The defining property that distinguishes black and volatile oils is the volatilized-oil content of their equilibrium

gases. The volatilized-oil content of a gas represents its condensable liquid portion. Condensable refers to the
portion that condenses or "drops out" during pressure reduction and ultimately results as stock-tank liquid.
Condensation may take place within the reservoir as the gas passes through the lease separators. Physically,
intermediate-hydrocarbon components, typically C2through C7, dominate this fraction. Volatilized oil also is called
lease condensate or distillate. Gas condensates and wet gases also contain volatilized oil. Volatilized oil is
reported conventionally as part of the crude-oil reserves and production. It should not be confused with and is
distinctly different from natural-gas liquids. Natural-gas liquids are derived from the gas-processing plant and are
called plant products.
The volatilized-oil content of gases is quantified in terms of their volatilized-oil/gas ratio, typically expressed in
units of STB/MMscf or stock-tank m3 per std m3 of separator gas. The volatilized-oil/gas ratio of equilibrium gases
of black oils is usually less than 1 to 10 STB/MMscf (approximately 0.04 to 0.4 gal/Mscf).The volatilized-oil
content of these gases is so low that it usually is ignored. In contrast, the volatilized-oil content of gases from
volatile oils is much greater. Their volatilized-oil/gas ratio typically ranges from 10 to 300 STB/MMscf or 0.4 to 8
gal/Mscf.
Several benchmark properties can be correlated with the reservoir fluids initial molecular weight. Fig. 9.1 plots
the initial formation volume factor (FVF) and initial dissolved gas/oil ratio (GOR) as a function of reservoir-fluid
molecular weight for 36 reservoir fluids. The abscissa in Fig. 9.1 spans from a molecular weight of 15 to 180.
This range of molecular weights covers the full spectrum of petroleum fluids ranging from dry gases to heavy
oils.