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There are numerous flow assurance and processing challenges associated with the production of heavy oil.  These challenges are generally addressed in the early stage of the development and include; sizing of separators, internal design of the vessels, the process vessel configuration and the optimum means of handling solids and water. A critical aspect of the design is the accuracy and the reliability of the fluid characterization data. Numerous operators can attest to the difficulties in processing heavy oil and many make attempts to minimize the impact of these issues in the design stage. However, there are critical factors associated with produced fluid characterization data that are regularly either overlooked or misinterpreted. It is the importance of this data reliability and accurate interpretation that is the subject of this presentation.