Fmc Technologies, Inc.

Chevron U.s.a. Inc.

Robert B Baten

Russell Eric McBeth

Marcus Alan Smedley

Christopher E Cunningham

Christopher D Bartlett

Harold Brian Skeels

Shiva P Singeetham

Randy J Wester

Larry D Reed

David MacFarlane

Russell E Hegler

An apparatus, system and method for releasing fluid from a subsea marine riser is disclosed. A housing defines an interior space and an exterior region. The housing includes first and second ends adapted for respective sealed connection in a marine riser assembly. The housing may be defined on its interior space by a central cavity adapted for passage of a drill string. A plurality of ports may be provided for fluid release from the housing upon emergency disconnect of the riser from a subsea well. One or more gates may be provided in mating configuration with the housing. The gates may be moveable from a sealed position that restricts fluid flow through the ports to an open position that facilitates fluid release from the riser through the ports.

Apparatus, system and method for releasing fluids from a subsea riser

An externally actuatable tieback connector for establishing fluid communication and force resisting connection of a conduit to a subsea wellhead having an internal locking geometry. The tieback connector has a body structure that is adapted for landing on a wellhead, with a part thereof extending into the wellhead and carrying a split lock ring. A lock energizing element, moveable relative to the body structure, has a locking position expanding the lock ring into locking and pre-load force transmitting engagement with the internal locking geometry of the wellhead and an unlocking position releasing the tieback connector from the wellhead. One or more drive members extend from the lock energizing element and are exposed externally of the connector body and wellhead for engagement and actuating movement by a lock actuating tool such as a ROV or the like.

Externally actuated subsea wellhead tieback connector

A wellhead system for petroleum producing wells comprises a &ldquo;stack-down&rdquo; casing hanger configuration. In this stack-down system, the hanger for each successively smaller diameter casing string is landed or &ldquo;nested&rdquo; within the hanger for the next larger casing string. This approach allows the pack-off for each casing hanger to be retrieved independently, thus allowing fluid communication to be established with any of the casing annuli after all of the casing strings and hangers have been installed. Thus the pressure in each annulus may be monitored while the well is in production mode.

Nested stack-down casing hanger system for subsea wellheads

The concentric tubing completion system of the present invention comprises a surface Christmas tree which is located on a surface structure, a tieback connector which is secured to a mudline wellhead that is installed at the upper end of a subsea well bore, a mudline tubing hanger which is supported in the tieback connector, and a pair of concentric tubing strings which are suspended from corresponding tubing hangers in the surface Christmas tree and connected to the mudline tubing hanger. The annulus between the concentric tubing strings communicates with a number of passages in the mudline tubing hanger which are connected to the tubing annulus below the mudline tubing hanger. Thus, lift gas or other fluids may be communicated between the surface christmas tree and the tubing annulus through this annulus between the concentric tubing strings.

Concentric tubing completion system

Growing community of inventors

Houston, TX, United States of America

Robert B Baten