Regan Offshore International, Inc.

Hughes Tool Company LLC

A Michael Regan

Bruce J Watkins

Eugene S Matsuda

William P Slata

A template levelling system includes a pile receptacle carried within the template receptacle mounted to the template. The pile receptacle has a lower flange that extends outwardly from and below the template receptacle. Slips are located in the pile receptacle for gripping the pile to prevent downward movement of the template. A hydraulic jack will grip the pile receptacle and pull the pile receptacle upwardly, causing the flange to contact the lower side of the template to lift the template. The pile receptacle is laterally movable in the template receptacle. A release sleeve can selectively release the slips to allow the pile receptacle to be lowered on the pile.

Subsea well template levelling system

A seal assembly has features to seal the junction of two passages. The assembly includes a piston with a seal on its face. The piston has a passage extending through it. Hydraulic fluid applied to an annular cavity moves the piston forwardly and rearwardly independent of fluid pressure in the passage. Once sealed, pressure in the passage acts on the end of the piston to maintain sealing engagement.

Energized seal for upper termination

A sub-sea template and moveable guide structure assembly for conducting sub-sea drilling and production operations selectively between a plurality of adjacent sub-sea wells has a sub-sea well template having a plurality of template sections, each of these sections having a plurality of well bore guide means in laterally spaced series relative to the longitudinal extent of the template; tool guide means for guiding a sub-sea well tool into a well bore guide means; carriage means and means for movebly mounting the carriage means to the template, the carriage means moveably mounting the tool guide means on the template for relative movement therebetween. Sonic alignment means associated with the moveable guide structure and a sub-sea well tool are provided for sensing a spatial relationship between the guide structure and the well tool as the well tool is lowered onto the guide structure.

Moveable guide structure for a sub-sea drilling template

Marine riser conduit section coupling means adapted to withstand high riser tension and bending loads in deep sub sea well drilling and production operations by preventing stress concentrations has upper and lower coupling members, each being mounted to an associated marine conduit section, and fastening means for securing the coupling members together wherein the outer surface configuration for each said coupling member comprises an effectively continuous arcuate surface extending circumferentially about substantially the entire outer surface of each coupling member from one axial extremity thereof adjacent the associated conduit section to an opposite extremity thereof adjacent outer marginal areas of the associated member flange. The fastening means include threaded bolts and means for preventing their inadvertent removal from a connector flange when disconnected from the mating flange. A preferred outer surface configuration for each coupling member is substantially a quarter of an ellipse whose major axis is parallel to the bore of the riser, and said major axis being approximately twice the length of the minor axis.

Marine riser conduit section coupling means

An apparatus and method for leveling and supporting a sub-sea drilling template for sub-sea well drilling operations have support frame means for providing a stable reference surface for the sub-sea drilling template relative to an underlying sea bottom surface, universal pivot means operationally interconnecting the support frame means and the template for pivotally supporting the template with respect to the sea bottom surface and leveling means operationally interconnecting the support frame means and the template for varying the angular orientation of the template about the pivot means relative to the support frame means. Additionally, retaining means are provided for fixedly securing the template with respect to the support frame means once a desired angular orientation therebetween has been achieved.

Apparatus for leveling and supporting a sub-sea drilling template

An improved safety apparatus for automatically sealing hydraulic lines within a sub-sea well casing when said casing is disconnected from an associated well head connector and Christmas tree assembly, has mandrel means associated with a well head connector assembly and valve means generally coaxially aligned within and to the casing means for controlling fluid flow through associated hydraulic lines, the valve means being moved into a valve-opened position by the mandrel means as the well head connector assembly is landed on the well casing head. Bias means associated with the valve means are provided for urging the valve means into a valve-closed position to seal the hydraulic lines when the mandrel means is withdrawn from the valve means. Hydraulic fluid flow is through passages through the mandrel, the valve means and associated portions of the well head connector and casing head, respectively. Seal means are associated with the valve means to provide a fluid-tight seal between the mandrel means and the valve means and between valve means and the well casing head.

Safety apparatus for automatically sealing hydraulic lines within a

Improvements in flotation means for subsea well riser wherein the riser is run from a floating vessel and includes one or more buoyancy chambers open in the lower portions thereof to the sea and a gas injection line runs from the vessel to each of the chambers for injecting gas from a source thereof under pressure into each such chamber. The improvements include the provision of means for controlling the bleeding off of gas from within each of the chambers to reduce the buoyancy thereof thereby making the flotation of the riser completely adjustable. A check valve may be provided between the injection line and the chambers for limiting the introduction of gas into the chambers from the injection line until a predetermined pressure of the gas in the injection line is reached.

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Huntington Beach, CA, United States of America

A Michael Regan