Dril-quip, Inc.

Other

Larry E Reimert

John M Yokley

Lionel J Milberger

Morris B Wade

Bruce J Watkins

Jason Charles McCanna

Blake T DeBerry

Charles Robinson

Bruce Joseph Witwer

Gregory Dale Williams

James M Walker

John N Yokley

Daniel Aguilar Marroquin

Flavio Nisenbaum

Andrew J Grohmann

James S Britton

Xhemal Kaculi

A wear bushing () and a running tool () are provided for a subsea wellhead assembly including a wellhead housing and a casing hanger. The wear bushing is landed on the casing hanger, and a connector () axially connects the wear bushing and the wellhead housing. The running tool is actuated to connect the wear bushing, such that at least a portion of the connector is received within a corresponding recess in an interior wall of the wellhead housing. A bushing/casing hanger latch () axially connects the wear bushing and the casing hanger.

Wear bushing for locking to a wellhead

The lockdown mechanism () and running tool () are provided for securing the casing hanger () within the wellhead () and sealing the annulus between the casing and the wellhead. The lockdown ring () fixes the lockdown sleeve () to a wellhead in response to a lockdown piston (). A first seal () energized by the running tool seals between the lockdown sleeve and the wellhead. Ball seat () is axially movable within the running tool, and a second seal also energized by the running tool () seals between the lockdown sleeve and the casing hanger.

Casing hanger lockdown sleeve

A seal assembly () and a running tool () are provided for sealing a casing annulus in a wellhead (). A casing hanger () includes a radially external groove therein, and wellhead has a radially internal groove therein. A locking ring () may be actuated by the running tool to move into the internal recess in the wellhead and thereby axially connect the seal assembly and the wellhead. Another locking ring () is radially movable to connect the seal assembly to the casing hanger. The seal assembly seals the casing annulus while being interconnected with the wellhead and the casing hanger.

Wellhead seal assembly lockdown system

A seal assembly () is provided for sealing between an interior surface () on a wellhead () and a tapered exterior surface () on a hanger (). A unitary seal body () includes an upper portion for engagement with a force tool and a lower portion for sealing with the wellhead and the hanger. A first locking ring () is movable radially inward for securing the sealing assembly to the hanger, and a second locking ring () is movable radially outward for securing the seal assembly to the wellhead. An actuation member () including a plurality of downward extending fingers passing through slots in the seal body move downward through a portion of the body to force the first and second locking rings into engagement with the wellhead and the hanger.

Seal assembly and method

A downhole tool includes a lock for maintaining a slip in a reduced diameter position when running the tool in the well, and selectively releases the slip to move radially outward to a set position to suspend an anchored portion of the tool within a downhole tubular. The tool includes a mandrel having a through passage, with a hydraulic port within the mandrel that is closed to mandrel internal pressure as the tool is run in the wellbore. A ball seat covers hydraulic ports in the mandrel. A ball may be dropped to seat and increase pressure to open the ports. A piston moves in response to mandrel internal pressure applied through the hydraulic port to unlock the locking device, such that further movement of the piston releases the slip from the reduced diameter position to the set position.

Downhole tool with slip releasing mechanism

A downhole toolincludes closure seatsfor seating with a closure, such as a ball. Shear pins or other connectors temporarily limit axial movement of each closure seat which is initially housed within a restricted diameter portion of the central throughbore in the tool body. A piston axially moves in response to fluid pressure to pressurize fluid in a chamber and controllably release fluid through one or more restrictions. The closure seat may be lowered to engage a stop, such that the seat may move axially to an enlarged diameter bore portion of the tool, thereby allowing radial expansion of a closure seat to release the ball.

Downhole tool with hydraulic closure seat

A liner hanger assembly comprises a tool mandrel () suspended on a running string, and a slip assembly () for engaging a casing to support the liner hanger and liner from the casing. The release assembly () releases the set liner hanger from portions of the assembly to be retrieved to the surface. A cementing bushing () is releasable and reinsertable into the liner, and includes a circumferential loading ring ().

Liner hanger tool with re-latchable cementing bushing

A downhole toolincludes a closure seatfor seating with a closure, such as a ball. Shear pins or other connectors temporarily limit axial movement of the closure seat which is initially housed within a restricted diameter portion of the central throughbore in the tool body. The closure seat may be lowered to engage a stopthereby positioning the seat within an enlarged diameter bore portion of the tool and allowing radial expansion of a closure seat to release the ball.

Downhole tool with C-ring closure seat and method

A tieback connector for attaching a riser to a subsea production assembly is provided. The tieback connector includes a main body adapted to be coupled to the subsea production assembly having a central passageway sufficiently large to pass an end of the riser string therein and a connector positioner coupled to the main body, which is adapted to secure the tieback connector around a circumferential surface of a wellhead of the subsea production assembly. The tieback connector further comprises an aligning extension portion defined by a funnel-shaped tip, which aids alignment of the riser terminus during landing of the riser string onto the wellhead. The tieback connector secures the riser to the wellhead.

Tieback connector

A wellhead assembly with high pressure interface is provided. The wellhead assembly includes a tubing spool that connects the wellhead to a BOP and a casing hanger that is landed in the wellhead and connected thereto. The wellhead assembly further includes a gasket that is disposed between opposing ends of the tubing spool and casing hanger. A connector engages the wellhead and tubing spool forcing the opposing ends of the tubing spool and casing hanger together, which thereby applies a compressive load to the gasket, which in turn forms a fluid tight seal therebetween.

High pressure wellhead assembly interface

A system and method for subsea drilling/completion. The system comprises a high-pressure riser extending from a semi-submersible platform to a subsea wellhead. A landing string extends along the insider of the riser, and has a surface blowout preventer and at least one subsea blowout preventer attached thereto. A tubing hanger running tool is run from the platform toward the wellhead. In one embodiment, hydraulic control for various functions of the tubing hanger running tool is communicated either through the tubing string or through the riser. In another embodiment, hydraulic control lines for the tubing hanger running tool extend from the platform to the tubing hanger running tool through an umbilical line, which may either run through the tubing string, inside the riser but outside the tubing string, or outside and alongside the riser. In an embodiment where the umbilical line runs inside the riser, a protective structure is provided to prevent damage to the umbilical line in the event that the subsea blowout preventer is deployed.

Method and apparatus for blow-out prevention in subsea drilling/completion systems

A subsea production system is disclosed. The subsea production system may comprise a well head, a tubing spool, a tubing hanger, an annulus, a production tree, and a bypass flow path.

Subsea production systems

An inner riser adjustable hanger and seal assembly are provided for applying tension to a casing string secured at a lower end within a well and supported at an upper end by a wellhead housing. The wellhead housing has a locking member on an inner surface thereof. A tensioning mechanism tensions the casing string and secures the upper end to the wellhead housing. A seal body locking member is radially moveable into engagement with the housing locking member to fix the axial position of the seal body relative to the wellhead housing. An upper seal assembly seals between the seal body and the wellhead housing, and a lower assembly seals between the seal body and the casing string. The casing string is tensioned without appreciable rotation of the hanger body or the upper and lower seal assemblies.

Inner riser adjustable hanger and seal assembly

A subsea well assembly includes a wellhead housinghaving a cylindrical inner sealing surface and a tubular hangerhaving a tapered external sealing surface. The running toolincludes a central stemconnected to the running string. A setting pistonis responsive to fluid pressure in the annulus about the running string, and has a radially outer surface and a radially inner surface each for sealing with the running tool body. Fluid pressure to set the seal assembly may be applied to the setting piston through an annulus about the running string, and may also act directly on an initially set seal assembly

Wellhead assembly with pressure actuated seal assembly and running tool

A latchdown mechanismlatches a control podto a lower mounting plateof a subsea tree. A receptacle housingsecured to subsea tree receives the control pod therein and has an interior latching surfaceat an upper end of the receptacle housing. A latchdown actuatoris supported on the control pod, and moves a plurality of gripping armsfor engagement and disengagement with the latching surface to selectively connect and disconnect the control podto the structure in response to the latchdown actuator.

Growing community of inventors

Houston, TX, United States of America

Larry E Reimert