Retort analysis is the method to extract mud components into oil, water and solid. The retort analysis report shows percentage of each component by volume. We use data from the retort analysis to determine oil water ratio.
The formulas below demonstrate how to calculate oil water ratio from retort data.
a) % oil in liquid phase = (% by volume oil x 100) ÷ (% by volume oil + % by volume water)
b) % water in liquid phase = (% by volume water x 100) ÷ (% by volume oil + % by volume water)
c) Result: The oil/water ratio equals to the percent oil in liquid phase and the percent water in liquid phase.
Example: Determine oil water ratio from following information
Data from a retort analysis:
% by volume oil = 56
% by volume water = 14
% by volume solids = 30
Solution:
a) % oil in liquid phase = (56 x 100) ÷ (56+14)
% oil in liquid phase = 80
b) % water in liquid phase = (14 x 100) ÷ (56+14)
% water in liquid phase = 20
c) According to this retort report, the oil/water ratio equals to 80/20.
Please find the excel sheet used for calculating oil water ratio from retort data.
Ref book:
Formulas and Calculations for Drilling, Production and Workover, Second Edition


August 16th, 2009 at 6:20 am
[...] to this retort analysis (learn how to calculate oil water ratio), the oil water ratio is 80/20 and there are 56 bbl of oil, 14 bbl of water and 30 bbl of solid [...]
August 20th, 2009 at 7:36 am
[...] to this retort analysis, the oil water ratio is 80/20 (learn how to calculate oil water ratio from a retort analysis) and there are 56 bbl of oil, 14 bbl of water and 30 bbl of solid from 100 bbl of [...]