ABSTRACT
Chapter 12 covered the phase behavior of petroleum reservoir fluids by stating that the determination of fluid type is one of the most important aspects of field development planning or reservoir management. The fluid type in a hydrocarbon accumulation is classified primarily on the basis of laboratory analysis of phase behavior of a given fluid. In addition to the determination of fluid type, studies of pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) behavior of a given fluid also provide vital data for many reservoir engineering and production applications. However, this particular laboratory analysis is entirely dependent on the physical sample of petroleum reservoir fluid(s) from a given hydrocarbon accumulation. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain the physical sample of a reservoir fluid on which laboratory studies can be conducted, its fluid type confirmed, and PVT data obtained for overall reservoir management.
