Calculation of Hydrocarbon-in-Place in Gas and GasCondensate Reservoirs—Carbon Dioxide 

Sequestration

By Mahendra K. Verma

Open-File Report 2012–1033

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior

Ken Salazar, Secretary

U.S. Geological Survey

Marcia K. McNutt, Director

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2012

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Verma, M.K., 2012, Calculation of hydrocarbon-in-place in gas and gas-condensate reservoirs—Carbon 

dioxide sequestration: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2012–1033, 14 p.

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copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted material contained within this report.
3

Contents

Introduction............................................................................................................................................................ 4

Procedure.............................................................................................................................................................. 5

Application and Use............................................................................................................................................... 9

References Cited................................................................................................................................................... 9

Appendix A .......................................................................................................................................................... 10

Engineering Approach ..................................................................................................................................... 10

Figures

1. Pressure-temperature phase diagram of a reservoir fluid highlighting the three types of reservoirs—oil 

(dissolved gas) reservoirs, retrograde condensate reservoirs, and gas reservoirs................................. 11

2. Plot showing correlation between the condensate-gas ratio (BBL per MMSCF) and the ratio of wellreservoir-fluid gravity to separator-gas gravity for various combinations of condensate and gas 

gravities .................................................................................................................................................. 12

3. Plots showing pseudo-critical constants of gases (California and Oklahoma) and condensate fluids as a 

function of gas gravity............................................................................................................................. 13

4. Compressibility factors (Z) for natural gases................................................................................................. 14
4

Calculation of Hydrocarbon-in-Place in Gas and GasCondensate Reservoirs—Carbon Dioxide 

Sequestration

Introduction

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-140) authorized the 

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct a national assessment of geologic storage resources 

for carbon dioxide (CO2), requiring estimation of hydrocarbon-in-place volumes and formation 

volume factors for all the oil, gas, and gas-condensate reservoirs within the U.S. sedimentary 

basins. The procedures to calculate in-place volumes for oil and gas reservoirs have already been 

presented by Verma and Bird (2005) to help with the USGS assessment of the undiscovered 

resources in the National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska, but there is no straightforward procedure 

available for calculating in-place volumes for gas-condensate reservoirs for the carbon 

sequestration project. The objective of the present study is to propose a simple procedure for 

calculating the hydrocarbon-in-place volume of a condensate reservoir to help estimate the 

hydrocarbon pore volume for potential CO2 sequestration.

Gas and gas-condensate reservoirs are compositionally distinguished from oil reservoirs 

by the predominance of lighter hydrocarbons, such as methane (60 to 95 percent) and ethane (4

to 8 percent). Craft and Hawkins (1991) identified three types of oil and gas reservoirs based on 

their hydrocarbon fluid composition: (1) oil (with dissolved gas), (2) gas, and (3) gas condensate

(fig. 1). In addition, a two-phase region exists between the bubble point and dew point lines; that 

is, oil reservoirs with a gas cap. Depending on the reservoir pressure and temperature and the 

fluid composition, some gas reservoirs may produce only gas, whereas others produce mostly 

gas with some condensate. In contrast, gas-condensate reservoirs will always produce gas mixed 

with condensate, with the quantity of condensate varying from one reservoir to another. Gas 

condensate is a low-density mixture of liquid hydrocarbons that are present as gaseous 

components in the natural gas.

It is important to recognize that some gas-condensate reservoirs show condensate 

dropping out within reservoirs, as well as condensate production at the surface due to pressure 

falling below the dew point during production. This condensate accumulation in the reservoir 

initially sticks to the rock surface and remains immobile within the pores of the formation until 

its saturation level reaches a threshold value and becomes mobile. Therefore, from an economic 

standpoint, fluid trapped within the reservoir pores at low saturation levels is generally 

considered a loss to reservoir rock. To prevent this potential fluid loss, operators typically inject 

either water or gas (such as lean gas—usually a natural gas that has been stripped of its 

condensate) to maintain reservoir pressure above the dew point.

The reservoir management of gas-condensate reservoirs becomes challenging when the 

condensate begins to build up near the bottom of the wellbore, affecting well productivity due to 

the relative permeability effect of a two-phase flow. Harris and others (2005) have discussed 

production problems with two-phase flow encountered in operating some of the world’s large 

condensate fields, for example, Arun field in North Sumatra, Indonesia, Shtokmanovskoye field 

in Russian Barents field, and the North field in Qatar.
5

Gas reservoirs lend themselves to easy calculation of the hydrocarbon-in-place through a 

general gas-law equation. However, calculation of hydrocarbon-in-place of a gas-condensate 

reservoir is more complex because of the change from a single gaseous phase in the reservoir to

two phases (gas and condensate) at the surface. Oil and condensate, being similar in composition 

and gravity, are commonly mixed and transported through oil pipelines causing some people to 

believe that it is acceptable to add oil and condensate together. Although it is financially and 

operationally prudent to transport oil and condensate together, it poses difficulty when estimating

hydrocarbon-in-place resource volume, particularly when oil, gas, and condensate are 

simultaneously produced at the surface. The proposed procedure would account for all the 

produced gas and associated condensate from a gas-condensate reservoir and help calculate 

hydrocarbon-in-place volume, a requirement for estimating potential CO2 sequestration in 

condensate reservoirs using a volumetric approach.

Procedure

Calculation of hydrocarbon-in-place volume of a gas-condensate reservoir from the 

geologic, reservoir, and production data requires a clear understanding of the behavior of oil and 

gas under various reservoir and surface operating conditions. Because of condensate dropping

out from a gas-condensate reservoir fluid due to pressure falling below the dew point, it is 

necessary to recombine the condensate with the gas in a proper ratio to calculate the original 

volume of gas-in-place in the reservoir, which would help estimate the potential CO2

sequestration volume in a condensate reservoir.

The proposed method uses standard charts and simple equations to calculate 

hydrocarbon-in-place volumes in gas-condensate reservoirs. After the assessment of a basin with 

known geologic and reservoir data, plots of gas compressibility versus reservoir depth could be 

prepared for use in resource assessment of gas-condensate reservoirs with little or no data. 

The proposed method would allow us to see the variability of various geologic and 

reservoir factors as well as their impact on related parameters, particularly in regions and basins 

with abnormal pressure and temperature, and therefore would be of great significance in a 

resource assessment using Monte-Carlo simulation for a probabilistic estimate of resource 

volumes. 

The proposed method, based on correlations established by Rzasa and Katz (1945), 

provides a means to calculate the gas-in-place volume in a gas-condensate reservoir 

corresponding to the amount of produced gas and associated condensate. Plots of correlations 

based on this method are readily available for use. Data required to allow estimates of the gas-inplace volume are:

• Reservoir pressure and temperature, or depth to calculate the required parameters,

• Compositions of oil and gas or their gravities and molecular weights,

• Gravities and production rates of separator condensate and gas,

• Rock porosity,

• Gas or interstitial water saturation, and

• Area and thickness, in the absence of which calculations are based on one acre of 

reservoir volume.

The following steps summarize the procedure based on the Rzasa and Katz (1945) 

correlations as illustrated by Standing (1977).
6

1. Calculate average separator gas gravity, if not known, by averaging the gas gravities from 

various stage separators using gas flow rates from individual stage separators for weighting.

2. Calculate the produced condensate-to-gas ratio by dividing the daily condensate production 

(in barrels) by the total gas production (in millions of cubic feet).

3. Use the chart (fig. 2) showing the condensate-to-gas ratio on the x-axis and the wellreservoir-fluid gravity to separator-gas gravity ratio on the y-axis to determine the wellreservoir-fluid gravity, based on the known values of condensate gravity and separator-gas 

gravity (step 1). Mathews, Roland, and Katz (1942) worked on Oklahoma City (Wilcox) 

gases and found a relation (shown as reference 14 on fig. 3) that is similar to that for

California gases. Standing and Katz (1942) studied high-gravity gases (shown as reference 

13 on fig. 3), and their relation obviously differs from others.

4. From figure 3 showing the correlation between pseudo-critical pressure and temperature and 

the well-reservoir-fluid gravity, determine the two pseudo-critical parameters for a given

reservoir-fluid gravity from step 3.

5. Calculate the pseudo-reduced pressure and temperature, based on known pseudo-critical 

pressure and temperature (step 4) and the reservoir temperature and pressure.

6. Use pseudo-reduced parameters to determine the gas compressibility factor (Z) using the

compressibility factor for natural gases (fig. 4) from the study by Standing and Katz (1942). 

7. Calculate the hydrocarbon volume of 1 acre-foot of reservoir using porosity and gas (or 

water) saturation. 

8. Calculate the total number of moles in an acre-foot of reservoir rock using the general gaslaw equation and the known reservoir hydrocarbon pore volume, reservoir pressure and 

temperature, and gas compressibility factor (Z),

N=PV/ZRT (1)

where

N is pound-moles, P is pressure in psia (pounds per square inch absolute), V is volume in 

cubic feet, Z is compressibility factor, R is gas constant (10.73), and T is temperature in 

degrees Rankine (temperature in degrees Fahrenheit + 460).

9. If all the hydrocarbons are to be produced as gas at the surface, the gas volume can be 

calculated by multiplying the number of moles by 379 (one pound-mole of any gas occupies 

379 cubic feet at the standard conditions of 14.7 psia and 60o F).

10. On the other hand, if the condensate is produced with gas at the surface, the following 

equations can help calculate the number of pound-moles in one barrel of condensate:

Pound-moles in one barrel of condensate = (5.615 × 62.37 × condensate specific 

gravity)/condensate molecular weight (2)

In the above equation, 5.615 is the cubic feet equivalent of one barrel. The multiple of 

62.37 (water density in pounds per cubic feet) and condensate specific gravity gives the 

density of condensate in pounds per cubic feet. Condensate specific gravity is calculated 

from its gravity in API (American Petroleum Institute) units by using equation 3:

Condensate specific gravity = 141.5/ (131.5 + condensate gravity in API) (3)

On the right side of equation 2, the numerator is the condensate mass in pounds in one 

barrel of condensate, and the denominator is its molecular weight, thereby giving the 

number of moles.
7

11. Calculate the number of pound-moles in gas by dividing the gas-condensate ratio (gas 

volume in cubic feet per barrel of condensate) by 379.

12. Based on known moles of gas and condensate, determine the fraction of produced gas and 

condensate in the reservoir fluid stream.

13. To obtain produced gas volume per acre-foot of reservoir rock, first multiply the gas mole 

fraction (from step 12) by total number of moles (from step 8) to get the total number of gas 

moles in one acre-foot of rock and then multiply by 379 to determine cubic feet of gas.

14. Multiply the condensate mole fraction (from step 12) by total number of moles (from 

step 8) to get the number of condensate moles in 1 acre-foot of rock and then divide it by 

number of moles per barrel of condensate (from step 10) to obtain volume in barrels.

Example

Reservoir pressure 3,000 psia

Reservoir temperature 240o

F

Porosity 30 percent

Interstitial water saturation 12 percent

Tank condensate production 400 barrels per day

Tank condensate gravity 50o API

Tank gas production 200 MCF per day

Tank gas gravity 1.25 (air = 1)

Primary trap gas production 4,000 MCF per day

Primary trap gas gravity 0.65 (air = 1)

[psia, pounds per square in absolute; MCF, thousand cubic feet; API, American Petroleum 

Institute]

Solution

Basis—One acre-foot of reservoir volume

Average separator gas gravity = {(4,000 × 0.65) + (200 × 1.25)}/ (4,000+200) = 0.679

Condensate-gas ratio = 400 × 1,000/ (4,000+200) = 95.2 barrels per million of standard 

cubic feet (MMSCF)

Using the value of condensate-gas ratio of 95.2, gas gravity of 0.679, and condensate 

gravity of 50o API, the ratio of reservoir fluid gravity to trap gas gravity is 1.39

(fig. 2).

Therefore, the reservoir fluid gravity = 1.39 × 0.679 = 0.944.

Corresponding to gas gravity of 0.944, the pseudo-critical temperature is 435o R and 

pseudo-critical pressure 647 psia (fig. 3).

Pseudo-reduced temperature = (460+240)/435 = 1.61

Pseudo-reduced pressure = 3,000/647 = 4.64

For the above calculated pseudo-reduced parameters, z = 0.835 (fig. 4).

Reservoir hydrocarbon volume in acre-foot rock = 43,560 × 0.3 × (1-0.12) = 11,500 

cubic feet.

Using general gas equation, calculate number of moles,

N = PV/zRT = (3,000 × 11,500)/ (0.835 × 10.73 × 700) = 5,500 pound moles.

If all this hydrocarbon were to be produced as gas, gas volume would be = 5,500 × 379 = 

2.08 MMCF (million cubic feet) per acre-foot of reservoir rock.
8

If the reservoir is producing both gas and condensate, we need to find their relative mole 

fractions.

Basis for calculating moles: One barrel of condensate

The 50o API condensate has a molecular weight of 129 (fig. 2) and a specific gravity of 

0.78, using the following equation:

Condensate specific gravity = 141.5/ (131.5 + condensate gravity in API)

Condensate moles = (5.615 × 62.37 × 0.78)/129 = 273.16/129 = 2.1 per barrel

Gas-condensate ratio = (4,000+200)/400 = 10,500 cubic feet per barrel of condensate

Gas mole per barrel of condensate = 10,500/379 = 27.7

Gas mole fraction = 27.7/ (27.7+2.1) = 0.93

And so, gas-in-place = 0.93 × 5,500 × 379 = 1.9 MMCF per acre-foot of rock

Condensate mole fraction = 2.1/ (27.7+2.1) = 0.07

And so, condensate-in-place = 0.07 × 5,500/2.1 = 183 barrels per acre-foot of rock

Reservoir gas-in-place = 2.08 MMCF per acre of rock volume

Some of the parameters (for example the molecular weight) in the above procedure can 

be calculated from various available equations. One such equation is by Cragoe (1929):

Condensate molecular weight = 6084/ (API-5.9) (4)

There is another equation given in Terry’s (1991) revision of Craft and Hawkins (1991):

Condensate molecular weight = 5954/ (API-8.811) (5)

Therefore, for a 50o API gravity condensate, the molecular weight would be 129 from 

figure 2, 138 from equation 4, and 145 from equation 5.

Similarly, there is correlation between gravity and critical pressure and temperature,

through which several researchers have tried to fit the curves and have established equations, but 

the results vary from one correlation to another. 

The correlation between the pseudo-reduced pressure and temperature and 

compressibility factor (Z) is rather complex. The Standing and Katz (1942) chart, which is valid 

for sweet and dry natural gas, is widely used in the industry because it gives reliable results as 

long as the percentage of nonhydrocarbon or high-molecular-weight hydrocarbon is low. 

However, when the percentage of heptane plus (C7+

) increases, the error increases and dictates

the need to use other methods for better results. Of the six methods studied, Elsharkawy and 

others (2001) found the following three methods give better results: (1) Dranchuk-Abou-Kassem 

equation, (2) Dranchuk-Purvis-Robinson method, and (3) Hall-Yarbrough method. These 

methods use iterative solution to calculate the compressibility factor. As an example of these 

kinds of equations, appendix A presents Dranchuk-Abou-Kassem equations for calculating the 

values of the gas-compressibility factor (Z).

Based on the above brief discussion, it would be reasonable to use the Standing and Katz 

(1942) method for compressibility factor (Z) unless a specific reservoir has abnormal fluid 

composition, pressure, or temperature. It is also important to keep in mind that these equations 

would require good data from at least 5–6 reservoirs for validation prior to their use, and the 

limited or lack of data would be a major constraint.
9

Application and Use

The proposed procedure to calculate the volume of reservoir pore space available in gas 

and gas-condensate reservoirs will be useful for all the reservoirs, as long as the reservoir data 

(initial reservoir pressure, temperature, porosity and connate water saturation), reservoir fluid 

characteristics, production data, and separator pressure and temperature information are 

available. These gas-condensate reservoirs have storage potential for carbon dioxide 

sequestration.

Depleted oil and gas reservoirs are also resources having potential for carbon dioxide 

storage. 

References Cited

Craft, B.C., and Hawkins, M. (revised by R.N. Terry), 1991, Applied petroleum reservoir 

engineering (2nd ed.): Upper Saddle River, N.J., Prentice Hall, 431 p.

Cragoe, C.S., 1929, Thermodynamic properties of petroleum products: Bureau of Standards, 

U.S. Department of Commerce, Miscellaneous Publications No. 97, p. 22.

Dranchuk, P.M., and Abou-Kassem, J.H., 1975, Calculation of Z factors for natural gases using 

equations of state: Journal of Petroleum Technology, July–September, p. 34–36.

Elsharkawy, A.M., Hashem, Y.S.K.S, and Alikhan, A.A., 2001, Compressibility factor for gas 

condensates: Energy & Fuels, 15, p. 807–816.

Harris, B.W., Jamaluddin, A., Kamath, J., Mott, R., Pope, G.A., Shandrygin, A., and Whitson, 

C.H., 2005, Understanding gas-condensate reservoirs: Oilfield Review Winter 2005, p. 14–27, 

available at http://www.slb.com/resources/publications/oifield_review/en.aspx.

Mathews, T.A., Roland, C.H., and Katz, D.L., 1942, High pressure gas measurements: 

Proceedings NGAA, 41.

Rzasa, M.J., and Katz, D.L., 1945, Calculations of static pressure gradients in gas wells: 

Transaction AIME, 160, p. 100.

Standing, M.B., 1977, Volumetric and phase behavior of oil field hydrocarbon systems: Dallas, 

Tex., Society of Petroleum Engineers of American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical 

Engineers, 127 p.

Standing, M.B., and Katz, D.L., 1942, Density of natural gases: Transaction AIME, 146, p. 140.

Verma, M.K., and Bird, K.J., 2005, Role of reservoir engineering in the assessment of 

undiscovered oil and gas resources in the National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska: AAPG 

Bulletin, v. 89, no. 8 (August 2005), p. 1091–1111.
10

Appendix A

Engineering Approach

Dranchuk and Abu-Kassem (1975) fitted an equation of state to the data of Standing and 

Katz (1942) in order to estimate the gas deviation factor in computer routines. The form of their 

equation of state is as follows:

Z = 1+ c1(Tpr)ρr + c2(Tpr)ρr

2 – c3(Tpr)ρr5 + c4(ρr,Tpr) (1)

where

Tpr is pseudo-reduced temperature; ppr pseudo-reduced pressure and other terms are calculated 

using equations 2 through 6 given below.

ρr = 0.27 ppr/(z Tpr) (2)

c1(Tpr) = A1 + A2/ Tpr + A3/ T3

pr + A4/ T4pr + A5/ T5pr (3)

c2(Tpr) = A6 + A7/ Tpr + A8/T2

pr (4)

c3(Tpr) = A9 (A7/Tpr + A8/T2

pr) (5)

c4(Tpr) = A10 (1 + A11 ρr

2

)(ρr

2

/T3

pr) exp (–A11 ρr

2

) (6)

where A1–A11 are as follows:

A1 = 0.3265 A2 = –1.0700 A3 = –0.5339

A4 = 0.01569 A5 = –0.05165 A6 = 0.5475

A7 = –0.7361 A8 = 0.1844 A9 = 0.1056

A10 = 0.6134 A11 = 0.7210

Because the Z (compressibility factor) is on both sides of the equation, trial-and-error 

solution is necessary to solve the above equation of state. Any one of the iteration techniques can 

be used with the trial-and-error procedure. One that is frequently used is the secant method, 

which has the following iteration formula:

xn+1 = xn – fn [(xn – xn+1)/( fn – fn-1)] (7)

To apply the secant method to the foregoing procedure, equation 1 is rearranged to the 

form

F (Z) = Z – (1+ c1(Tpr) ρr + c2(Tpr) ρr

2 – c3(Tpr) ρr5 + c4(ρr,Tpr)) = 0 (8)

The left-hand side of equation 8 becomes the function f, and the Z (compressibility 

factor) becomes x. The iteration procedure is initiated by choosing two values of the Z and 

calculating the corresponding values of the function f. The secant method provides the new guess 

for Z, and the calculation is repeated until the function f is zero or within a specified tolerance 

(that is, ±10-4

).
11

Figure 1. Pressure-temperature phase diagram of a reservoir fluid highlighting the three types of 

reservoirs—oil (dissolved gas) reservoirs, retrograde condensate reservoirs, and gas reservoirs. The 

region between bubble point and dew point lines represents the reservoirs with two phases—oil and 

gas. Taken from Craft and Hawkins (1991).
12

Figure 2. Plot showing correlation between the condensate-gas ratio (BBL per MMSCF) and the ratio of 

well-reservoir-fluid gravity to separator-gas gravity for various combinations of condensate and gas 

gravities. An insert graph of condensate (oil) gravity (°API) versus molecular weight is also shown. 

Taken from Rzasa and Katz (1945). BBL, barrels; MMSCF, million standard cubic feet; GR, gravity; 

CFB, cubic feet per barrel.
13

Figure 3. Plots showing pseudo-critical constants of gases (California and Oklahoma) and condensate 

fluids as a function of gas gravity. Taken from Standing (1977).
14

Figure 4. Compressibility factors (Z) for natural gases. Taken from Standing and Katz (1942).