HOUSTON, TEXAS, August 26, 2009 -- Weatherford International Ltd. (NYSE: WFT) today announced that it has been awarded three significant patents for its Vapor Desorption technology. These patents were co-authored by Pat Lasswell of Weatherford Laboratories and Kent Newsham of Apache Corporation, and are the direct result of an extended R&D study.
The patents relate to the use of an electronically controlled humidity chamber to measure extended range air/brine capillary pressure on preserved rock fabrics. This analyses system can be used with both conventional and unconventional resource plays to provide superior pore structure information. With enhanced data quality, economic assessments are more accurate and reliable.
The patents cover the extended range vapor desorption analysis as well as applications which relate to the transform of mercury injection data and to the extension of electrical properties determinations in difficult resource applications. The specific descriptions of each of the three patents involved are as follows:
Patent 7171843 (2-6-2007) concerns the transform of mercury injection capillary pressure data through the use of high pressure vapor desorption capillary pressure data; through the integration of air/brine vapor desorption capillary pressure analyses data, mercury injection data can be transformed or modified to yield pore throat and pore volume capillary pressure response that is more representative than traditional methods.
Patent 7406857 (8-5-2008) covers the analyses method and procedural outline for obtaining high pressure air/brine vapor desorption capillary pressure through the use of an electronically controlled humidity chamber. The pressure range equals or exceeds that obtained with high pressure mercury injection analyses.
Patent 7453266 (11-18-2008) combines air/brine vapor desorption capillary pressure analyses with electrical properties (resistivity index) investigations. This process extends the desaturation range of resistivity index investigations from 1,000 psi to greater than 15,000 psi. As a result, the analyses programs can be extended to include accurate electrical assessment of very low porosity tight gas sand materials.
Weatherford is a Swiss-based, multi-national oilfield service company. It is one of the largest global providers of innovative mechanical solutions, technology and services for the drilling and production sectors of the oil and gas industry. Weatherford operates in over 100 countries and employs over 50,000 people worldwide.
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Contacts:
Camille Lupton, Weatherford Laboratories +1.832.237.4000
Christine Mathers, Media Relations +1.713.297.2689