Abstract Estimating the water content of natural gases is necessary in many chemical and petroleum engineering processes, e.g., calculating the amount of water condensed in a pipeline for designing hydrate inhibition strategy. An empirical method based on correction of ideal model for estimating the water content of sweet natural gases in equilibrium with the liquid water or ice has been developed. This predictive method estimates the water content of sweet natural gases using the water/ice vapor pressure, the system pressure and temperature. In order to extend the capabilities of the new approach to sour gases, a correction factor is proposed for taking into account the effect of acid gases on the water content. The new approach has been developed using the predictions of a comprehensive thermodynamic model as pseudo experimental data. The data on water content of methane with different concentrations of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide were generated and fed to a multi-dimension regression program. The predictions of the developed empirical correlations are in good agreement with independent experimental data, demonstrating their reliability in estimating the water content of natural gases. Finally, a discussion is made on determining the location of water condensation along a pipeline using a simplified energy balance equation and the method developed in this work.