Archive
UNCONVENTIONAL OIL. Latest granted patents 2014-2016. Oil Shale
Summary
Oil contained in oil shales (kerogen oil) is one of the most notable and global hydrocarbon resources, but at the same time is also the most complicated from the standpoint of technological implementation. Today, although the commercial development of shale oil formations and the extraction of petroleum-containing components thereof is performed in several countries around the world (for instance, Estonia, China, Brazil), it still has noticeably limited volumes. Inasmuch as the extraction of kerogen from shale rocks is based exclusively on costly methods of thermal activation (both in case of surface retorting, and for in-situ technologies), the competitiveness of this sector is pretty limited. Nevertheless, the perfection of known technological processes, as well as the development of novel technical applications for the production of kerogen oil goes on, and has certain engineering opportunities.
A selection of patents related to oil shale and published by patent offices around the globe in 2014-2016 is provided for review in the present bulletin. General research methodology can be found on the Advanced Energy Technologies website. The present bulletin includes 842 patents, prepared by applicants from 30 countries and registered in 30 patent offices. The patent documents mention 492 applicants and 865 IPC subgroups.
Key Highlights
The bulletin contains statistical data on the distribution of patent documents by years, by patent offices and by applicant countries, applicant-related data (residents and non-residents), data on the most frequently mentioned International Patent Classification divisions (sections, classes, subclasses, groups, and subgroups). The top three patent offices that granted the largest number of patents were USPTO (US), CIPO (CA) and CNIPA (CN).
Based on the analysis of each of the patents, internal characteristics of unified indicators (technical problems, types of inventive solutions, belonging to one or other technological segment) were found, which allowed specific features for each of the indicators for the entire array of documents to be defined, for instance, to define the leading problems or technical solution types that were disclosed by the inventors the most. Document lists are provided for the ten most popular groups of patent documents with identical unified indicators, including their ID numbers and applicant names.
The following information can be found for the top 10 applicants: breakdown of documents by problems, IPC sections, patent offices, technological indicators, as well as the estimation of their share in the established intellectual property market. The 10 leading applicants by the number of patent documents were: Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij B.V (Netherlands), ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company (US), Harris Corporation (US), Shell Oil Company (US), Xyleco Inc (US), Green Source Energy LLC (US), Red Leaf Resources Inc (US), Siemens AG (Germany), Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Arabia), Chevron USA, Inc. (US).
The prominent documents pages contain the top 10 patents with the highest bibliographical rating, the most extensive coverage of IPC sections, and the shortest patent pending time.
The patent bulletin also includes a list of all of the documents reviewed, arranged by patent offices and indicated by the ID numbers of the granted patents.
Who needs this bulletin?
The data provided in the proposed bulletin is a timely reflection of the transformations that take place in the intellectual property sector of the industrial direction concerned. A thoroughly edited selection of patent documents can become a good complement to your library of available technical solutions. The bulletin is targeted at inventors, engineers, researchers, managers and business administrators involved in the development of unconventional oil production technologies.
