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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is based on the 18/911908 application originally filed October 10, 2024.
Amended claims 1-24, filed July 25, 2026, are pending and have been fully considered. Claims 12-24 are withdrawn from consideration due to being drawn to a nonelected invention.
Applicant's request for reconsideration of the finality of the rejection of the last Office action is persuasive because the claimed amount (at least one 1 ppbv) of a hydrocarbon isotopologue having at least three deuterium atoms is above the amount of such hydrocarbon disclosed in applied prior art reference Peterson et al. (US 2018/0321215). Therefore, the finality of the action dated May 29, 2026 is withdrawn. However, this new action clearly addresses all of the claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Peterson et al. (US 2018/0321215) hereinafter “Peterson” in view of Dusterhoft et al. (US 2019/0234194).
Regarding Claims 1-11
Peterson discloses in paragraph 0002, methods that utilize isotopic signatures, such as clumped isotope signatures and/or position specific isotope signatures, to determine characteristics of hydrocarbon sources.
Peterson discloses in paragraph 0046, the methods and techniques take advantage of isotopologue geochemistry of hydrocarbon fluids and allow for the direct linking of a sample of a produced or seeped volatile or nonvolatile hydrocarbon fluid to a source material. The methods and techniques described herein generally comprise measuring a clumped isotope signature or a position specific isotope signature of a hydrocarbon species in a sample of hydrocarbon fluid to determine a measured or analytical signature. The measured/analytical signature can then be compared with or integrated into a modeled signature to determine characteristics of the source material (such as source maturity, hydrocarbon generation progress and rate, alteration, and/or mixing). The modeled signatures may be prepared from models that reflect different source compositions and isotopic structures, different kinetic processes, and/or different elements of a basin's history as described further herein. Thus, the modeled signature can be used to predict specific isotopic signatures of hydrocarbon fluids (such as hydrocarbon gases) from different starting source materials, and the closer the alignment between the modeled/predicted signature and the measured/analytical signature the more direct correlation can be made the sample and hydrocarbon source.
Peterson discloses in paragraph 0049, multiply substituted isotopologue geochemistry is based on the variation in the distribution of isotopes within a molecule that gives rise to molecules that are identical in their elemental compositions, but that may differ in the isotopic composition of individual atoms within that molecule. These species are called isotopologues. For example, there are three isotopologues of nitrogen (14N2, 15N14N, and 15N2). An isotopologue in which two or more rare isotopes are present is called a multiply-substituted isotopologue and when the rare isotopes are in close proximity (i.e., isotopic “clumps”) the isotopologue is called a clumped isotope (e.g., 15N2). Hydrocarbon isotopologues involve hydrocarbon compounds (e.g., those that contain carbon and hydrogen atoms) that have natural isotopes of 12C, 13C, 1H, or H (i.e., deuterium or “D”). 12C represents about 98.93 mol % of the total carbon on Earth, while 13C forms the remaining about 1.07 mol %. Similarly, the isotopic abundance of 1H on earth is about 99.985 mol % while deuterium has an abundance of about 0.015 mol %. Common volatile hydrocarbons have large numbers of isotopologues, even when considering only the stable isotopes. For example, methane has 10 isotopologues, ethane has 36 isotopologues, and propane has 216 isotopologues. Common isotopologues of methane include, for example, 13CH3D or 12CH4. In addition to the number of rare isotopes in an isotopologue, the distribution (i.e., position) of the rare isotopes in the molecule can also provide information about the molecule. For example, in a linear hydrocarbon with three or more carbon atoms (e.g., n-propane or n-butane), the rare isotope can take either a central or terminal (i.e., end of molecule) position. Similarly, rare isotopes of hydrogen can occupy different positions within the molecule. As the size of the hydrocarbon compound increases, the number of positions in which the rare isotopes can be situated increases. This effect is called the position specific isotope effect or isotopomer geochemistry.
It is to be noted, Peterson discloses common isotopologues that are naturally present in natural gas but fails to further disclose the addition of tracer/markers.
However, it is known in the art to add tracers/markers that contain isotopologues to natural gas in order for the tracers/markers to aid in maintaining a gaseous state and monitoring various characteristics and fluids in the well, as taught by Dusterhoft.
Dusterhoft discloses in the abstract, a method and a system for pressurizing a reservoir volume including fluid in a formation with a parent well extending through the formation includes storing liquefied natural gas (LNG) at an on-site location of the parent well, de-liquefying the LNG to form natural gas at the on-site location and injecting the natural gas into the parent well to pressurize the reservoir volume through the parent well.
Dusterhoft discloses in paragraph 0035, well and reservoir monitoring of the first stream of de-liquefied LNG, among other components within the well and formation, can be traced and monitored using tracers. In general, tracers are chemical compounds that are injected into the well to trace and analyze the flow of fluids in the well and/or a formation during various operations, such as reservoir pressurization and fluid recovery. The tracers can observe and track well and reservoir conditions, such as, the injection profile of injected fluids, the extent of injected fluid recovery, the influx of water, the amount of fluids produced from the well, the location of fractures, and the like.
Dusterhoft further discloses in paragraph 0036, the tracers can include various tracer compounds including tritiated methane (CH3T), CH2TCH3; 2-t propane (CH3CHTCH3) Krypton 85 (85Kr), radio-carbon dioxide (14CO2), xenon-133 (133Xe), xenon-127 (127Xe), perfluorodimethylmethylcyclohexane (PDMCH), perfluoromethylcyclopentane (PMCP), Perfluoromethylcyclohexane (PMCH), 1,2-perfluorodimethylcyclohexane (1,2-PDMCH), 1,3-perfluorodimethylcyclohexane (1,3-PDMCH), perfluoroethyl-cyclohexane (PECH), freon-11, freon-12, freon-113, perdeuterated methane (CD4), d6-ethane (C2D6), d6-ethane (C3D8), nitrogen (N2), carbon dioxide, helium, and volatile surfactants, among other tracers, that maintain a gaseous state under downhole conditions and that include low detection limits and resistant to downhole conditions. The tracers can include various types of tracers including, but not limited to, radioactive tracers, non-radioactive tracers, noble gas tracers, chemical tracers, and the like.
Dusterhoft discloses in paragraph 0038, the detection limits may include, for example, at about five (5) parts per trillion to about 1,000 parts per million and more.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art add the tracers/markers that contain isotopologues of Dusterhoft to the natural gas of Peterson. The motivation to do so is the addition of tracers/markers to natural gas aid in maintaining a gaseous state and monitoring various characteristics and fluids in the well.
Peterson discloses in paragraph 0153, the natural gas is under wetness and dryness.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Dusterhoft et al. (US 2020/0340341) discloses in the abstract, a method and system for pressurizing and stimulating a formation with a parent well therethrough, the method including storing and de-liquefying liquefied natural gas (LNG) at an on-site location near the parent well, injecting a first stream of de-liquefied LNG into the parent well to pressurize the formation, and injecting a second stream of de-liquefied LNG into the parent well at a fracturing pressure sufficient to fracture the pressurized formation. Dusterhoft further discloses in paragraph 0036, the tracers can include various tracer compounds including tritiated methane (CH3T), CH2TCH3; 2-t propane (CH3CHTCH3) Krypton 85 (85Kr), radio-carbon dioxide (14CO2), xenon-133 (133Xe), xenon-127 (127Xe), perfluorodimethylmethylcyclohexane (PDMCH), perfluoromethylcyclopentane (PMCP), Perfluoromethylcyclohexane (PMCH), 1,2-perfluorodimethylcyclohexane (1,2-PDMCH), 1,3-perfluorodimethylcyclohexane (1,3-PDMCH), perfluoroethyl-cyclohexane (PECH), freon-11, freon-12, freon-113, perdeuterated methane (CD4), d6-ethane (C2D6), d6-ethane (C3D8 3), nitrogen (N2), carbon dioxide, helium, and volatile surfactants, among other tracers, that maintain a gaseous state under downhole conditions and that include low detection limits and resistant to downhole conditions. The tracers can include various types of tracers including, but not limited to, radioactive tracers, non-radioactive tracers, noble gas tracers, chemical tracers, and the like.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LATOSHA D HINES whose telephone number is (571)270-5551. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Prem Singh can be reached at 571-272-6381. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Latosha Hines/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1771
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