Archive
UNCONVENTIONAL OIL. Latest granted patents 2016-2018. Underground Reservoir Exploration
Summary
Unconventional hydrocarbon development is a complex technical and engineering process which includes many different stages. One of the initial phases is the underground reservoir exploration for the purpose of determining the hydrocarbon accumulation pattern, geophysical characteristics and boundaries of a reservoir, as well as its dynamic change in the production cycle. Modern reservoir exploration is an efficient and cost-intensive procedure involving high-precision 3D seismic testing, exploratory drilling, geophysical investigation technologies, gravity and magnetic potential field methods, etc. An accurate reservoir exploration is the basis for commercially-viable and effective hydrocarbon recovery, crucially important for reducing production costs and optimization of a drilling procedure in order to maximize the output. Apart from that, the process involves evaluation of risk factors and assessment of environmental impact. The proposed bulletin gives a comprehensive overview on the latest solutions, progress and prospects in this area systematized in the form of patents.
A selection of patents related to underground reservoir exploration in unconventional oil and published by patent offices around the globe in 2016-2018 is provided for review in the present bulletin. General research methodology can be found on the Advanced Energy Technologies website. The present bulletin includes 227 patents, prepared by applicants from 11 countries and registered in 10 patent offices. The patent documents mention 144 applicants and 255 IPC subgroups.
Key Highlights
Statistical information presented in the bulletin includes distribution of patent documents by years, by patent offices and by applicant countries, applicant-related data (residents and non-residents), and data on the most frequently mentioned International Patent Classification divisions (sections, classes, subclasses, groups, and subgroups). The largest number of patents during the period of time under revision was granted by the patent office of the USA.
From the analysis of texts of patent documents presented in this bulletin, detailed information is extracted for each of the unified indicators, which include: technical problems, types of inventive solutions employed, belonging of a patent document to one or other technological segment. The results of the statistical processing of this data for the entire array of the patents examined are summarized in the correspondingly-named diagrams and tables. In addition to that, a list of the top 10 groups of patent documents with identical unified indicators is provided, where the groups are sorted by the number of patent documents and include ID numbers and applicant names of the documents.
The following information can be found for the top 10 applicants: breakdown of patents 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: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. (US), Schlumberger Technology Corporation (US), Saudi Arabian Oil Company (SA), Landmark Graphics Corporation (US), ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company (US), Chevron USA, Inc. (US), Ingrain, Inc. (US), Schlumberger Technology B.V. (NL), Baker Hughes Incorporated (US) and Solaris Oilfield Site Services Operating LLC (US).
The bulletin contains lists of the top 10 prominent documents having the highest bibliographical rating, the most extensive coverage of IPC sections, the shortest patent pending time.
A list of all of the documents reviewed, arranged by the top 10 groups of patent documents with identical unified indicators and by patent offices with the indication of the ID numbers of the granted patents is provided in the conclusive part of the bulletin.
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 and gas production technologies.
