Function Naming Conventions in Petroleum Office

Every Petroleum Office function follows a consistent dot-separated naming pattern. Understanding this convention makes it easy to find and use the right function.

The Naming Pattern

PO.[Category].[Property].[Qualifier].By[Author]

Segment	Meaning	Example
PO	Product prefix — always present	`PO.`
Category	Engineering discipline	`PVT`, `DCA`, `VFP`
Property	What is being calculated	`Pb` (bubble point), `Bo` (oil FVF)
Qualifier	Condition or context (optional)	`Sat` (saturated), `Dead` (dead oil)
Author	Correlation author (optional)	`ByStanding`, `ByVasquezBeggs`

Not every function uses all segments. Some categories use a slightly different structure depending on what makes sense for that discipline.

Categories

Category	Full Name	Description
PVT	Pressure-Volume-Temperature	Oil, gas, and water property correlations
DCA	Decline Curve Analysis	Production forecasting with decline models
VFP	Vertical Flow Performance	Multiphase pipe flow pressure drop
IPR	Inflow Performance Relationship	Well deliverability calculations
SCAL	Special Core Analysis	Relative permeability and capillary pressure
MBE	Material Balance Equation	Reservoir volumetrics and drive indices
PTA	Pressure Transient Analysis	Well testing and dimensionless variables
EoS	Equation of State	Compositional PVT and flash calculations
ESP	Electric Submersible Pump	Pump sizing and performance
GL	Gas Lift	Gas lift valve and injection calculations
SF	Surface Facilities	Choke flow and pipeline calculations
FA	Flow Assurance	Hydrate, corrosion, and erosion
FRAC	Hydraulic Fracturing	Fracture geometry and proppant
FPP	Field Production Profile	Buildup-plateau-decline profiles
RP	Rod Pump	Sucker rod pumping calculations

Examples

PVT Functions

Pattern: PO.PVT.[Property].[Qualifier].By[Author]

Function	What It Calculates
`PO.PVT.Pb.ByStanding`	Bubble point pressure (Standing correlation)
`PO.PVT.Bo.Sat.ByVasquezBeggs`	Saturated oil FVF (Vasquez-Beggs)
`PO.PVT.Uo.Dead.ByBeal`	Dead oil viscosity (Beal correlation)
`PO.PVT.SG.Oil.FromAPI`	Oil specific gravity from API gravity
`PO.PVT.Z.ByDAK`	Gas compressibility factor (Dranchuk-Abou-Kassem)

DCA Functions

Pattern: PO.DCA.[Model].[Output]

Function	What It Calculates
`PO.DCA.Arps.Rate`	Rate at a given time (Arps decline)
`PO.DCA.Arps.Cum`	Cumulative production (Arps decline)
`PO.DCA.Arps.Fit`	Fit decline parameters to data [Qi, Di, b]
`PO.DCA.Duong.Rate`	Rate at a given time (Duong model)

IPR Functions

Pattern: PO.IPR.[WellType].[FlowRegime].[Output].By[Author]

Function	What It Calculates
`PO.IPR.VW.PSS.Rate.ByVogel`	Vertical well rate, pseudosteady state (Vogel)

SCAL Functions

Pattern: PO.SCAL.[Model].[RockType].[Wettability].[Phase]

Function	What It Calculates
`PO.SCAL.Honarpour.Sand.WW.Krow`	Oil relative permeability, sandstone, water-wet

EoS Functions

Pattern: PO.EoS.[Function].[Method]

Function	What It Calculates
`PO.EoS.Flash.PR`	PT flash calculation (Peng-Robinson)
`PO.EoS.Component.Props`	Component properties [Tc, Pc, omega, Mw]

Reading a Function Name

Let's break down PO.PVT.Bo.Sat.ByVasquezBeggs:

PO — this is a Petroleum Office function
PVT — it's a fluid property correlation
Bo — it calculates oil formation volume factor
Sat — for saturated conditions (above bubble point, use UnSat)
ByVasquezBeggs — using the Vasquez and Beggs correlation

Finding Functions

Function Browser — click Functions in the Library group on the ribbon to search by name or keyword
IntelliSense — start typing =PO. in a cell to see autocomplete suggestions
Ribbon menus — browse the function library groups (Production, Reservoir, etc.) for organized lists