Patents Examined by Zakiya W. Bates
  • Matrix stimulation tool
    Patent number: 11131175
    Abstract: A matrix stimulation tool includes a cylindrical tube; at least one piston disposed within the cylindrical tube and longitudinally moveable within the cylindrical tube; and at least one hollow tube coupled to the piston, the hollow tube including a distal end disposed within a hole disposed within a wall of the cylindrical tube. Movement of the piston within the cylindrical tube causes movement of the distal end of the at least one hollow tube through the hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Qasim Sahu, Fakuen Frank Chang, Eyad Alali, Brian A. Roth
  • Hydraulic fracturing systems and methods
    Patent number: 11131174
    Abstract: A method for stimulating a well extending through a subterranean formation includes (a) introducing a first fracturing fluid into the subterranean formation, and (b) introducing a second fracturing fluid into the subterranean formation that is different in composition from the first fracturing fluid, wherein the second fracturing fluid comprises a temporary diverting agent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: BP CORPORATION NORTH AMERICA INC.
    Inventors: Ryan Montgomery, Chris Hines, Aaron Reyna
  • Thermally responsive viscosifiers in subterranean operations
    Patent number: 11130897
    Abstract: Methods for the use of treatment fluids that include thermally responsive viscosifiers in subterranean formations are provided. In one embodiment, the methods include introducing a treatment fluid including an aqueous base fluid and a thermally responsive hydrogel including at least one thermoresponsive polymer into at least a portion of a subterranean formation; allowing the thermally responsive hydrogel to reach a thickening transition temperature, wherein the thermally responsive hydrogel undergoes a liquid-to-solid phase change at or above the thickening transition temperature; and allowing the treatment fluid to at least partially solidify in the subterranean formation, wherein the solid thermally responsive hydrogel is present in the treatment fluid in an amount from about 0.01 to about 0.2 by volume fraction of solids of the treatment fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Dale E. Jamison, Preston Andrew May, William Walter Shumway
  • High strength high temperature float equipment
    Patent number: 11125051
    Abstract: A downhole tool comprising a cylindrical housing, a sleeve disposed in the cylindrical housing, forming an annular space between the sleeve and the cylindrical housing, and a tool cement composition disposed in the annular space, wherein prior to setting the tool cement composition comprises a cement, sand, a silicon-containing material, a dispersant, and water, and wherein upon setting the tool cement composition provides an annular seal having a fluid leakage of less than 750 ml over 15 minutes at a pressure of 7500 psi and a temperature of 400° F.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Handoko Tirto Santoso, Paul Joseph Jones, Simon Turton
  • Accelerated interval communication using openholes
    Patent number: 11125063
    Abstract: Described herein are methods for accelerating the start-up in SAGD type processes wherein the volume between the injector and the producer is preheated utilizing open-holes drilled between wells. The recovery of hydrocarbons is also improved due to a viscous fluid drive in the open-holes during SAGD operations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: CONOCOPHILLIPS COMPANY
    Inventors: Sergei A. Filatyev, Pradeep A. Govind, Thomas J. Wheeler
  • Method of wellbore operations
    Patent number: 11125058
    Abstract: A method of estimating a real time production flowrate from a well by estimating a real time flowrate of a marker fluid in the well, and comparing the estimated flowrate with a baseline marker fluid flowrate; where the baseline marker fluid flowrate correlates to baseline production fluid flowrate. The baseline marker fluid flowrate is obtained by introducing an amount of a marker fluid in the well, monitoring the time over which the marker fluid travels a set distance, and estimating a flowrate of the marker fluid based on the monitored time and amount of marker fluid. The real time production flowrate is obtained by extrapolating the baseline production fluid flowrate by an amount derived from a comparison of the baseline and real time marker fluid flow rates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: SILVERWELL TECHNOLOGY LTD
    Inventor: Peter John Watson
  • Stage cementing system
    Patent number: 11125048
    Abstract: A stage cementing system includes a stage cementing assembly having a stage tool. The stage tool has an outer mandrel, an inner mandrel coupled to and disposed inside of the outer mandrel, an annular chamber between the outer mandrel and the inner mandrel, a first outer port through the outer mandrel, and longitudinally spaced first and second inner ports through the inner mandrel. The stage cementing system further includes an inner string assembly configured to be located inside the inner mandrel. The inner string assembly has a tubular body having a central throughbore and longitudinally spaced first and second side ports, a lower external seal element below the first and second side ports, a middle external seal element between the first and second side ports, and an upper external seal element above the first and second side ports.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: Weatherford Technology Holdings, LLC
    Inventors: Richard Lee Giroux, Jeffery Morrison, Jobby T. Jacob
  • Method and materials to convert a drilling mud into a solid gel based lost circulation material
    Patent number: 11124691
    Abstract: A method for controlling loss circulation and a convertible drilling mud operable to convert into a solid gel lost circulation material. The method includes introducing into a wellbore a nanosilica drilling fluid comprising water, an alkaline nanosilica dispersion, and at least one additive. The method further includes introducing into the nanosilica drilling fluid an amount of a chemical activator comprising a water soluble hydrolysable polyester to produce a convertible drilling mud where the convertible drilling mud has an initial pH between 8 and 11 upon formation. The method also includes allowing the chemical activator to hydrolyze to produce an acid and reduce the pH of the convertible drilling mud to less than a gel pH, thereby converting the convertible drilling mud into a solid gel lost circulation material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Vikrant Wagle, Rajendra Arunkumar Kalgaonkar, Abdullah Al-Yami
  • Lost circulation balloon
    Patent number: 11118417
    Abstract: An example method includes deploying an example system in a vicinity of the lost circulation zone. The example system includes a stop lost-circulation balloon (SLCB) tool. An example SLCB tool includes an inflatable balloon and a tubing string including a fluid conduit. The string is in fluid connection with the balloon. The method includes deploying, from the SLCB tool, the balloon and forcing slurry into the balloon to cause at least part of the balloon containing the slurry into the fracture. The method includes allowing the slurry to set for a period of time to produce a solid. The method includes drilling through the solid in the balloon in the wellbore, leaving the solid in the fracture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Bandar Salem AlMalki, Ismail A. Adebiyi
  • Agglomerated zeolite catalyst for spacers and efficiency fluids
    Patent number: 11098234
    Abstract: A method may include: providing a spacer fluid comprising water and an agglomerated zeolite catalyst; and displacing a drilling fluid in a wellbore using the spacer fluid. The agglomerated zeolite catalyst may be a spent agglomerated zeolite catalyst and may include a matrix, a filler, a binder, and zeolite crystals. The zeolite crystals may be selected from the group consisting of type x, type y, ultra-stable type y, ZSM-5, SAPO-11, silicalite-1, mordenite, ferrierite, beta, and combinations thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Jason Pisklak, Juan Pablo Stacey, James Robert Benkley, Claudia Carmen Pineda, Ronnie Glen Morgan
  • Using synthetic acid compositions as alternatives to conventional acids in the oil and gas industry
    Patent number: 11098241
    Abstract: An aqueous synthetic acid composition is disclosed for use in oil industry activities, the composition comprising: lysine and hydrogen chloride in a molar ratio ranging from 1:3 to 1:12.5, preferably from more than 1:5 to 1:8.5. The composition can also further comprise a metal iodide or iodate an alcohol or derivative thereof. The composition demonstrates advantageous properties over known synthetic acids at temperatures above 90° C. The composition is useful in various oil and gas industry operations. Preferred embodiments of the composition provide substantial advantages in matrix acidizing by increasing the effectiveness of wormholing as compared to conventional mineral acids such as HCl.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: FLUID ENERGY GROUP LTD
    Inventors: Clay Purdy, Alexander David Jamieson, Markus Weissenberger
  • System and method for pulsed electrical reservoir stimulation
    Patent number: 11091991
    Abstract: This invention provides a novel system and method for Electrical Reservoir Stimulation (ERS) that increases reservoir permeability for petroleum and geothermal applications without requiring pumping of material into the subsurface. This system and method can provide an inexpensive, reliable and more-environmentally friendly increase in reservoir productivity by releasing hydrocarbons from traps and captives, increasing fluid mobility due to viscosity reduction from electrical heating of the reservoir (extremely important for the extraction of highly viscous hydrocarbons), and providing increased reservoir permeability in the direction of interest from the vibrational removal of particles within sediment pores and initiating micro-fractures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Assignee: Eden GeoPower Inc.
    Inventors: Mehrdad Mehrvand, Ildar Akhmadullin, Ammar Alali, Paris Smalls
  • Methods of improving conformance applications
    Patent number: 11091687
    Abstract: A method of treating a reservoir penetrated by at least one well involves placing a consolidated solids pack into a permeable zone of rock in the reservoir. The consolidated solids pack has a reduced permeability to water and a reduced mobility in the permeable zone. For example, when placed in the permeable zone in connection with a water flooding operation, the consolidated solids pack diverts the injectant from the permeable zone to other less permeable zones of the reservoir that contain oil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Philip D. Nguyen, John Davis, Julio E. Vasquez, Larry S. Eoff
  • Method to manage tandem single string reactive LCM pill applications
    Patent number: 11091964
    Abstract: A method of sealing a lost circulation zone (LCZ) during a drilling operation by: positioning a bottom hole assembly (BHA) at an initial position proximate a LCZ in a wellbore, wherein the BHA includes a drill bit fluidly connected with a surface of the wellbore via a drill string; and pumping first and second reactant pills and a spacer into the LCZ via the drill string and the drill bit, wherein the first reactant pill includes one or more first reactants, wherein the second reactant pill includes one or more second reactants, wherein the first reactant pill is pumped into the LCZ prior to the second reactant pill due to introducing of the spacer into the drill string between the first and second reactant pills, and wherein, after a reaction time, reactants comprising the one or more first and second reactants react within and provide a seal of the LCZ.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Donald Lee Whitfill, Dale E. Jamison, Vitor Lopes Pereira
  • Surface charge modified nanosurfactants for reduced retention by reservoir rock
    Patent number: 11084972
    Abstract: Disclosed here compositions and methods suitable for injection of a nanosurfactant composition into a hydrocarbon-bearing formation for enhanced recovery operations. The nanosurfactant composition includes nanoassemblies that contain a petroleum sulfonate surfactant, mineral oil, a zwitterionic co-surfactant, and a cationic co-surfactant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Inventors: Ayrat Gizzatov, Chang Da, Amr Abdel-Fattah
  • Apparatus and method for potable water extraction from saline aquifers
    Patent number: 11078767
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for desalinating water combined with power generation, wherein a desalination system is used for desalinating aquifer brine water and is operationally related to a power generation system, wherein such dual-purpose co-generation facility captures the natural gas entrained within the aquifer brine water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Inventors: Henry D. Tiffany, III, Steven Bryant, Gregory A Clark, Brian H. de Clare, Gary A. Pope
  • 3 in 1 foam formulation for enhanced oil recovery including conformance control, ultra-low interfacial tension, and wettability alteration
    Patent number: 11078405
    Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure provide compositions and methods suitable for injection of a nanosurfactant-based foam composition into a hydrocarbon-bearing formation for enhanced recovery operations. The nanosurfactant-based foam composition includes a gaseous component and nanoassemblies. The nanoassemblies contain a petroleum sulfonate surfactant, mineral oil, and a zwitterionic co-surfactant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Inventors: Ayrat Gizzatov, Shehab Alzobaidi, Amr Abdel-Fattah
  • Use of particulate or fibrous materials in gravel pack applications
    Patent number: 11078402
    Abstract: Methods include drilling at least one interval of a wellbore with a water-based wellbore fluid producing a filtercake in the at least one interval of the wellbore. The methods also include gravel packing an interval of a wellbore traversing a subterranean formation with a gravel pack that comprises polyhydroxycarboxylic acid, and hydrolyzing the polyhydroxycarboxylic acid to degrade at least a portion of the filtercake.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Assignee: SCHLUMBERGER TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Matthew Offenbacher, Balkrishna Gadiyar
  • Shock waves for oil separation
    Patent number: 11072997
    Abstract: A pressure shock wave apparatus applies shock waves to separate substances, such as oil, from a water mixture in an enclosure. The substance, such as oil, is moved toward a substance removal conduit and the water moved toward a water conduit from action of the shock wave apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2021
    Assignee: SANUWAVE, INC.
    Inventors: Iulian Cioanta, Cary McGhin
  • Fluoropolymers to reduce retention of nanosurfactants to carbonate reservoir rock for applications in oil fields
    Patent number: 11066594
    Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure provide compositions and methods suitable for injection of a nanosurfactant composition into a hydrocarbon-bearing formation for enhanced recovery operations. The nanosurfactant composition includes nanoassemblies that contain a petroleum sulfonate surfactant, mineral oil, a zwitterionic co-surfactant. The nanosurfactant composition also includes a functionalized zwitterionic copolymer present in an aqueous environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2021
    Inventors: Ayrat Gizzatov, Chang Da, Amr Abdel-Fattah, Shitong Zhu