DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Application Status/ Amendment
Claims 1-20 are presented for examination based on the amendment filed 01/28/2026 Claims 1, 8, and 15 are amended.
The specification objections are withdrawn due to applicant amendments.
The 35 USC 103 rejection is maintained and modified to address the amended claim language.
Response to arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 1-2, filed 1/28/2026 with respect to claims 1, 8, and 15 have been fully considered and are persuasive. However, applicant's arguments are moot in view of the new ground of rejections for the amended claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4, 6-11, 13-18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al., US 6,714,871 Bl (Xu) in view of Zhang et al., US 2009/0259446 Al (Zhang) in further view of Liu et al., Characterization of Architectural Elements of Ordovician Fractured-cavernous Carbonate Reservoirs (Liu).
Claim 1.
Xu teaches A computer-implemented method, comprising: determining an occurrence of a vugular pore system (VPS) in a plurality of layers of a carbonate reservoir based on data collected from a plurality of wells in the carbonate reservoir; (Xu Col 3 Lines 42-47 “The process starts, as shown at STlOO, by receiving as input a description of the porosity distribution of the reservoir. Next, several vuggy and nonvuggy zones are identified in the description ST102). For all the zones, permeability modeled with matrix porosity or zero vug porosity, Ka, is determined”)
determining a spatial distribution of a plurality of VPS intensity classes of the VPS across the plurality of layers of the carbonate reservoir using at least one of well log data, borehole image log data, production log data, or seismic acoustic impedance data from the plurality of wells, wherein each of the plurality of VPS intensity classes comprises a respective vugular pore size within a respective depth interval of a respective well of the plurality of wells, (Xu Col 3 Lines 62-67 “The micro-resistivity image log has the resolution necessary to view the texture of the formation surrounding the borehole, so that vugs can be identified. Through a transformation process, which will be described later, a porosity map of the reservoir can be generated from the micro-resistivity image log.”) {EXAMINERS NOTE: This is also taught by Zhang (introduced later).}
and wherein each of the plurality of VPS intensity classes corresponds to a respective fluid flow rate of one or more fluid flow rates of the respective well; (Xu Col 3 Line 10) “vug porosity has an exponential relation to permeability”) {Examiners note: Zones with larger/more connected zugs will correspond to higher fluid flow rates}.
Xu does not explicitly teach, but Zhang teaches constructing a three-dimensional (3D) VPS intensity distribution model of the VPS using the spatial distribution of the plurality of VPS intensity classes of the VPS across the plurality of layers of the carbonate reservoir; (Zhang Fig 5b “Generate Realizations of Numerical Pseudocores by merging the collected digital core data and collected borehole imaging log Data:” (0089) “regrid the Cartisian numerical pseudocore model generated using the previous steps into a radial grid in the form of cylindrical coordinates”). {EXAMINERS NOTE: 3-D modeling correlates to numerical pseudocores.}
Xu and Zhang are analogous to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of endeavor of quantifying vuggy carbonates.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Xu and Zhang before him or her, to modify the spatial distribution of VPS classes of Xu with the 3-dimensional model of Zhang to deal with categorical and continuous variable training images and reduce ram cast (Zhang 0036).
Zhang also teaches and providing the 3D VPS intensity distribution model for at least one of reservoir volumetric estimation, reservoir history matching, or reservoir quality prediction of the carbonate reservoir (Zhang 0090 “Numerical simulations of fluid flow, e.g. water flooding, are carried out on the constructed pseudo-core to estimate important parameters, such as water cut, oil recovery factor and recovery efficiency. A look-up table of capillary pressure and relative permeability for different facies in the numerical pseudocore provides values that are fed into a flow simulator”) {Examiners note: Probability trends is taught by Liu as shown below.}
determining, from the seismic acoustic impedance data from the plurality of wells, probability trends of the occurrence of VPS: (Liu Pg. 319 4th Paragraph) “In practice, impedance data corresponding to all types of caverns were extracted in S48 unit to calculate the developmental probability curves of certain cavern-type reservoir architectural elements against acoustic impedance By this means, impedance data volume was transformed into developmental probability volume of different types of cavern architectural elements. The resulting information, known as impedance probability data volume of cavern development, is then used as a constraint in modeling.”
Xu, Zhang, and Liu are analogous to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of endeavor of quantifying vuggy carbonates.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Xu, Zhang, and Liu before him or her, to modify the spatial distribution of VPS classes of Xu with the 3-dimensional model of Zhang and the probability trends of Liu in order to easier identify reservoir elements. (Liu Pg. 316 10th paragraph)
Claim 2.
Xu does not teach but Zhang teaches The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, further comprising: generating a plurality of porosity values of each intensity class of the plurality of VPS intensity classes using second data from the plurality of wells, wherein the second data comprise at least one of whole-core computed tomography (CT) scan data, the borehole image log data, or nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) log data from the plurality of wells; (Zhang Gif 5a “Warp Full bore Images into Scaled Cylindrical Shapes: To generate 3D numerical pseudocores, warp the 2d full bore images to their original 30 shape, wherein borehole diameter in known. This warped full-bore image will be taken as hard data to constrain the numerical pseudocore.” (Xu Fig 5) “obtain a neutron log, ~ a density log, and a sonic log.” {Examiners note: Zhang generate porosity values for each vug facies class by integrating whole core ct scans and core hole image data, Zu generates porosity values from neutron/sonic logs.}
and constructing a 3D VPS porosity model of the VPS using the plurality of porosity values of each intensity class of the plurality of VPS intensity classes. (Zhang Fig 5b “Convert the full-bore image from 2 facies to 3 facies so that vugs, conductive patches and rock matrix in the digital rock have been identified. . . regrid the Cartisian numerical pseudocore model generated using the previous steps into a radial grid in the form of cylindrical coordinates. At each Cartesian voxel, using a constant porosity or permeability according to its rock type”)
Xu and Zhang are analogous to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of endeavor of quantifying vuggy carbonates.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Xu and Zhang before him or her, to modify the spatial distribution of VPS classes of Xu with the 3-dimensional model of Zhang to deal with categorical and continuous variable training images and reduce ram cast (Zhang 0036).
Claim 3.
Modified Xu with Zhang teaches The computer-implemented method according to claim 2, wherein after constructing the 3D VPS porosity model of the VPS, the method further comprises: transforming the plurality of porosity values of each VPS intensity class into a plurality of permeability values of each VPS intensity class; (Xu Fig 5 “compute permeability (k) as follows
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” (ko is permeability modeled with matrix porosity, vug is vug porosity) (Col 3 Line 10) “vug porosity has an exponential relation to permeability”) (Zhang 0089 “The averaged porosity is obtained by arithmetically averaging all porosity of the Cartesian voxels within the cell; the permeability is obtained by performing geometric average.”) {EXAMINERS NOTE: Xu provides explicit transformation from porosity to permeability; Zhang converts porosity values into permeability by assigning each voxel a permeability.}
and constructing a 3D VPS permeability model of the VPS using the plurality of permeability values of each VPS intensity class. (Zhang 0089 “assign a constant porosity or permeability according to its rock type (matrix, vug, or conductive patch ). . . The averaged porosity is obtained by arithmetically averaging all porosity of the Cartesian voxels within the cell; the permeability is obtained by performing geometric average.”)
Xu and Zhang are analogous to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of endeavor of quantifying vuggy carbonates.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Xu and Zhang before him or her, to modify the spatial distribution of VPS classes of Xu with the 3-dimensional model of Zhang to deal with categorical and continuous variable training images and reduce ram cast (Zhang 0036).
Claim 4.
Modified Xu with Zhang teaches The computer-implemented method according to claim 3, wherein transforming the plurality of porosity values of each VPS intensity class into the plurality of permeability values of each VPS intensity class is based on third data from the plurality of wells, wherein the third data comprise at least one of the production log data, one or more well tests, the whole-core CT scan data, or core data from the plurality of wells. (Xu Col 6 Lines 1-9 “calibrating permeability to determine the constants a, b, and c in equation . . . The core permeability is obtained by taking actual samples of the formation at various depths along the borehole and measuring the permeability of the samples in a laboratory.” (Zhang 0090 “The capillary pressure and relative permeability could be obtained from SCAL or MICP data (if available) of core samples with the same rock type”)) {Examiners note: Xu implies use of production data to determine constants (production log data) Zhang shows use of core data from other wells.}
Claim 6.
Modified Xu with Zhang teaches The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, further comprising: generating a plurality of water saturation (Sw) to capillary pressure (Pc) functions of each VPS intensity class using special core analysis (SCAL) data of vugular pore samples of the VPS and numerical Sw simulation of a plurality of depth intervals of the VPS; and constructing a 3D VPS Sw model using the plurality of Sw to Pc functions of each VPS intensity class. (Zhang 0090 “Numerical simulations of fluid flow, e.g. water flooding, are carried out on the constructed pseudo-core to estimate important parameters, such as water cut, oil recovery factor and recovery efficiency. A look-up table of capillary pressure and relative permeability for different facies in the numerical pseudocore provides values that are fed into a flow simulator . . . The capillary pressure and relative permeability could be obtained from SCAL or MICP data.”) {EXAMINERS NOTE: Uses SCAL data and numerical simulations to derive capillary pressure and permeability relationships for different facies. These relationships provide Sw-Pc functions for each class, they are used in the construction of the 3d model }
Xu and Zhang are analogous to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of endeavor of quantifying vuggy carbonates.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Xu and Zhang before him or her, to modify the spatial distribution of VPS classes of Xu with the 3-dimensional model of Zhang to deal with categorical and continuous variable training images and reduce ram cast (Zhang 0036).
Claim 7.
Modified Xu with Zhang teaches The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the data collected from the plurality of wells for determining the occurrence of the VPS in the plurality of layers of the carbonate reservoir comprise at least one of the borehole image log data, caliper log data, delta caliper (DCAL) log data, production flow meter log data, porosity log data, or core data from the plurality of wells. From the above list of alternatives, the Examiner is selecting “borehole image log data.” (Xu Col 3 Lines 59-66 “The micro resistivity image log is a series of curves ( or data) representing relative changes of resistivity around a borehole penetrating the reservoir. . . Through a transformation process, which will be described later, a porosity map of the reservoir can be generated from the micro-resistivity image log. (Xu col 5 Lines 5-9) “PXND is neutron-density, cross plot porosity or any porosity data that matches with core data. Neutron-density, cross plot porosity is obtained by plotting density and neutron porosity logs against each other.”
Claim 8
Xu teaches A non-transitory, computer-readable medium, storing one or more instructions executable by a computer system to perform operations comprising: determining an occurrence of a vugular pore system (VPS) in a plurality of layers of a carbonate reservoir based on data collected from a plurality of wells in the carbonate reservoir; (Xu Col 3 Lines 42-47 “The process starts, as shown at STlOO, by receiving as input a description of the porosity distribution of the reservoir. Next, several vuggy and nonvuggy zones are identified in the description ST102). For all the zones, permeability modeled with matrix porosity or zero vug porosity, Ka, is determined”)
determining a spatial distribution of a plurality of VPS intensity classes of the VPS across the plurality of layers of the carbonate reservoir using at least one of well log data, borehole image log data, production log data, or seismic acoustic impedance data from the plurality of wells, wherein each of the plurality of VPS intensity classes comprises a respective vugular pore size within a respective depth interval of a respective well of the plurality of wells, (Xu Col 3 Lines 62-67 “The micro-resistivity image log has the resolution necessary to view the texture of the formation surrounding the borehole, so that vugs can be identified. Through a transformation process, which will be described later, a porosity map of the reservoir can be generated from the micro-resistivity image log.”) {EXAMINERS NOTE: This is also taught by Zhang (introduced later).}
and wherein each of the plurality of VPS intensity classes corresponds to a respective fluid flow rate of one or more fluid flow rates of the respective well; (Xu Col 3 Line 10) “vug porosity has an exponential relation to permeability”) {Examiners note: Zones with larger/more connected zugs will correspond to higher fluid flow rates}
Xu does not explicitly teach, but Zhang teaches constructing a three-dimensional (3D) VPS intensity distribution model of the VPS using the spatial distribution of the plurality of VPS intensity classes of the VPS across the plurality of layers of the carbonate reservoir; (Zhang Fig 5b “Generate Realizations of Numerical Pseudocores by merging the collected digital core data and collected borehole imaging log Data:” (0089) “regrid the Cartisian numerical pseudocore model generated using the previous steps into a radial grid in the form of cylindrical coordinates”). {EXAMINERS NOTE: 3-D modeling correlates to numerical pseudocores.}
Xu and Zhang are analogous to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of endeavor of quantifying vuggy carbonates.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Xu and Zhang before him or her, to modify the spatial distribution of VPS classes of Xu with the 3-dimensional model of Zhang to deal with categorical and continuous variable training images and reduce ram cast (Zhang 0036).
Zhang also teaches and providing the 3D VPS intensity distribution model for at least one of reservoir volumetric estimation, reservoir history matching, or reservoir quality prediction of the carbonate reservoir (Zhang 0090 “Numerical simulations of fluid flow, e.g. water flooding, are carried out on the constructed pseudo-core to estimate important parameters, such as water cut, oil recovery factor and recovery efficiency. A look-up table of capillary pressure and relative permeability for different facies in the numerical pseudocore provides values that are fed into a flow simulator”) {Examiners note: Probability trends is taught by Liu as shown below.}
determining, from the seismic acoustic impedance data from the plurality of wells, probability trends of the occurrence of VPS: (Liu Pg. 319 4th Paragraph) “In practice, impedance data corresponding to all types of caverns were extracted in S48 unit to calculate the developmental probability curves of certain cavern-type reservoir architectural elements against acoustic impedance By this means, impedance data volume was transformed into developmental probability volume of different types of cavern architectural elements. The resulting information, known as impedance probability data volume of cavern development, is then used as a constraint in modeling.”
Xu, Zhang, and Liu are analogous to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of endeavor of quantifying vuggy carbonates.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Xu, Zhang, and Liu before him or her, to modify the spatial distribution of VPS classes of Xu with the 3-dimensional model of Zhang and the probability trends of Liu in order to easier identify reservoir elements. (Liu Pg. 316 10th paragraph)Claims 9-14
Claims 9-14 are substantially similar to claims 2-7 and are rejected for the same reasons.
Claim 15
Xu Teaches A computer-implemented system, comprising: determining an occurrence of a vugular pore system (VPS) in a plurality of layers of a carbonate reservoir based on data collected from a plurality of wells in the carbonate reservoir; (Xu Col 3 Lines 42-47 “The process starts, as shown at STlOO, by receiving as input a description of the porosity distribution of the reservoir. Next, several vuggy and nonvuggy zones are identified in the description ST102). For all the zones, permeability modeled with matrix porosity or zero vug porosity, Ka, is determined”)
determining a spatial distribution of a plurality of VPS intensity classes of the VPS across the plurality of layers of the carbonate reservoir using at least one of well log data, borehole image log data, production log data, or seismic acoustic impedance data from the plurality of wells, wherein each of the plurality of VPS intensity classes comprises a respective vugular pore size within a respective depth interval of a respective well of the plurality of wells, (Xu Col 3 Lines 62-67 “The micro-resistivity image log has the resolution necessary to view the texture of the formation surrounding the borehole, so that vugs can be identified. Through a transformation process, which will be described later, a porosity map of the reservoir can be generated from the micro-resistivity image log.”) {EXAMINERS NOTE: This is also taught by Zhang (introduced later).}
and wherein each of the plurality of VPS intensity classes corresponds to a respective fluid flow rate of one or more fluid flow rates of the respective well; (Xu Col 3 Line 10) “vug porosity has an exponential relation to permeability”) {Examiners note: Zones with larger/more connected zugs will correspond to higher fluid flow rates}
Xu does not explicitly teach, but Zhang teaches constructing a three-dimensional (3D) VPS intensity distribution model of the VPS using the spatial distribution of the plurality of VPS intensity classes of the VPS across the plurality of layers of the carbonate reservoir; (Zhang Fig 5b “Generate Realizations of Numerical Pseudocores by merging the collected digital core data and collected borehole imaging log Data:” (0089) “regrid the Cartisian numerical pseudocore model generated using the previous steps into a radial grid in the form of cylindrical coordinates”). {EXAMINERS NOTE: 3-D modeling correlates to numerical pseudocores.}
Xu and Zhang are analogous to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of endeavor of quantifying vuggy carbonates.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Xu and Zhang before him or her, to modify the spatial distribution of VPS classes of Xu with the 3-dimensional model of Zhang to deal with categorical and continuous variable training images and reduce ram cast (Zhang 0036).
Zhang also teaches and providing the 3D VPS intensity distribution model for at least one of reservoir volumetric estimation, reservoir history matching, or reservoir quality prediction of the carbonate reservoir (Zhang 0090 “Numerical simulations of fluid flow, e.g. water flooding, are carried out on the constructed pseudo-core to estimate important parameters, such as water cut, oil recovery factor and recovery efficiency. A look-up table of capillary pressure and relative permeability for different facies in the numerical pseudocore provides values that are fed into a flow simulator”) {Examiners note: Probability trends is taught by Liu as shown below.}
determining, from the seismic acoustic impedance data from the plurality of wells, probability trends of the occurrence of VPS: (Liu Pg. 319 4th Paragraph) “In practice, impedance data corresponding to all types of caverns were extracted in S48 unit to calculate the developmental probability curves of certain cavern-type reservoir architectural elements against acoustic impedance By this means, impedance data volume was transformed into developmental probability volume of different types of cavern architectural elements. The resulting information, known as impedance probability data volume of cavern development, is then used as a constraint in modeling.”
Xu, Zhang, and Liu are analogous to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of endeavor of quantifying vuggy carbonates.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Xu, Zhang, and Liu before him or her, to modify the spatial distribution of VPS classes of Xu with the 3-dimensional model of Zhang and the probability trends of Liu in order to easier identify reservoir elements. (Liu Pg. 316 10th paragraph)
Claims 16-18:
Claims 16-18, and 20 are substantially similar to claims 2-6 and are rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 5, 12, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al., US 6,714,871 Bl (Xu) in view of Zhang et al., US 2009/0259446 Al (Zhang) in further view of Liu et al., Characterization of Architectural Elements of Ordovician Fractured-cavernous Carbonate Reservoirs (Liu) in further view of Guerillot et al., US 6,381,543 Bl (Guerillot).
Claim 5.
Modified Xu with Zhang does not exility teach, but Guerillot teaches The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein determining the spatial distribution of the plurality of VPS intensity classes of the VPS using at least one of the well log data, the borehole image log data, the production log data, or the seismic acoustic impedance data from the plurality of wells comprises determining the spatial distribution of the plurality of VPS intensity classes of the VPS using a plurality of acoustic impedance values in the seismic acoustic impedance data, and wherein the plurality of acoustic impedance values are smaller than a predetermined value. (Guerillot Col 1lines 30-31) “The most commonly used parameter for inversion is the acoustic impedance of the medium.” (col 2 Lines 35-42) “The geologic interfaces located by seismic reflection means are the boundary layers between the media having different acoustic impedances. (Col 2 Lines 56-58) “As above, the medium is considered to be an assembly of sections sliced vertically and having each an impedance value.” {Examiners note: Guerillot teaches using seismic-derived acoustic-impedance values as primary variables for inversion and model updates; low-impedance sections correspond to high-porosity, high-permeability zones. Modelers select cells whose acoustic-impedance values fall below a threshold (a “predetermined value”) to define porous or vuggy facies. }
Xu, Zhang, Liu and Guerillot are analogous to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of endeavor of quantifying vuggy carbonates.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Xu, Zhang, Liu, and Guerillot before him or her, to modify the spatial distribution of VPS classes of Xu with the 3-dimensional model of Zhang and the probability trends of Liu with the acoustic impedance data of Guerillot to “give better descriptions of the inner architecture of reservoirs.” as suggested in Guerillot Col 1 Lines 13-14.Claims 12, and 19 Claims 12, and 19 are substantially similar to claim 5 and are rejected for the same reasons.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/JOHN DAVID HAGLER/Examiner, Art Unit 2189
/REHANA PERVEEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2189
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