| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20090120641 | Well Flow Control Systems and Methods - Flow control systems and methods for use in hydrocarbon well operations include a tubular and a flow control apparatus. The tubular defines a well annulus and includes an outer member defining a flow conduit. Fluid communication between the well annulus and the flow conduit is provided by permeable portion(s) of the outer member. The flow control apparatus is disposed within the flow conduit and comprises conduit-defining and chamber-defining structural members. The conduit-defining structural member(s) is configured to divide the flow conduit into at least two flow control conduits. The chamber-defining structural member(s) is configured to divide at least one of the at least two flow control conduits into at least two flow control chambers. Each of the flow control chambers has at least one inlet and one outlet, each of which is adapted to allow fluid flow therethrough and to retain particles larger than a predetermined size. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090205819 | Well Modeling Associated With Extraction of Hydrocarbons From Subsurface Formations - A method and apparatus associated with various phases of a well completion. In one embodiment, a method is described that includes identifying failure modes for a well completion. At least one technical limit associated with each of the failure modes is obtained. Then, an objective function for the well completion is formulated. Then, the objective function is solved to create a well performance limit. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090216508 | Well Modeling Associated With Extraction of Hydrocarbons From Subsurface Formations - A method and apparatus for associated with various phases of a well completion. In one embodiment, a method is described that includes identifying first principle physical laws governing performance of a well completion and parameters associated with the first principle physical laws or the well. A coupled physics simulator is selected based on the first principle physical laws. Then, a coupled physics limit is generated based upon the coupled physics simulator that incorporates the first principle physical laws and the parameters. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20100000740 | Flexible Well Completions - A method of completing a well is described. The well may be a producing well or an injection well. In one embodiment, the method includes identifying technical issues associated with a well; selecting a technology to address each technical issue; defining criteria for each selected technology to determine when to deploy the selected technology in the well, wherein each selected technology remains dormant until the criteria are met; and integrating the technologies into a well completion profile stored in. memory and utilized in the deployment of the technologies into the well. The method provides the ability to proactively address technical issues to reduce workovers and interventions for a well. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100038086 | Conformance Control Through Stimulus-Responsive Materials - A method, apparatus and production well system that utilize stimulus-responsive materials for “conformance control” and profile control along the fluid flow path in a well as part of a gravel pack or a coating on a well tool. The stimulus-responsive materials are also known as intelligent or smart polymers and are typically polymeric materials that reversibly or irreversibly swell or collapse in the presence of stimulus such as changes in concentration of a fluid media in contact with the stimulus-responsive material, pH or polarity of the media the stimulus-responsive material is in contact with, salinity, current; or temperature. The stimulus-responsive materials may swell upon contact with a rust stimulus and shrink or collapse upon contact with a second stimulus or vice-versa The changes between production and injection profiles may be automatic with the application of the stimulus-responsive materials and may occur without user intervention. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100191516 | Well Performance Modeling In A Collaborative Well Planning Environment - Methods and systems are provided that may be utilized to make completion design an integral part of the well planning process by enabling the rapid evaluation of completion performance. This integration may include an earth model and may specify wellpath parameters, completion parameters, and other parameters in a simulation of operations using the earth model. The simulation generates well performance measures, which may be optimized depending on well performance technical limits. The optimization may be used to maximize an objective function. The system may include multiple users at the same or different locations (e.g. over a network) interacting through graphic user interfaces (GUI's). | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100299111 | Well Modeling Associated With Extraction of Hydrocarbons From Subsurface Formations - A method and apparatus for producing hydrocarbons is described. In the method, a failure mode for a well completion is identified. A numerical engineering model to describe an event that results in the failure mode is constructed. The numerical engineering model is converted into a response surface. Then, the response surface is associated with a user tool configured to provide the response surface for analysis of another well. | 11-25-2010 |
