Patents Examined by Charles R. Nold
  • Patent number: 11584819
    Abstract: The invention relates to an inverse polymer emulsion having the particular feature of auto-inverting without any need for the use of an inverting agent and containing a polymer of at least one water-soluble monomer and at least one LCST macromonomer. The invention also relates to the use of the inverse emulsion in the fields of the oil and gas industry, water treatment, slurry treatment, paper manufacturing, construction, mining, cosmetics, textiles, detergents or agriculture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: SPCM SA
    Inventors: Cédrick Favero, Olivier Braun, Thierry Leblanc
  • Patent number: 11566165
    Abstract: A method and compounds for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) including flooding of a mixture of water and one or more of the compounds in a geological formation. The compounds have a fluoroalkyl group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: S. Sherry Zhu, Ayrat Gizzatov, Marta Antoniv
  • Patent number: 11548787
    Abstract: A chemical gel system having a polymer and a silicon oxide Janus nanosheets crosslinker for treating thief zones in carbonate formations. The polymer and silicon oxide Janus nanosheets crosslinker may form a crosslinked polymer gel to reduce or prevent water production via thief zones during hydrocarbon production. The silicon oxide Janus nanosheets crosslinker includes a first side having negatively charged functional groups and a second side having amines. The negatively charged functional groups may include negatively charged oxygen groups and hydroxyl groups. Methods of reducing water production in a thief zone using the silicon oxide Janus nanosheets crosslinker and methods of manufacturing the silicon oxide Janus nanosheets crosslinker are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Jin Huang, Feng Liang, Wengang Li
  • Patent number: 11549047
    Abstract: Modified Drilling fluid compositions and methods for using drilling fluid compositions are provided with enhanced loss control properties where the modified drilling fluid may include a carrier fluid, one or more drilling fluid additives, and a loss control material blend. The loss control material blend may include a particle component of sized particulate comprising a plurality of a mixture of untreated date seed particles and a fibrous component comprising a mixture of hard date leaflet fibers and soft date tree fibers prepared from date tree waste materials. Methods to control lost circulation in a lost circulation zone in a wellbore may include introducing a modified drilling fluid into the wellbore such that the modified drilling fluid contacts the lost circulation zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY
    Inventors: Md Amanullah, Turki Al-Subaie
  • Patent number: 11525347
    Abstract: An apparatus may include an inlet and an enclosure includes a container that is coupled to the inlet. The container may receive water from the inlet. The apparatus may further include various check valves coupled to the container. The apparatus may further include a laser head coupled to the container. The laser head may receive a laser signal that converts the water inside the container into steam. The check valves may release the steam outside the enclosure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY
    Inventor: Abdullah M. Alharith
  • Patent number: 11505736
    Abstract: A system may include: a source of water fluidically coupled to a fracturing blender; water testing equipment disposed between the source of water and the fracturing blender wherein the water testing equipment is operable to measure at least one property of the source of water; a plurality of friction reducing polymers operable to be added to the fracturing blender; and a control system comprising: at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the processor to provide software that configures the processor to receive an input signal from the water testing equipment and select at least one of the plurality of friction reducing polymers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Ian Wood Straffin, Howard Thomas Riley, Teddy Joel Dubois, James William Ogle
  • Patent number: 11499092
    Abstract: Polyacrylamide (PAM)-coated nanosand that may be a relative permeability modifier (RPM) and that is applied to treat a wellbore in a subterranean formation. The treatment may be for excess water production. The PAM-coated nanosand is PAM-hydrogel-coated nanosand. The PAM-coated nanosand os nanosand coated with PAM hydrogel. The PAM hydrogel includes crosslinked PAM in water. Application of the PAM-coated nanosand may reduce water production from the subterranean formation into the wellbore. The PAM hydrogel of the PAM-coated nanosand may expand in a water zone of the subterranean formation to restrict water flow into the wellbore. The PAM hydrogel of the PAM-coated nanosand may contract in an oil zone of the subterranean formation so not to significantly restrict crude oil flow into the wellbore.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Ayman Almohsin, Edreese Alsharaeh, Mohan Raj Krishnan, Mohieddin Alghazali
  • Patent number: 11499085
    Abstract: A method of controlling lost circulation includes introducing into a wellbore a lost circulation fluid comprising: an external oil phase, an internal aqueous phase, an emulsifier, a wetting agent, a magnesia sealant, and a; retarder; contacting the lost circulation fluid with a lost circulation zone; and forming a plug adjacent the lost circulation zone by reacting the magnesia sealant with water at a wellbore temperature, thereby reducing fluid loss into the lost circulation zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: BAKER HUGHES OILFIELD OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Shiv Shankar Sangaru, Pranjal Sarmah
  • Patent number: 11499089
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to biocide compositions, formulations and methods for using formulations. In particular the present disclosure relates to biocide compositions and their use in effecting biocidal activity in subterranean oil and gas wells being drilled, completed, worked over or produced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignees: JUSTEQ, LLC, ACCULAB, CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Sang Hea Shim, Chung Soo Kim
  • Patent number: 11492866
    Abstract: A downhole tool for controlling the flow of a fluid in a wellbore includes a component that comprises: a cementitious material; an aggregate; and a ductility modifying agent comprising one or more of the following: an ionomer; a functionalized filler; the functionalized filler comprising one or more of the following: functionalized carbon; functionalized clay; functionalized silica; functionalized alumina; functionalized zirconia; functionalized titanium dioxide; functionalized silsesquioxane; functionalized halloysite; or functionalized boron nitride; a metallic fiber; or a polymeric fiber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: BAKER HUGHES HOLDINGS LLC
    Inventors: Rostyslav Dolog, Oleg A. Mazyar, Juan Carlos Flores Perez, Valery N. Khabashesku
  • Patent number: 11492882
    Abstract: A conformance improvement method involves injecting, via an injection well, a first water slug into a subsurface reservoir. A second water slug is injected, via the injection well, into the subsurface reservoir. The first and second water slugs have different viscosities, at least one of the first and second water slugs includes a surfactant, and the first and second water slugs combine with oil in the subsurface reservoir to form a microemulsion in a layer of the subsurface reservoir. A fluid is injected, via the injection well, into the subsurface reservoir. Oil is collected, via a production well, from the subsurface reservoir. The injected fluid causes the oil to move into the production well.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignees: KING ABDULLAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY
    Inventors: Victor Antonio Torrealba, Hussein Hoteit, Ahmad Alabdulghani
  • Patent number: 11492530
    Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure provide an unfoldable device for controlling lost circulation in a target lost circulation zone in a borehole. The unfoldable device includes a sheet, a backbone, and a shell. The sheet has an unfolded state and a folded state. The backbone reinforces the sheet. The backbone includes a shape-memory material having an original state and a deformed state. The shell encapsulates the sheet in the folded state and the backbone in the deformed state. In some embodiments, the shell includes a degradable polymer that degrades in the borehole upon contact with a drilling fluid such that the sheet transitions to the unfolded state and the backbone transitions to the original state. The sheet in the unfolded state accumulates on a borehole wall at least partially covering an entrance to a macrochannel of the target lost circulation zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Simone Musso, Ashok Santra, Sivaprakash Shanmugam
  • Patent number: 11492540
    Abstract: Solvent mixtures for downhole elemental sulfur removal and formation stimulation, and methods for utilizing such solvent mixtures, are described herein. One method includes providing a solvent mixture that includes an elemental sulfur solvent fraction and an odorant fraction that includes a lactate ester solvent. The method also includes injecting the solvent mixture into a hydrocarbon well such that the elemental sulfur solvent fraction of the solvent mixture dissolves elemental sulfur deposited on well components, and contacting the solvent mixture with water such that the lactate ester solvent within the odorant fraction reacts with the water to generate lactic acid. The method further includes stimulating a formation through which the hydrocarbon well extends by flowing the solvent mixture including the lactic acid through the hydrocarbon well and into the formation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company
    Inventors: Kevin A. Harnsberry, Paul Scott Northrop
  • Patent number: 11486241
    Abstract: The flow of well treatment fluids may be diverted from a high permeability zone to a low permeability zone within a fracture network within a subterranean formation by use of a mixture comprising a dissolvable diverter and a proppant. At least a portion of the high permeability zone is propped open with the proppant of the mixture and at least a portion of the high permeability zone is blocked with the diverter. A fluid is then pumped into the subterranean formation and into a lower permeability zone of the formation farther from the wellbore. The diverter in the high permeability zones may then be dissolved at in-situ reservoir conditions and hydrocarbons produced from the high permeability propped zones of the fracture network. The mixture has particular applicability in the enhancement of production or hydrocarbons from high permeability zones in a fracture network located near the wellbore.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: Baker Hughes Holdings LLC
    Inventors: Scott G. Nelson, Harold Dean Brannon, Jimie Devon Lemons, Thomas Ray Starks, II, D. V. Satyanarayana Gupta
  • Patent number: 11479707
    Abstract: A method of drilling a subterranean geological formation is described. The method includes driving a drill bit to form a wellbore into the subterranean geological formation thereby producing a formation fluid including hydrogen sulfide (H2S). The method includes injecting a drilling fluid into the subterranean geological formation through the wellbore. The drilling fluid composition includes 0.25 to 2 wt.% of a primary H2S scavenger which is potassium permanganate. The drilling fluid composition includes an invert emulsion includes a continuous phase including palm oil and a dispersive phase including water. The potassium permanganate present in the drilling fluid composition reacts with the H2S present in the formation fluid to produce a dispersion of manganese-containing particles which are at least one selected from the group consisting of manganese sulfide and manganese sulfate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: KING FAHD UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM AND MINERALS
    Inventor: Sagheer A. Onaizi
  • Patent number: 11473005
    Abstract: The present invention discloses an in-situ emulsification and viscosity increase system with a high phase change point. The system consists of the following components in percentage by weight: 0.2˜0.5% of water-soluble surfactant, 0.2˜1.5% of oil-soluble surfactant, 0.02˜0.5% of lipophilic colloidal particles, 0.02˜0.2% of carrying agent and the balance of mineralized water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: SOUTHWEST PETROLEUM UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Wanfen Pu, Rui Liu, Shishi Pang, Lin Sun, Daijun Du
  • Patent number: 11473010
    Abstract: Producing proppants with nanoparticle proppant coating include coating the proppant particles with a strengthening agent, functionalized nanoparticles, and unfunctionalized organic resin to produce proppant with nanoparticle proppant coating. Additionally, a proppant comprising a proppant particle and a nanoparticle proppant coating is provided. The nanoparticle proppant coating includes a strengthening agent, functionalized nanoparticles, and unfunctionalized organic resin. The nanoparticle proppant coating coats the proppant particle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Rajesh Kumar Saini, Mohammad Hamidul Haque, Mohammed Sayed
  • Patent number: 11466193
    Abstract: A method is provided including: introducing a first diverter material comprising polyvinyl alcohol and a plasticizer into or adjacent to a permeable zone of a subterranean formation; introducing a second diverter material into or adjacent to the permeable zone of the subterranean formation, wherein at least a portion of the first diverter material comprises particles larger than particles of the second diverter material; and allowing the first diverter material and the second diverter material to at least partially divert at least a portion of a treatment fluid to a different portion of the subterranean formation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Aaron Michael Beuterbaugh, Larry Steven Eoff, Travis Hope Larsen
  • Patent number: 11458419
    Abstract: Some examples of an emulsion system for treating deep water blockage can be prepared by emulsifying a first aqueous phase in a first organic phase to prepare a first emulsion. A second aqueous phase can be emulsified in a second organic phase to prepare a second emulsion. The first emulsion and the second emulsion can be flowed into a subterranean formation. The first aqueous phase and the second aqueous phase, when mixed, can react to release nitrogen and heat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Tariq Abdulsattar Almubarak, Ali A. Al-Taq, Mohammed Khaldi
  • Patent number: 11447698
    Abstract: Interpolymers useful for mixing with a fertilizer for the purpose of enhancing the efficacy of fertilizer nutrients in agricultural applications; and methods of inhibiting the precipitation of, and/or dispersing, inorganic elements in the fertilizer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Inventors: Bryan D. Evans, Adam Evans