Getting Started with Petroleum Office
Petroleum Office is an Excel add-in for petroleum engineers. It adds 300+ engineering functions, reusable worksheet templates (blueprints), and productivity tools directly into Excel.
Installation
- Download the installer (
.msifile) from petroleumoffice.com - Run the installer and follow the prompts
- Open Excel — the Petroleum Office tab appears in the ribbon
The Ribbon
After installation, a new Petroleum Office tab appears in the Excel ribbon. It contains these groups from left to right:
Function Library (6 groups)
These groups contain dropdown menus for browsing and inserting engineering functions:
| Group | Menus | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Production | DCA, FPP, FRAC | Decline curves, field profiles, fracturing |
| Reservoir | IPR, MBE, PTA | Inflow performance, material balance, well testing |
| Well Flow | VFP, SF, FA | Pipe flow, surface facilities, flow assurance |
| Artificial Lift | ESP, GL, RP | Electric submersible pumps, gas lift, rod pumps |
| Fluids & Rock | PVT, SCAL, EoS | Fluid properties, core analysis, equation of state |
| Utilities | Spline, Misc | Interpolation, unit conversion, math |
Each dropdown menu lists functions by category. Click a function name to insert it into the active cell.
Library
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
| Functions | Opens the Function Browser to search and browse all available functions |
| Blueprints | Opens the Blueprint Manager to browse and insert reusable worksheet templates |
| Toolbox | Tools for importing Eclipse results and generating files from templates |
Unit Conversion
An inline converter with category, unit-from, and unit-to dropdowns. Select a category (e.g., Pressure), pick source and target units, and convert values without writing formulas.
Settings
Sign in with your account, check for updates, and configure add-in settings.
Your First Function
Let's try a simple PVT calculation. All Petroleum Office functions start with PO. followed by the category and property name.
Example: Convert API gravity to oil specific gravity
In any cell, type:
=PO.PVT.SG.Oil.FromAPI(35)
This converts an API gravity of 35 to oil specific gravity. Press Enter and see the result.
Example: Calculate bubble point pressure
=PO.PVT.Pb.ByStanding(0.65, 35, 500, 200)
Parameters: gas specific gravity (0.65), API gravity (35), solution GOR in scf/STB (500), and temperature in degF (200). Returns bubble point pressure in psi using Standing's correlation.
Using IntelliSense
As you type a function name, Excel shows IntelliSense tooltips with parameter descriptions. This works automatically — just start typing =PO. and browse the available functions.
Next Steps
- Function Naming Conventions — learn how to read function names like
PO.PVT.Pb.ByStanding - Using Blueprints — browse and insert reusable worksheet templates
- Using Array Functions — work with functions that return multiple values
- Unit Conversion — convert between 1,500+ engineering units