ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co. awarded Schlumberger and Weatherford International licenses for its patented Internal Shunt Alternate Path (ISAPT) technology.
Schlumberger was awarded the license for ISAPT sand screens to improve gravel packing of cased and openhole completion wells.
ISAPT screens provides internal alternate flow paths, called shunt tubes, in the downhole tool to gravel pack the producing sections of a well. The shunt tubes enable the ISAPT gravel packing operation to proceed even if sand prematurely blocks the well annulus, which would force a conventional packing operation to shut down. ISAPT shunt tubes divert gravel slurry around sand blockages to fill voids in the annulus until a complete pack is in place.
Weatherford was awarded the license for ISAPT packers for openhole completions.
ISAPT and its openhole zonal isolation packers extend gravel packing capabilities from a previous limit of about 3000ft to more than 5000ft. ISAPT packers are specially designed to be used with ISAPT screens, enabling the isolation of multiple water-bearing zones from the production well during openhole gravel packing operations in sand-prone reservoirs.
"Advances in controllable openhole completions continue to be a focus area for ExxonMobil, as many deepwater developments utilize openhole completions to maximize reservoir deliverability," said Sara N. Ortwein, president of ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co. " ISAPT sand control screens and ISAPT packers provide the additional flexibility required to develop challenging reservoirs."