Paper: Development of a Microcomputer Program to Curve-Fit Petroleum Data

This paper reviews basic techniques required to determine an equation suitable to describe a given set of data points. In general, the data is matched against ten of the more corrrnonc urves encountered by the petroleum engineer. The conversion of each of the ten curves into a psuedo-linear equation is discussed. Coefficients for each equation are determined by the least squares method and the method of averages. A microcomputer program that incorporates these concepts is presented. The program is written in BASIC for the Apple II microcomputer.