Vetco Gray Inc.

Bp Corporation North America Inc.

Abb Vetco Gray Incorporated

Vetco Offshore, Inc.

Thomas A Fraser

John Edward Nelson

Charles Edward Jennings

Dale Norman

Jamie Gamble

Eric Dale Larson

John Gregory Landthrip

James Reams

Satish Ramasheshaiah

Sara N Riddle

Joseph W Pallini

David Lawrence Ford

Daniel Caleb Benson

Glen H Cuiper

Amin Radi

Thomas F Sweeney

Daniel Ralph Barnhart

Anh D Nguyen

Brian L Kirk

Derek C Kennedy

Andrew R Macfarlane

An annular seal for sealing an interface between a wellhead housing and a casing hanger. The annular seal includes a central body portion and a first pair of seal legs extending in a first direction from the central body portion. Each of the first pair of seal legs sealingly engages one of the wellhead housing or the casing hanger, and are further energized by bore pressure. The annular seal also includes a second pair of seal legs extending in a second direction from the central body portion. Each of the second pair of seal legs sealingly engages one of the wellhead housing or the casing hanger, and is further energized by annulus pressure.

Wellhead seal with pressure energizing from below

A cap is lowered onto and secured to a subsea member with an external flange, effecting a seal between the external flange and cap. The cap includes a tubular outer body defining a cavity, and a tubular inner body defining a bore, wherein the lower end of the inner body resides within the cavity. The cap also includes a lower engaging member coupled to the outer body that is radially movable between an inward state and an outward state and configured to alternately engage and disengage at least one of a backside of the external flange. Finally, the cap includes an upper engaging member coupled to the outer body and being radially movable independently of the lower engaging member between an inward state and an outward state and configured to engage and disengage the inner body.

Made-up flange locking cap

A connector is lowered onto and secured to a subsea member, effecting a seal between subsea member and the connector. The connector includes an outer body defining a cavity, and an inner body defining a bore, wherein the lower end of the inner body resides within the cavity. The connector also includes an engaging member coupled to the outer body and adapted to engage the subsea device, the engaging member radially movable between a disengaged position and an engaged position. The connector includes a seal carried by the inner body and adapted to form a seal between the bore and the subsea device. Finally, the connector includes a pre-loading member coupled to the outer body, operable to urge the inner body and seal against the subsea device to exert a pre-loading force on the seal. A differential pressure between the bore and a subsea environment energizes the seal.

Subsea locking connector

An offshore riser system has riser joints, each having a pin and a box. The pin has an external grooved profile that is engaged by a locking element carried by the box of another riser joint. An actuating ring engages with the locking element to move it into the locked position. A retractable spider supports the string of riser while the new joint is being made up. A makeup tool on the riser deploying floor moves the ring relative to the locking element, causing the locking element to move to the locked position.

Riser joint coupling

Preloaded riser coupling system

Riser make-up tool

A riser assembly for offshore drilling has an inner conduit suspended within an outer riser. A seal assembly seals an annular space between the inner conduit and the riser at the lower end of the inner conduit. The seal assembly has a pressure area that is independent of the inner conduit, so that any forces acting on the assembly due to pressure in the annulus below the seal assembly pass through the assembly to the riser and not to the inner conduit.

Underbalanced marine drilling riser

A subsea wellhead connector has an upper body that abuts the rim of a wellhead member. A hydraulic wellhead connector is carried by the upper body and extends over the wellhead member. The hydraulic wellhead connector carries dogs for moving into an engaged position with a profile on the exterior of the wellhead member. The mating or complementary stepped profile at the top or rim of the wellhead housing is designed to engage at three surfaces. The first surface is the flat surface at the inner diameter. The second surface is the tapered surface at the step. The third surface is the flat surface on the rim from the tapered surface to the outer diameter of the rim. The profiles are dimensioned with bias toward initial contact at the outer diameter flat on the rim of the well housing, second contact is at the inner diameter flat on the rim of the well housing, and the third contact is at the tapered step. Additionally, after preload, a lower portion of the lower body of the wellhead connector engages a stepped profile at the outer diameter of the wellhead, thereby creating a secondary load path for reacting to the applied bending moment.

Wellhead connector with additional load shoulders

An undersea telescopic joint for a riser system is connected to a drilling vessel with a plurality of tensioners. The joint has a bearing with inner and outer annular mating members. A cap seals the outer member to the joint. The outer member closely receives and is axially movable relative to the inner member. A flat thrust bearing is located in a chamber between the two members. The members are sealed to one another with upper and lower swivel seals. A passage communicates hydraulic fluid to the chamber. The bearing has a pressure gage which registers with a passage that extends between the swivel seals. The chamber is filled with hydraulic fluid so that the two members are separated and the drilling vessel may rotate easily. The gage is used to detect whether the primary swivel seal is leaking.

Fluid assist bearing for telescopic joint of a RISER system

A template (26) attached to an anchor pile (12) supports a pull-in tool receptacle (28) at a predetermined location with respect to the anchor pile. The end of the pipe to be connected includes a riser mandrel (16), the lock down connector (20), and a buoyancy module (52). A bridle (42) is temporarily connected (44, 48, 50) to the end of the pipe with the pull-in cable threaded through a pull-in tool (30) and attached to the bridle. The pull-in tool is locked (32) in the frame, and engages and secures alignment pins (40) attached to the bridle when the line has been pulled in. The pipe end is moved (59) into locked engagement with the anchor pile, the bridle (42) disconnected from the pipe end, and thereafter retrieved to the surface with the pull-in tool (30).

Pipeline pull-in method and apparatus

An anchor connector with a latch segment retainer body (28) having a lost motion connection to the connector body (36) which has a downwardly-extending skirt (38). Latch segments (30) pivotally connected to the retainer body are free to swing outwardly when the retainer body is retained in its upward position but are locked against the groove (24) in a support mandrel (22) when the retainer body is in its downward position. The latch segments engage the mandrel with a boss (32) which has a tapered upper surface (34) to ensure outward movement for disengagement, and a tapered lower surface (50) which permits diver assist disengagement in the event of a malfunction.

Anchor connector for tension leg

Growing community of inventors

Spring, TX, United States of America

Thomas A Fraser