Weatherford Technology Holdings, LLC

Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company

Weatherford/lamb, Inc.

Hydril USA Manufacturing LLC

Weatherford Technologies Holdings, LLC

Christopher Andrew Hall

John P Broussard

Patrick James Zimmerman

Ronald Van Petegem

John Steven Sladic

Stephen McNamee

Brian J Ritchey

Charles S Yeh

Tracy J Moffett

Seemant Yadav

Rockni Van Clief

Stephen Mcnamee

John S Sladic

Ted Alan Long

Michael Thomas Hecker

Michael D Barry

Robert Arnold Judge

Pavlin B Entchev

James Alan Rochen

Floyd Randolph Simonds

David A Howell

Henry Joe Jordan, Jr

Alvaro Jose Arrazola

Eric R Grueschow

Christian S Mayer

John Gregory Landthrip

Shawn J Treadaway

Brian M Sternaman

Jeffrey Kubiak

Rodney S Royer

Glen Robitaille

A packer is used for setting downhole in tubing subject to downhole flow at a high flow rate. The packer includes a setting element, a slip element, and a packing element. The setting element is disposed on the packer toward an uphole end and is activated hydraulically to move in a downhole direction toward a downhole end of the packer. The slip element is disposed toward the downhole end and is moveable outward toward the tubing in a first stage in response to the movement of the setting element. The packing element is disposed on the other elements and is at least partially carried by the setting element. The packing element is compressible outward toward the tubing in a second stage, after the first stage, in response to the movement of the setting element. Additionally, a choke ring or other element disposed on the packer at least downhole of the packing element can move outward toward the tubing in response to the setting movement to restrict the downhole flow in the annulus to a lower flow rate.

Packer setting during high flow rate

A device and method allows a bore valve in the washpipe and in certain instances a port valve or sliding sleeve to open or close upon command from the surface so that gravel slurry may be placed in a wellbore.

Gravel pack apparatus having actuated valves

A treatment assembly treats zones of a horizontal borehole. For example, the assembly can gravel pack a zone by delivering slurry down a workstring. The slurry exits the workstring's outlet and pass to the borehole annulus of the zone through a flow port in the assembly. The gravel in the slurry can pack the borehole in an alpha-beta wave from toe to heel, and the fluid returns from the borehole flow through a screen back into the assembly. After gravel packing, operators remove excess slurry from the workstring by reverse circulating down the assembly to carry the excess slurry uphole through the workstring. Closures on the assembly prevent the reverse circulation from communicating through the screens to the borehole annulus. Additionally, flow valves can be used on the flow ports to selectively open and close them.

Assembly for toe-to-heel gravel packing and reverse circulating excess slurry

A sand control device is used for restricting the flow of particles from a subsurface formation into a tubular body within a wellbore during production operations. The sand control device is divided into compartments along its length that provide redundancy for particle filtration. Each compartment first comprises a base pipe. The base pipe defines an elongated tubular body having a permeable section and an impermeable section within each compartment. Each compartment also comprises a first filtering conduit and a second filtering conduit. The filtering conduits comprise filtering media and generally circumscribe the base pipe. The filtering conduits are arranged so that the first filtering conduit is adjacent to the non-permeable section of the base pipe, while the second filtering conduit is adjacent to the permeable section of the base pipe.

Sand control screen having improved reliability

A screen assembly can be used for 'gravel pack' or 'frac pack' operations and can then withstand high rate injections. The disclosed screen assembly is able to withstand the flow of the packing operation by not allowing fluid passage from the annulus to inside the screen assembly. Then, the screen assembly can be opened and facilitate high rate injection for the life of the well. To achieve this, the disclosed screen assembly does not allow slurry flow to enter the screen assembly during the packing operation. Then, after the packing is completed, the screen assembly provides enough open flow area so that a high injection rate with solid content can be introduced into the annulus without eroding the screen.

High-rate injection screen assembly with checkable ports

A gravel pack apparatus for a wellbore has a shunt tube disposed along the apparatus near a wellscreen. The shunt tube is typically composed of stainless steel and has an internal passage for conducting slurry. Along its length, the tube has flow ports for passing the conducted slurry into the wellbore. The exit ports can use erosion inserts composed of erodible material, barrier inserts having breakable barriers, flow nozzles with external sheaths or caps, erosion-resistant bushings disposed on the flow nozzles, etc. The tube can also include a tube body having the exit ports and flow nozzles integrally formed thereon. The tube body can couple end-to-end with sections of shunt tube.

Erosion ports for shunt tubes

A completion jointhas two sand control jacketsA-B connected on each end of an intermediately-mounted inflow control device. Both jacketsA-B communicate with a housing chamberthrough dedicated open end-ringsA-B. The basepipe's flow openingsare isolated from this housing chamberby a sleevefitted with flow ports. The housingis removable to allow access to the flow portsfor pinning to configure the portsopen or closed for a given implementation.

Apparatus and methods for well control

A gravel pack assembly has a longitudinal body that disposes in a borehole. A wellscreen and other components can connect to the body to complete the assembly. One or more packoff seals or bushings disposed in the body's inner passage can engage a smooth external surface of a crossover tool when disposed therein to prevent passage of sand and fluids between the tool and the assembly's inner passage. The packoff seals or bushings can be fixed or activated by movement to engage the smooth external surface of the crossover tool.

Gravel pack crossover tool with low drag force

An apparatus and method allow gravel pack slurry to be placed in a borehole annulus from the toe towards the heel to reduce the pressure acting upon the heel of the borehole during the gravel placement operation. By reducing the pressure on the heel, the gravel pack slurry may be placed in longer sections of the borehole in a single operation. Additionally, excess slurry in the inner string can be disposed in the borehole annulus around the shoe track of the apparatus, and fluid returns can flow up the apparatus through a bypass.

Gravel pack and sand disposal device

A gravel pack assembly includes screen sections with a packer between them. A first screen section communicates an uphole annulus with the assembly's interior passage, and a second screen section communicates a downhole annulus with the interior passage. A housing of the packer has an internal bore communicating with the assembly's interior passage and has an internal bypass communicating external ports with one another. A first packer element disposed between the external ports restricts gravel passage at least from the uphole to the downhole annulus. A second packer element disposed downhole from a second of the external ports is independently actuated to isolate fluid passage between the uphole and downhole annulus. One or more transport tubes communicate slurry from the uphole annulus to the internal bypass once the uphole annulus is packed with gravel.

Multi-zone bypass packer assembly for gravel packing boreholes

A gravel packing assembly gravel packs a horizontal borehole. Operators wash down the borehole using an inner string in a first position by flowing fluid from the inner string through the apparatus' toe. Operators then gravel pack by moving the inner string to one or more flow ports between a screen and the toe. Slurry flows into the borehole from the flow ports, and returns from the borehole flow through the screen. The gravel in the slurry can pack the borehole in an alpha-beta wave from toe to heel. In another condition, operators can move the inner string to a second flow port so slurry can flow into the borehole through a shunt extending from the second flow port. When gravel packing is done, operators move the inner string to a port collar in a liner of the assembly to cement the liner in the borehole.

One trip toe-to-heel gravel pack and liner cementing assembly

A device and method that allows a gravel slurry to placed in a wellbore from the toe towards the heel to reduce the pressure acting upon the heel of the wellbore during the gravel placement operation. By reducing the pressure acting upon the heel gravel slurry may be placed in longer sections of the wellbore in a single operation.

Inwardly swelling seal

An erosion resistant nozzle is brazed to the surface of a tubular, such as a shunt tube of a wellscreen apparatus, for use in a wellbore. The nozzle is elongated and defines an aperture for communicating exiting flow from the tubular's port. The lead end of the nozzle disposed downstream of the exiting flow can be lengthened to prevent erosion to the tubular. The lead endwall of the nozzle's aperture can be angled relative to the nozzle's length and can be rounded. The nozzle can be composed of an erosion resistant material or can be composed of a conventional material having an erosion resistant coating or plating thereon. Being elongated with a low height, the nozzle can have a low profile on the tubular, and the aperture's elongating can be increased or decreased to increase or decrease the flow area through the nozzle.

Erosion resistant flow nozzle for downhole tool

A gravel pack operation disposes slurry from an inner string into the annulus around a shoe track. A valve on the shoe track can open and close flow through a port, and seats around the port allow an outlet of the tool to seal with the port. When the valve is open and the outlet sealed with the port, the slurry in the string is pumped into the borehole around the shoe track by flowing the slurry from the outlet into the borehole through the flow port. As this occurs, gravel collects around the shoe track, and fluid returns in the borehole flow back into the shoe track through a screen disposed toward the track's toe. Once inside the shoe track, the fluid returns communicate through a bypass on the shoe track around the sealed outlet and port. At this point, the fluid returns can pass uphole in the gravel pack assembly.

Growing community of inventors

Cypress, TX, United States of America

Christopher Andrew Hall