ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,281,537, issued on April 22, was assigned to ConocoPhillips Co. (Houston).
"Helical coil annular access plug and abandonment" was invented by Randall S. Shafer (Houston).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A method for creating access to annular spacing during plug and abandonment operations is described. Specifically, helical coils are cut into one or more casings before the plugging material is set. The plugging material is able to exit the helical coils, forming multiple, small rock-to-rock seals."
The patent was filed on Jan. 5, 2024, under Application No. 18/405,574.
*For further information, including images, charts and tables, please v...