bg as follows:
Bg = 0.00502 zT P
Bg = (0.00502)(0.855)(220+460)
(2100+14.7)
= 0.00138 res bbl /scf

Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 10

Class Work: Using the z values in example 5.2 answer
the following based on the assumption that this gas is
produced from reservoir where the reservoir gas volume
is calculated to be 105 MMMcuft

If we can produce 80 percent of the total

reservoir gas what will be our ultimate
surface production in SCF
If we had produced 40 MMMSCF how much
more gas can we produce.
What is the volume of the gas letf in the
reservoir after producing 40 MMMSCF

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 Oil Formation Volume Factor
The oil formation volume factor is defined as
the volume of an oil phase sample at reservoir
conditions divided by the volume of oil phase
yielded by the same sample at standard
conditions. In equation form,

B0 = Volume of an oil phase sample in reservoir at reservoir Tand P

Volume of oil phase yielded by the same sample at Tsc and Psc

The units are barrels of oil at reservoir conditions per barrel of

stock- tank oil, res bbl/STB.
The volume of stock-tank oil is mostly reported at 600F and 14.7
psia
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 Illustration of Bo for Black Oils
• Consider an oil phase sample in a PVT cell of volume
VoR at reservoir T and P both are above bubble point
values. Let this sample be brought to surface conditions
yielding a VoSC volume of oil and VGSC volume of gas.
Then oil formation volume factor is:

Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 13

 Example of a reservoir sample during its
journey to surface

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Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 15
 Factors influencing Oil FVF
1. Change in pressure
1. Volume of an oil sample expands as pressure
decrease from the reservoir conditions to surface
conditions
2. Change in temperature
– Volume of an oil sample decreases due to
temperature decrease from reservoir temperature to
surface temperature
3. Change in dissolved gas
– As p decreases dissolved gas is released from
solution resulting in volume shrinkage in oil phase

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 Oil Formation Volume Factor
Note that
as the reservoir oil phase includes dissolved gas, the oil
sample at reservoir conditions separates into an oil
phase and gas phase as it is brought to surface
conditions.

Therefore, volume of the oil phase yielded by a reservoir

oil sample is much less than that of the oil phase
sample in reservoir conditions due to liberation of
dissolved gas

Note also that Bo is always greater than 1, as explained

in next slide.
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Assume PR=Patm, thus only T influence Bo. As TR > 60 F,
and since volume at high T is greater Bo is always greater
than one for an isothermal production phase.

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 Example 1:

A sample of reservoir liquid occupied a volume of 400

cc in a PVT cell under reservoir conditions. This
sample was passed through a mini-separator system
and finally allowed to flow into a stock tank at
atmospheric pressure 14.7 psia and a temperature of
60 F.

The liquid volume in the stock tank was 274 cc. A total
of 1.21 scf of gas was released during the jurney
through separators.

Calculate the oil formation volume factor.

Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 19

Solution

• B0 = 400 res cc = 1.46 res bbl

274 ST cc STB

The reciprocal of the formation volume factor

is called the shrinkage factor.

• b0 = __1_
B0

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 Example 2: ( Class C field is the one that has a
reserves (feasibly recoverable oil) between 10-25 MM
STB of oil)

A black oil reservoir contains 22 MM bbls of oil at

reservoir conditions. If we can produce all this oil,
how much oil do we get at our stock tanks.

Assume that the small sample from this oil yielded the
results that have been calculated in example 1.

Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 21

Solution
• In example 1, the oil formation volume was calculated
to be Bo=1.46 bbl/STB
• Then, let the amount of oil that we would have at
surface be represented by N and the total oil volume in
the reservoir be VoR
• Note that our sample is the whole reservoir oil
resources now and hence based on our definition of
Bo, we can write

BO=VOR/N or N=VOR/BO=22/1.46=15.07 MMSTB

Note this value of total oil in reservoir, N,

(expressed in STB) is called oil-in-place.
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Example 3: ( Class A field is the one that has a
reserves (feasibly recoverable oil) between 50-100
MM STB of oil)

A black oil reservoir contains 80 MM bbls of oil at

reservoir conditions. It has been estimated that we
can produce only 60% this oil economically with the
available technology. The reservoir has been under
production for 10 years now and we have produced
24 MMSTB of oil. How much oil do we expect to
produce from this reservoir? ( i.e. how much
producable oil is left to be produced ?)

Assume that the small sample from this oil yielded

the results that have been calculated in example 1.
Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 23
Solution
• In example 1, the oil formation volume was
calculated to be Bo=1.46 bbl/STB
• Then, let the amount of oil that we would have at
surface be represented by Np and the total oil
volume in the reservoir be VoR
• Note that our sample is the producible reservoir oil
(i.e. the reserves now) and hence based on our
definition of Bo, and from example 2 , the oil in place
is calculated as:

N=VOR/BO=80/1.46=54.79 MMSTB

Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 24

Solution
• Since we can produce only 60% of total oil (oil in
place) Let Npa be the ultimately produced oil

Npa=60% of N=0.6*54.79 =32.87 MMSTB

In ten year the cumulative production is

Np=24 MMSTB

So the remaining reserves Nr are

Nr=Npa-Np=32.87-24 =8.88 MMSTB

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Example 4: A well testing has been performed in a
black oil reservoir while the reservoir pressure and
temperature are above the bubble point curve.

The well is flowed for 72 hours with surface oil flow

rate qoSC=300 STBD. Assuming the sample in
example 1 is from this reservoir, what is flow in the
reservoir during the well testing ?

Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 26

Solution
• In example 1, the oil formation volume was
calculated to be Bo=1.46 bbl/STB
• Then, let the surface flow rate be represented by qoSC
and the flow in reservoir be qoR
• Note that our sample is the reservoir flow rate and
hence based on our definition of Bo, and from
example 2 , the oil in place is calculated as:

BO=qOR/qOSC qOR=qOSCBO

• qOR=300*1.46=438 bbls

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Digression: Solution Gas-Oil Ratio

• The quantity of gas dissolved in an oil sample when it is

taken to reservoir conditions is called solution gas-oil ratio.
In other words;
• Solution gas-oil ratio is the amount of gas that evolves from
the reservoir oil sample as the oil is transported from the
reservoir to surface conditions. This ratio is defined in
terms of the quantities of gas and oil which appear at the
surface during production.

RS = Volume of gas produced from an oil sample at surface

Volume of oil yielded by the same sample at stock tank

• The surface volumes of both gas and liquid are referred to

standard conditions so that the units are standard cubic feet per
stock-tank barrel, scf/STB.

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 Digression: Solution Gas-Oil Ratio

• Note relation between Bo and Rs

RS = Volume of gas yielded by a reservoir oil sample at Tsc and Psc

Volume of oil yielded by the same sample at Tsc and Psc

B0 = Volume of an oil phase sample in reservoir at reservoir Tand P

Volume of oil phase yielded by the same sample at Tsc and Psc

The illustration of Rs equation below is in next slides

VGSC
Rsi =
VoSC

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 Initial solution gas oil ratio

VGSC
Rsi =
VoSC

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 Example 1:

A sample of reservoir liquid occupied a volume of 400

cc in a PVT cell under reservoir conditions. This
sample was passed through a mini-separator system
and finally allowed to flow into a stock tank at
atmospheric pressure 14.7 psia and a temperature of
60 F.

The liquid volume in the stock tank was 274 cc. A total
of 1.21 scf of gas was released during the jurney
through separators.

Calculate the solution gas oil.

Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 31

Solution

The conversion factor from cc to bbl is

6.2898x10-6 bbl/cc
Using this factor we obtain:

1.21 SCF
Rs = −6
= 702 SCF / STB
274 STcc * 6.2898 x10 STB / STcc

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 Illustration of Rs and Bo and Bt below bubble point

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 Solution Gas Oil ratio
• Then, from the above figure by definition the
solution gas oil ratio is

VGSC VLSG
Rsi = Rs =
VoSC VoSC

• The figure in next slide shows the variation of

Rs with pressure. Until Pb, VGSC=VLSG and
hence Rs=Rsi. As P drops below Pb,
liberation in the reservoir takes place leading to
an increase in VGR and hence to a decrease in
VLSG as result of which Rs decreases.
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 Fig. 6.2 Typical diagram of solution gas-oil ratio of black oil
versus reservoir pressure at constant temperature.

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 Significance of Solution Gas Oil ratio

• In addition to help us identify the reservoir fluid

type, the solution gas oil ratio values are useful
to employ in the material balance equations and
specially useful in employing the concept of two
phase or total FVF. Bt will be discussed next.

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 Two phase or Total FVF
• The two phase or total formation volume factor is
defined for the purpose of conveniently carrying
out the material balance calculations.
• The two phase FVF namely, Bt, has simplified
the material balance equation expressions.
• The total or two phase FVF, Bt, is defined as
follows.
• Let’s reconsider that a reservoir sample which is
initially at P and T above bubble point values,
reduced to low P and T and then expanded to
surface conditions
Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 37
 Illustration of Rs and Bo and Bt below bubble point

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 FVF
• Based on the above two step expansion of a
black oil sample, we have
VGSC = VGRSC + VLSG
• We know that VGR VoR VoRi
B = g
Bo = Boi =
VGRSC VoSC VoSC

VoR + VGR V
• Let’s define Bt = = Bo + GR
VoSC VoSC

• Since VGR = BgVGRSC VGRSC = VGSC − VLSG

VGSC − VLSG
• We obtain Bt = Bo + B g
VoSC
Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 39
 FVF
• Also remember the definition the solution gas oil
ratio;
VGSC VLSG
Rsi = Rs =
VoSC VoSC

• Thus we obtain
Bt = Bo + B g ( Rsi − Rs )

• This is two phase FVF the commonly used in

MBE.
• Note also that Bti=Boi
Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 40
Total Formation Volume Factor

• In summary, the total formation volume factor is

given by:

• Bt = Bo + Bg( Rsi – Rs ) res bbl/STB.

• B0 is the oil FVF at a pressure below bubble point

pressure.
• Rsi is the solution gas oil ratio at and above
bubble point pressure.
• Rs, is the solution gas oil ratio at a pressure
below bubble point pressure.
• The variation of Bt with pressure is shown next.

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 Fig 6.4 Total formation volume factor of a black oil as a
function of reservoir pressure at constant temperature.

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Example:

• Exactly one stock-tank barrel was placed in a

laboratory cell. 768 scf of gas was added.

• Cell temperature was raised to 2200F, the cell was

agitated to attain equilibrium between gas and liquid,
and pressure was raised until thermal bubble of gas
disappeared. At that point cell volume was 1.474
barrels and pressure was 2620 psig.

• Pressure in the cell was reduced to 2253 psig by

increasing total cell volume to 1.569 barrels. At that
point the oil volume in the cell was 1.418 barrels and
the gas volume in the cell was 0.151 barrels.
Calculate the total formation volume factor at 2253
psig.

Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 43

Solution

• Vo (P= 2253 psi) = 1.418 bbl

• Vg (P= 2253 psi) = 0.151
• Bt = Bo + Bg( Rsb – Rs )

• Bt = 1.418 + 0.151
= 1.569 res bbl/STB

Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 44

 Modern PVT properties
• The previous illustrations shows that there is no
volatilized oil in the gas phase. Thus there is no
condensation upon change of P and T to surface
values.
• Therefore MBE based on the previous concepts
only were applicable only to dry gas and black
oil reservoirs.
• The retrograde gases and liberated gas of
volatile oil gas contains volatilized oil and hence
the illustrations differ.
• Consider the following PVT experiment.
Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 45
 PVT properties for volatile oil and condensates

Dr. FP-Formation Volume Factor 46