Method to prepare virtual assay using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

A system for producing a virtual assay of an oil sample, wherein the oil sample is characterized by a density, selected from the group consisting of crude oil, bitumen and shale oil, and characterized by naphtha, gas oil, vacuum gas oil and vacuum residue fractions, the system comprising:

• a Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer that outputs Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy data;
• a non-volatile memory device that stores calculation modules and data, the data including the FTIR spectroscopy data, wherein the FTIR spectroscopy data is indicative of transmittance over a range of wavenumbers for the oil sample without distillation;
• a processor coupled to the non-volatile memory device;
• a first calculation module that is stored in the non-volatile memory device and that is executed by the processor, wherein the first calculation module calculates an analytical value (AV) as a function of the FTIR spectroscopy data;
• and
• a second calculation module that is stored in the non-volatile memory device and that is executed by the processor, wherein the second calculation module calculates, as a function of the AV and the density of the oil sample, virtual assay data of the oil sample and the naphtha, gas oil, vacuum gas oil and vacuum residue fractions, said virtual assay data comprising a plurality of assigned data values.