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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8087466 | Centralization and running tool and method The invention relates to a centralization and running tool (CTR) in a subsea installation in connection with offshore related oil and gas exploration, where the subsea installation (SCM) is arranged to be placed on the ocean bottom or a drilling template and compris... | 01/03/2012 |
| 8011435 | Subsea lateral drilling A method for drilling a borehole in a producing subsea wellbore wherein a flexible conduit is connected at one end to a surface vessel and at the other end via a pressurized subsea wellhead to the producing wellbore such that a remotely operated electrical drilling ... | 09/06/2011 |
| 7975771 | Method for running casing while drilling system At least a portion of a subsea well is drilled casing-while-drilling techniques. A landing shoulder is formed within an outer string of a casing. The outer string of casing is secured to an outer wellhead housing above the landing shoulder and lowered into the wellb... | 07/12/2011 |
| 7975770 | Dual-BOP and common riser system The disclosure is drawn to methods of drilling wells utilizing blow out prevention components of differing pressure ratings. In the initial drilling phase, a lower pressure rated blow out prevention component is used. In a subsequent drilling phase where a reservoir... | 07/12/2011 |
| 7950463 | Method and arrangement for removing soils, particles or fluids from the seabed or from great sea depths A method for removing soils, particles or fluids from the seabed or from great sea depths, includes positioning a platform or a vessel above an offshore location, lowering a riser from the vessel or platform to the seabed or great depth, the riser being vented to th... | 05/31/2011 |
| 7938190 | Anchored riserless mud return systems A riserless mud recovery system including a mud return line secured by an anchor is disclosed. Some system embodiments for drilling a well bore in an offshore location having a water surface and a subsea formation include an offshore structure positioned on a platfo... | 05/10/2011 |
| 7913764 | Return line mounted pump for riserless mud return system Systems and methods for drilling a well bore in a subsea formation from an offshore structure positioned on a water surface with a drill string that is suspended from the structure and includes a bottom hole assembly adapted to form a top hole portion of the well bo... | 03/29/2011 |
| 7828064 | Downhole swivel apparatus and method What is provided is a method and apparatus wherein a swivel can be detachably connected to an annular blowout preventer thereby separating the drilling fluid or mud into upper and lower sections and allowing the fluid to be displaced in two stages, such as while the... | 11/09/2010 |
| 7703534 | Underwater seafloor drilling rig A subsea drilling system comprises a pressurized drilling capsule that is sealed against the subsea environment and houses equipment for manipulating a drillstring that extends through an opening in the drilling capsule to the exterior of the capsule. A drilling flu... | 04/27/2010 |
| 7644768 | Separation device for material from a drilling rig situated on the seabed A drilling rig device (1) situated on the seabed (11), where the drilling rig (1) is sealingly enclosed against the surroundings, wherein the drilling rig (1) is liquid-filled and provided with a separator (16) arranged to separate... | 01/12/2010 |
| 7600570 | Drilling rig placed on the sea bed and equipped for drilling of oil and gas wells A drilling placed on the seabed and arranged for drilling of oil and gas wells is remote controlled from a light drilling vessel (2) through pipes and signal cables (3). The main structure of the drilling rig is made up of two cylindrical structures ( | 10/13/2009 |
| 7584796 | Drilling rig An underwater drilling rig (1) in modular form, which can be simply assembled underwater and in which standard tubulars and tubular assemblies are stored in a novel arrangement within containers (6) and can be added to, and removed from, the string in ... | 09/08/2009 |
| 7546880 | Extracting gas hydrates from marine sediments A process for extracting hydrocarbon gases from marine sediment hydrates. In one embodiment, the process includes drilling from a sea floor into a hydrate rich subsea sediment to form at least one opening therein. Electrical heaters are inserted into the opening or ... | 06/16/2009 |
| 7513310 | Method and arrangement for performing drilling operations An arrangement and a method to control and regulate the bottom hole pressure in a well during subsea drilling at deep waters: The method involves adjustment of a liquid/air interface level in a drilling riser. The arrangement comprises a drilling riser with an outle... | 04/07/2009 |
| 7497266 | Arrangement and method for controlling and regulating bottom hole pressure when drilling deepwater offshore wells An arrangement and method for controlling and regulating bottom hole pressure in a well during subsea drilling in deep water involves adjustment of a liquid/gas interface level in a high pressure drilling riser up or down to change the slope and offset of the pressu... | 03/03/2009 |
| 7451821 | Blow out preventer transfer platform An offshore well drilling assembly includes a drilling facility or support platform for location at sea. A drilling platform connects to the support platform so the drilling platform is cantilevered from the support platform. The drilling platform extends from the s... | 11/18/2008 |
| 7367410 | Method and device for liner system Method for drilling and lining a well wherein at least one liner (1, 2, 32) with a larger external diameter than the substantial part of a drilling riser (10) is pre-installed at a point below the substantial part of the drilling riser (10). A b... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7350590 | Instrumentation for a downhole deployment valve The present generally relates to apparatus and methods for instrumentation associated with a downhole deployment valve or a separate instrumentation sub. In one aspect, a DDV in a casing string is closed in order to isolate an upper section of a wellbore from a lowe... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7296628 | Downhole swivel apparatus and method What is provided is a method and apparatus which can be detachably connected to an annular blowout preventer thereby separating the drilling fluid or mud into upper and lower sections and allowing the fluid to be displaced in two stages, such as while the drill stri... | 11/20/2007 |
| 7284615 | Method and system for installing and maintaining a pipeline while minimizing associated ground disturbance A pipeline installation and maintenance method and system is disclosed in which a number of interconnectible platform modules are assembled into drilling platforms from which a segmented pipeline route is flexibly installed. Using modified push/pull rigs to carry ou... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7281585 | Offshore coiled tubing heave compensation control system An offshore oil well assembly is provided that includes a floating vessel and a coiled tubing injector supported on the floating vessel. A coiled tubing string is movable by the injector into and out of a wellbore. The assembly also includes at least one measurement... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7275594 | Stab guide A tool string stab guide for axially aligning first tool string components with second tool string components is disclosed. The stab guide has a body with an axial length along a longitudinal axis with a first and a second section. The first section of the body adap... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7270185 | Drilling system and method for controlling equivalent circulating density during drilling of wellbores A drilling system for drilling subsea wellbores includes a tubing-conveyed drill bit that passes through a subsea wellhead. Surface supplied drilling fluid flows through the tubing, discharges at the drill bit, returns to the wellhead through a wellbore annulus, and... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7258510 | Systems and methods useful in stabilizing platforms and vessels having platforms and legs Disclosed is a system useful in stabilizing a vessel. The vessel includes, but is not limited to, a first leg, a second leg, a third leg, and a platform coupled to the first, second, and third legs. The system can include a first brace coupled to the first leg at a ... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7240736 | Drilling and producing deep water subsea wells Subsea wells are drilled and completed with an offshore floating platform in a manner that allows simultaneous work on more than one well. A first well is drilled and casing. Then a tubing hanger is run through a drilling riser and landed in the wellhead housing. Th... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7237613 | Underbalanced marine drilling riser 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 independe... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7165634 | Method and apparatus for cementing drill strings in place for one pass drilling and completion of oil and gas wells The steel drill string attached to a drilling bit during typical rotary drilling operations used to drill oil and gas wells is used for a second purpose as the casing that is cemented in place during typical oil and gas well completions. Methods of operation are des... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7150324 | Method and apparatus for riserless drilling An offshore riserless drilling system drills a subsea borehole from a platform and through a cased borehole. The system comprises a lightweight drill string suspending a bottomhole assembly and extending from the platform downwardly through a depth of water into the... | 12/19/2006 |
| 7147068 | Methods and apparatus for cementing drill strings in place for one pass drilling and completion of oil and gas wells The steel drill string attached to a drilling bit during typical rotary drilling operations used to drill oil and gas wells is used for a second purpose as the casing that is cemented in place during typical oil and gas well completions. Methods of operation are des... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7117957 | Methods for drilling and lining a wellbore A method includes drilling and lining a wellbore, in one aspect by mounting a drill bit on a drill string including a section of expandable tubing and providing a tubing expander in the string, rotating the drill bit and advancing the drill string through a bore, an... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7111686 | Vessel provided with a device for removing and/or installing a sub-structure of a drilling or production platform The invention relates to a vessel (1) provided with a deck (2) and with a device (3) for removing and/or installing a sub-structure (4) of a drilling or production platform, wherein said device comprises a supporting structure (5) ... | 09/26/2006 |
| 7108083 | Apparatus and method for completing an interval of a wellbore while drilling An apparatus and method for completing an interval of a wellbore while drilling comprises a drill string (52) having a drill bit (30) mounted on the lower end thereof. A completion assembly (50) is positioned around a section of the drill string... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7104125 | Internal riser inspection device and methods of using same An inspection apparatus includes an inspection unit that is lowered into vertically supported pipe filled with seawater. The apparatus includes a pipe weld location detector module carried by the inspection unit. The apparatus also includes a rotating time of flight... | 09/12/2006 |
| 7093662 | System for drilling oil and gas wells using a concentric drill string to deliver a dual density mud A system for controlling drilling mud density at a location either at the seabed (or just above the seabed) or alternatively below the seabed of wells in offshore and land-based drilling applications is disclosed. The present invention combines a base fluid of lesse... | 08/22/2006 |
| 7083005 | Apparatus and method of drilling with casing The present invention generally relates to methods for drilling a subsea wellbore and landing a casing mandrel in a subsea wellhead. In one aspect, a method of drilling a subsea wellbore with casing is provided. The method includes placing a string of casing with a ... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7082822 | Internal riser inspection device and methods of using same An inspection apparatus includes an inspection unit that is lowered into vertically supported pipe filled with seawater. The apparatus includes a pipe weld location detector module carried by the inspection unit. The apparatus also includes a rotating time of flight... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7063160 | Non-orienting tubing hanger system with a flow cage In a subsea wellhead assembly, a tubing hanger in communication with the subsea well has a hanger port extending through its side. A diverter surrounds the tubing hanger and diverts well fluid transmitted from the hanger port around a portion of the tubing hanger. T... | 06/20/2006 |
| 7055623 | Method for the drilling of the initial phase of deep water oil wells with an underwater well head Improved method for the drilling of the initial phase of deep water oil wells with an underwater well head consisting in the positioning and cementation of the conductor pipe and anchorage casing by means of a single drilling phase. A tapered hole (with a double dia... | 06/06/2006 |
| 7048050 | Method and apparatus for cementing drill strings in place for one pass drilling and completion of oil and gas wells The steel drill string attached to a drilling bit during typical rotary drilling operations used to drill oil and gas wells is used for a second purpose as the casing that is cemented in place during typical oil and gas well completions. Methods of operation are des... | 05/23/2006 |
| 7036610 | Apparatus and method for completing oil and gas wells A method of drilling and completing a wellbore in a geological formation to produce hydrocarbons from a well comprising at least the following four steps: drilling the well with a retrievable drill bit attached to a casing; removing the retrievable drill bit from th... | 05/02/2006 |
