Patents Examined by Anuradha Ahuja
  • Patent number: 10975283
    Abstract: A method and drilling fluid additive for reducing severe fluid losses in a well, comprising a combination of granular scrap tire particles and polymer adhesive molded into a cone shape. Once in the severe loss zone, a plurality of LCMs wedge into the formation fractures and seal off the severe loss zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2021
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Md Amanullah, Raed A. Alouhali, Mohammed K. Arfaj
  • Patent number: 10954427
    Abstract: A method for plugging and sealing subsurface formations using alkaline nanosilica dispersion and a delayed activation chemistry is disclosed. In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, the method includes introducing a mixture with a first pH into the subsurface formation. The mixture comprises an aqueous solution, an alkaline nanosilica dispersion and a water-soluble hydrolyzable compound. The method further includes allowing the water-soluble hydrolyzable compound to hydrolyze in the subsurface formation to form an acid at 70° C. or greater, thereby acidizing the mixture to a reduced second pH and causing the alkaline nanosilica dispersion to gel into a solid and seal the subsurface formation. A composition for sealing a subsurface formation is also disclosed. The composition includes an aqueous mixture including water, an alkaline nanosilica dispersion, and a water-soluble hydrolyzable compound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Rajendra Arunkumar Kalgaonkar, Vikrant Wagle
  • Patent number: 10941326
    Abstract: A method and drilling fluid additive for reducing severe fluid losses in a well, comprising a combination of granular scrap tire particles and polymer adhesive molded into a capsule shape. Once in the severe loss zone, a plurality of LCMs wedge into the formation fractures and seal off the severe loss zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2021
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Raed A. Alouhali, Md Amanullah, Mohammed K. Arfaj, Turki Alsubaie
  • Patent number: 10941334
    Abstract: A foam solution for profile control and plugging in heavy oil thermal recovery process, a preparation method thereof, and a method for profile control and plugging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2021
    Assignee: CHINA UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM (EAST CHINA)
    Inventors: Chao Zhang, Zhaomin Li, Xingchang Xue, Zhaohui Shang, Haifeng He, Linghui Xi, Mingxuan Wu
  • Patent number: 10941327
    Abstract: A method and drilling fluid additive for reducing severe fluid losses in a well, comprising a combination of granular scrap tire particles and polymer adhesive molded into a spherical shape. Once in the severe loss zone, a plurality of LCMs wedge into the formation fractures and seal off the severe loss zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2021
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Mohammed K. Arfaj, Md Amanullah, Raed A. Alouhali, Turki Alsubaie
  • Patent number: 10927639
    Abstract: A method can include conveying a dispensing tool through a wellbore, the dispensing tool including an enclosure containing plugging devices, and then opening the enclosure by cutting a material of the enclosure, thereby releasing the plugging devices from the enclosure into the wellbore at a downhole location. A dispensing tool can include a container having an enclosure therein, the enclosure including a flexible material that contains the plugging devices, and an end of the enclosure being secured to a member displaceable by an actuator. The enclosure material is cut in response to displacement of the member by the actuator. A plugging device can include at least one body configured to engage an opening in the well and block fluid flow through the opening, and multiple fibers including staple fibers or filaments formed into yarn.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2021
    Assignee: Thru Tubing Solutions, Inc.
    Inventors: Brock W. Watson, Gary P. Funkhouser
  • Patent number: 10883055
    Abstract: A method for selective extraction of naphthenic acids from an acidic crude oil, including: providing an acidic crude oil including naphthenic acids and having a total acid number (TAN) greater than 0.4; mixing the acidic crude oil with a first aqueous solution including water and a weak base to extract a portion of naphthenic acids from the acidic crude oil thereby creating a second aqueous solution containing a mixture of the portion of naphthenic acids, the water and the weak base in an emulsion; separating the second aqueous solution from the emulsion; wherein the second aqueous solution contains an additional portion of the acidic crude oil; adding a salt to the second aqueous solution, thereby causing the additional portion of the acidic crude oil to separate from the second aqueous solution; removing the additional portion of the acidic crude oil from the second aqueous solution; and extracting the portion of the naphthenic acids from the second aqueous solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2021
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
    Inventors: Aruna Mohan, Mohsen S. Yeganeh, Daniel P. Cherney, Anthony S. Mennito, Shane P. Deighton, Jessica L. Vreeland
  • Patent number: 10876375
    Abstract: Provided herein is a method of establishing a plug in a hydrocarbon reservoir, the method comprising introducing into the reservoir a formulation comprising solid particles and a viscosifier and then reducing the viscosity of said viscosifier, thereby causing said solid particles to form a plug within said hydrocarbon reservoir. Also provided is a method of establishing a plug in a hydrocarbon reservoir, the method comprising introducing into the reservoir a formulation comprising: (a) microorganisms or cell-free enzymes; (b) solid particles; and (c) a viscosifier which is a substrate for the microorganisms or cell-free enzymes of (a). Also provided is a formulation comprising: (a) microorganisms or cell-free enzymes; (b) solid particles made from wood or a wood derived product; and (c) a viscosifier which is a substrate for the microorganisms or cell-free enzymes of (a).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2020
    Assignee: GOE-IP AS
    Inventor: Asle Ravnås
  • Patent number: 10876037
    Abstract: A polymerizable chemical system for consolidating particulates in a subterranean formation including a liquid resin, a curing agent, and a permeability enhancing additive. The chemical system is a homogenous composition that polymerizes to forms a solid upon heating at a temperature greater than 60° C. Consolidating particulates in a subterranean formation includes providing a polymerizable chemical system comprising a liquid resin, a curing agent, and a permeability enhancing additive to a subterranean formation, and polymerizing the polymerizable chemical system to consolidate particulates in the formation to yield a porous consolidated particulates pack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2020
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Fakuen Frank Chang, Xiaoyu Tan
  • Patent number: 10865637
    Abstract: A method, a system, tools for use by the system, and an interpretation method for injecting and detecting tracers and conducting flow characterizing of a petroleum well are provided. The method describes monitoring of travel time and slip velocity between two/three different phases (oil/water and possibly gas) in the well. The travel time and slip velocity are determined using an injection tool for injection of an over pressurized injection, thus simultaneous injection to all phases, of the partitioning tracers each of which would follow certain phase. The tracers are detected by a tracer detector downstream the injector. The slip velocity is obtained from the difference of travel time of two tracers which partition to two different phases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2020
    Assignee: RESMAN AS
    Inventors: Anton Kulyakhtin, Christian Andresen, Thomas Sperle
  • Patent number: 10821398
    Abstract: A method and system for dehydration of a gas phase and hydrate inhibition of a liquid hydrocarbon phase in a multiphase hydrocarbon fluid stream containing water. The method may include (i) separating the hydrocarbon fluid stream into a liquid phase and a first gas phase, (ii) adding hydrate inhibitor to the first gas phase, and (iii) separating off condensed liquids and a second gas phase. The first gas phase has a water dew point that is lower than the initial multiphase hydrocarbon fluid stream and the second gas phase has a lower water dew point than the first gas phase. The hydrate inhibitor has a water content that is low enough to enable it to dry the first gas phase, the hydrate inhibitor being separated off with the condensed liquids and mixed with a part or all of the liquid phase from the separation to inhibit the liquid phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2020
    Assignee: EQUINOR ENERGY AS
    Inventors: Knut Arild Maråk, Arne Olav Fredheim, Bernt Henning Rusten, Lars Henrik Gjertsen, Baard Kaasa
  • Patent number: 10808497
    Abstract: Methods of treating a subterranean formation penetrated by a well bore, by providing a treatment fluid comprising a blend including a first amount of particulates having a first average particle size between about 3 mm and 2 cm and a second amount of particulates having a second average size between about 1.6 and 20 times smaller than the first average particle size or a second amount of flakes having a second average size up to 10 times smaller than the first average particle size; by introducing the treatment fluid into the well bore; and by creating a plug with the treatment fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2020
    Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Dmitriy Ivanovich Potapenko, Alexey Alexandrovich Sova, Svetlana Viktorovna Nesterova, Olga Petrovna Alekseenko, Bruno Lecerf, Marina Nikolaevna Bulova, John Daniels, Jose Alberto Ortega Andrade, Bernhard Lungwitz, Jiangshui Huang
  • Patent number: 10800965
    Abstract: Compositions including modified release material for treatment of subterranean formations are provided. Also provided is a method of treating a subterranean formation including placing in the subterranean formation a composition including a modified release material. The modified release material can include an additive and a solid substituted or unsubstituted fatty acid having a melting point of about 30° C. to about 250° C., wherein the additive is partially or wholly enveloped by the fatty acid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Evelyn F. Hampton, Dipti Singh
  • Patent number: 10793762
    Abstract: A drilling fluid and a method of preparing the drilling fluid. The oil-based drilling fluid includes a base oil continuous phase comprising a base oil, an aqueous dispersed phase and at least one rheology modifier. The at least one rheology modifier includes a magnesium/aluminum (Mg/Al) layered-double hydroxide (LDH) diamondoid compound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignees: Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Durham University, M-I Drilling Fluids UK Ltd
    Inventors: Musarrat Halima Mohammed, Andrew Whiting, Hugh Christopher Greenwell, Manohara Gudiyor Veerabhadrappa, John Adrian Hall, Gasan Selman Alabedi, Michael Hayward Hodder
  • Patent number: 10787872
    Abstract: A method of servicing a wellbore extending from a surface of the earth and penetrating a subterranean formation, including: removing water from an aqueous based wellbore servicing fluid by contacting the aqueous based wellbore servicing fluid with a porous substrate coated with a hydrophilic and oleophobic coating, whereby water is removed from the aqueous based wellbore servicing fluid via passage through the porous substrate, and whereby a water concentration and a volume of the aqueous based wellbore servicing fluid are reduced and a density of the aqueous based wellbore servicing fluid is increased to provide a modified aqueous based wellbore servicing fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Dale E. Jamison, William Walter Shumway
  • Patent number: 10760397
    Abstract: Proppant-free channels may be formed in a proppant pack in subterranean formations by using the miscibility and immiscibility of proppant-laden and proppant-free fluids. For example, a method of forming a proppant pack may include: introducing, in alternating order, a proppant-laden fluid and a proppant-free fluid into a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation, wherein the proppant-laden fluid comprises an oil-external emulsion and a proppant, and wherein the proppant-free fluid is immiscible with the proppant-laden fluid; and forming a proppant pack in a fracture in the subterranean formation, wherein the proppant pack comprises proppant-laden clusters and proppant-free channels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC.
    Inventors: Loan Vo, Prashant D. Chopade, Philip D. Nguyen, Christopher Parton
  • Patent number: 10753189
    Abstract: A mixture of at least two shapes of a dissolvable diverter material. The shapes range from a flake having a high surface area to mass ratio to beads having a low surface area to mass ratio. The density of the various shapes may be manipulated by including voids or low-density materials within the shape. The density manipulation allows matching the transport properties of the at least two shapes to the transport fluid so that both shapes may arrive at the desired location at the desired time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: DPIP, LLC
    Inventors: John A. Moisson, Jr., Nicholas Koster
  • Patent number: 10745611
    Abstract: A method of fracturing a subterranean formation is provided. A fracturing fluid is pumped into the formation to fracture the formation. A plurality of nanoparticles is mixed with the fracturing fluid and placed in the fracture. A plurality of conventional proppant particulates is also mixed with the fracturing fluid and placed in the fracture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Philip D. Nguyen, James William Ogle, Ronald Glen Dusterhoft, Tatyana V. Khamatnurova
  • Patent number: 10738549
    Abstract: A method of managing water content of a pulsed power drilling fluid, the method comprising contacting the pulsed power drilling fluid with a water absorbent material, wherein the pulsed power drilling fluid comprises water at a first water concentration, and whereby the water absorbent material absorbs at least a portion of the water from the pulsed power drilling fluid to provide a treated pulsed power drilling fluid and a spent water absorbent material comprising absorbed water, wherein the treated pulsed power drilling fluid comprises water at a second water concentration, wherein the second water concentration is lower than the first water concentration. A pulse power drilling fluid and a system for carrying out the method are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2020
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Dale E. Jamison, William Walter Shumway, Rocio Macarena Moyano Dip
  • Patent number: 10724327
    Abstract: A lost circulation material (LCM) that includes spheres having radially distributed hooks and latches to facilitate engagement (such as interlocking) of the spheres is provided. Each sphere has a plurality of hooks and a plurality of latches to engage latches and hooks respectively of adjacent spheres. Each hook may include two hook arms, and each latch may define an aperture to receive a hook arm. The spheres may form plugs in channels, fractures, and other openings in a lost circulation zone. Additionally or alternatively, the spheres may form a bridge on which other LCMs may accumulate to seal openings in a lost circulation zone. Methods of preventing lost circulation using the spheres are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Raed A. Alouhali, Eric Moellendick, Md Amanullah, Mohammed Arfaj, Mohammed Al Rashead