US Patent Issued to CENOVUS ENERGY on Feb. 3 for "Iron oxide for in-situ oil upgrading via deasphalting" (Canadian Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 3 -- United States Patent no. 12,540,537, issued on Feb. 3, was assigned to CENOVUS ENERGY INC. (Calgary, Canada).

"Iron oxide for in-situ oil upgrading via deasphalting" was invented by Amos Ben-Zvi (Calgary, Canada), Nashaat Nassar (Calgary, Canada), Paulina Morasse (Calgary, Canada) and Lukemon Adetunji (Calgary, Canada).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A method for producing hydrocarbons from a subterranean reservoir, the method comprising the steps of: injecting steam into the subterranean reservoir; making at least two injections of an iron oxide asphaltene-sorbent, with each injection separated in time from the one prior; allowing residence time for the iron oxide as...