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 .
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 08/31/2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of any patent granted on Application Number 17/707,559 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 08/21/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Rodriguez (20240060419) has an effectively filed date of 12/17/2020 due to the foreign priority of application AU 2020904710. This is before the priority date of the instant application of 03/29/2021. Therefore, Rodriguez is valid prior art, and the rejections stand under 35 U.S.C. 103.
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.
Claims 1-4, 12, 13-16, and 18-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rodriguez (US 20240060419 A1) as modified by Ruhle (US 20210231835 A1).
With respect to claims 1, 13, and 18,
Rodriguez teaches,
at least one processor; and one or more tangible non-transitory computer readable storage media upon which is encoded machine-readable code that when executed is configured so that the system carries out a method comprising: (Para. [0115] teaches “As shown in FIG. 8, the computing system 704 may include a processor 802, a memory 804, and input/output devices 806. These components communicate via a bus 808. The memory 804 stores instructions executed by the processor 802 to perform the methods as described herein.”)
obtaining mechanical specific energy (MSE) values for each of a plurality of boreholes traversing one or more geological formations; (Para. [0041] teaches “In accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure an exemplary method for determining a model of rock hardness for a mining environment includes: [0042] 1) determining a mean of a drilling variable (e.g. MSE) of a plurality of drilled holes.”)
grouping two or more boreholes of the plurality of boreholes based on MSE values, wherein at least a portion of a first borehole of the plurality of boreholes is grouped with at least a portion of at least a second borehole of the plurality of boreholes; (Para. [0023] teaches “applying, by the one or more computing systems, the plurality of characteristic measures to a model, wherein the model is determined from the unsupervised learning of the method of any one of the previous embodiments and assigning at least one depth of the drill hole or the drill hole to a group of the model determined by the unsupervised learning.” Para. [0028] teaches “assigning the drill hole to the group of the model determined by the unsupervised learning may comprise: assigning, by the one or more computing systems, each depth of the drill hole to one of the groups of the model; determining, by the one or more computing systems, a group of the model that corresponds to the majority of the depths of the drill hole; and assigning, by the one or more computing systems, the determined group that corresponds to the majority of the depths of the drill hole to the drill hole.”(i.e. each assigning each borehole to a group based on portions of the borehole ))
determining one or more parameters of a well completion scenario for at least a portion of the first and second boreholes, wherein the well completion scenario is based at least in part on the grouping of two or more boreholes of the plurality of boreholes based on MSE values; (Para. [0088] teaches “At step 310, the drilling variable or variables of an individual drill hole (e.g. MSE at each observation depth) of the collection of drill holes is/are considered and their distribution compared to a cross-hole variable, to determine a characteristic measure.” Para. [0132] teaches “In some embodiments, the at least one depth of the individual drill hole or the individual drill hole is added to the group of the model determined from unsupervised learning 112. In one example, the estimate of rock hardness for the individual drill hole and/or the estimates of the rock hardness at each depth of the individual drill hole may be added to rock hardness distribution model 114. Updating rock hardness distribution model 114 in response to estimate/s of rock hardness for individual drill holes output from step 734 may assist in reducing inaccuracies in identifying and classifying of rock types within the mining environment.” ((i.e. Rock hardness is viewed as a parameter of the well completion scenario.)
and completing or recompleting a plurality of wells based on the well completion scenario, ((Para. [0136] teaches “Similarly a controller of a crusher and/or a controller of a grinder may vary operation of the crusher/grinder based on the estimated rock hardness.” (i.e. controlling the crusher or grinder determines how the drill holes are drilled and is therefore viewed as completing the wells.)
Rodriguez does not explicitly teach,
wherein the completing or recompleting of each of the plurality of wells occurs simultaneously or substantially simultaneously.
Ruhle teaches,
wherein the completing or recompleting of each of the plurality of wells occurs simultaneously or substantially simultaneously. (Para. [0064] “Specifically, the method shown in FIG. 5 can account for a large number of fracturing completion and reservoir parameters that are controlled in completing multiple wellbores simultaneously.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ruhle wherein the completing or recompleting of each of the plurality of wells occurs simultaneously or substantially simultaneously such as that of Rodriguez.
One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to modify Ruhle, because completing the plurality of wells at the same time would maximize efficiency and accelerate production of the system as more work is getting done.
With respect to claims 2, 14, and 19,
Rodriguez further teaches,
wherein the MSE values are obtained by calculating MSE based on drilling data for the plurality of boreholes. (Para. [0012] teaches “In some embodiments, the at least one drilling variable for a plurality of drilled holes across a plurality of depths may comprise a measure of mechanical specific energy (MSE). The at least one measure of the first type and/or the second type may be based on MSE.”)
With respect to claims 3, 15, and 20,
Rodriguez further teaches,
wherein the grouping of two or more boreholes is at least in part based on grouping the portions of the first and second borehole having the same or similar MSE values as determined by one selected from the group consisting of MSE average values, MSE standard deviation, MSE variance, MSE median, shape of the cumulative MSE distribution curve, and any combination of two or more of the foregoing. (Para(s). [0013 & 0014] teach “In some embodiments, the distribution of a related or the same drilling variable across a plurality of the drilled holes may be divided into a plurality of groups and the at least one measure of the first type may be a proportion of said observations of a drill hole that are within each group. The plurality of groups may be based on variations from a mean of the drilling variable across the plurality of drilled holes. In some embodiments, the at least one measure of a second type may comprise one or more of a minimum value, a median value, a mean value, a maximum value, a first quartile, a third quartile and one or more measures of variation. The one or more measures of variation may comprise standard deviation.”)
With respect to claims 4, 16, and 21,
Rodriguez further teaches,
wherein the grouping of two or more boreholes is at least in part based on grouping:
(A) the portions of the first borehole and second borehole having the same or similar MSE values as determined by a mapping of the MSE values of the one or more geological formations traversed by the first and second boreholes; (Para. [0111] teaches “Steps 402-408 may be repeated until each characteristic measure remains located in its respective cluster 410. In some embodiments, each of the clusters may correspond to MSE values that are substantially proportional to rock hardness, where the higher MSE values correspond to hard rock and lower MSE values correspond to soft rock. For example, the five clusters may correspond to a rock hardness of hard, medium, medium hard, medium soft or soft.” Also see Fig. 5.)
(B) the portions of the first and second borehole having the same or similar MSE values as determined by a quantitative statistical analysis of the MSE values of the one or more geological formations traversed by the first and second boreholes; (Para. [0089] teaches “A simple example of a process to determine a relative value is to compare the mean of a drilling variable of an individual drill hole to the standard deviation for a cross-hole variable determined for the same drilling variable. For instance, the process may comprise determining the mean of the MSE for a drill hole and determining as a characteristic measure how many standard deviations the mean of the MSE for that drill hole is from the mean of MSE's across a plurality of drill holes.” Para. [0120] teaches “Analysis module 714 may apply statistical analysis techniques to the drilling variables 302 as described with reference to FIGS. 3a and 3b to determine a distribution of characteristic measures for all the drilled holes in the mining environment. For example, the statistical analysis techniques may be applied to all of the drilling variables of all the drilled holes in the mining environment and/or may be applied to the drilling variables calculated at each individual drilled hole.”)
(C) the portions of the first and second borehole having the same or similar MSE values as determined by a granular assessment of the MSE values of the one or more geological formations traversed by the first and second boreholes;
or (D) any combination of two or more of the foregoing. (i.e. as seen above Rodriguez teaches A and B)
With respect to claim 12,
Rodriguez does not explicitly teach,
The method of claim 1 further comprising fracturing at least a portion of the first borehole, the second borehole, or both of the foregoing.
Ruhle teaches,
The method of claim 1 further comprising fracturing at least a portion of the first borehole, the second borehole, or both of the foregoing. (Para. [0027] teaches “a method for conducting a hydraulic fracturing job on a plurality of wellbores in a subterranean formation can include receiving diagnostics data of a hydraulic fracturing completion of a wellbore.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle further comprising fracturing at least a portion of the first borehole, the second borehole, or both of the foregoing such as that of Ruhle.
One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to modify the combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle, because completing the plurality of wells at the same time would maximize efficiency and accelerate production of the system as more work is getting done.
Claims 5, 17, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rodriguez (US 20240060419 A1) as modified by Ruhle (US 20210231835 A1) as applied to claims 4, 16, and 21 above, and further in view of Feng (US 20230211307 A1).
With respect to claims 5, 17, and 22,
Rodriguez further teaches,
The method of claim 4,
wherein: in (A) the mapping of MSE values comprises (a) categorizing the MSE values for each respective portion of the boreholes into a plurality of groups according to different ranges of MSE values, wherein the different ranges of MSE values represent different facies of rock; (Para. [0132] teaches “Updating rock hardness distribution model 114 in response to estimate/s of rock hardness for individual drill holes output from step 734 may assist in reducing inaccuracies in identifying and classifying of rock types”)
and (b) mapping groups to which the MSE values are categorized with locations along the portions of each respective borehole that are associated with the MSE values; (Para. [0090] teaches “For example, instead of determining a single mean for the MSE for a drill hole, a plurality of means may be determined, one for each of a plurality of depth ranges within the drill hole. For example, the mean MSE of MSE measured at each 0.1 m across each 1 metre interval may be determined. Characteristic measures of the drill hole are therefore the number of standard deviations from the cross-hole mean the mean determined for each 1 metre interval is. For a drilling hole with 10 metres of drilling variable measurements (e.g. after pre-processing, if any) there will be ten characteristic measures.” Para. [0112] teaches “In one embodiment, the visualisation of the cluster distribution is a 2D visualisation as shown, for example, in FIGS. 5 and 6a-6b. FIG. 5 visualises each drilled hole in the mining environment assigned to a cluster and respective rock hardness.”)
Rodriguez does not explicitly teach,
in (B) the quantitative statistical analysis comprises a cluster analysis as performed with a cross-plot of MSE variance versus MSE Median;
Feng teaches,
A quantitative statistical analysis comprising a cluster analysis as performed with a cross-plot of variance verses MSE median. (Para. [0015] teaches "FIG. 2D are plots illustrating Sm/Eu (left) and Dy/Eu (right) cluster variance as a function of cluster median." Para. [0127] teaches "All 48 code clusters were present and easily distinguished from one another with the median observed cluster intensity ratio well-centered on the desired target. For Sm/Eu and Dy/Eu ratios, the observed cluster variance depended linearly on the median Sm/Eu or Dy/Eu ratio, respectively (FIG. 2D)")
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle wherein the quantitative statistical analysis comprises a cluster analysis as performed with a cross-plot of MSE variance versus MSE Median. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to modify the combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle, because displaying the mean or median MSE values would help identify the characteristic features of each cluster and understand differences in the clusters as median helps measure central tendency and variance helps to measure spread of the data.
Claims 6-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rodriguez (US 20240060419 A1) as modified by Ruhle (US 20210231835 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Logan (US 20180038226 A1).
With respect to claim 6,
The combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle does not explicitly teach,
The method of claim 1, wherein the well completion scenario comprises positioning at least one perforation cluster at a location along each respective borehole having the same or substantially similar facies as defined by the grouping of MSE values.
Logan teaches,
wherein the well completion scenario comprises positioning at least one perforation cluster at a location along each respective borehole having the same or substantially similar facies as defined by the grouping of MSE values. (Para. [0005] teaches “The present disclosure is directed to well completion systems and related methods. In an aspect, the disclosure provides a well completion method that includes determining a well completion scenario based on the location of facies of a geological formation traversed by a borehole as determined by a mapping of mechanical specific energy (MSE) values of the geological formation traversed by the borehole, and perforating the well based on the well completion scenario.” Para. [0026] teaches “Once the MSE values are mapped, the well completion scenario can be developed, which permits optimization of perforation placement. At 102, the well is perforated based on the well completion scenario. The well can be subsequently fractured in accordance with the well completion scenario.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle wherein the well completion scenario comprises positioning at least one perforation cluster at a location along each respective borehole having the same or substantially similar facies as defined by the grouping of MSE values such as that of Logan.
One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to modify the combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle, because according to Para. [0026] of Logan Mapping the MSE values allows for the optimum perforation placement in the respective borehole.
With respect to claim 7,
The combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle does not explicitly teach,
The method of claim 6, comprising perforating at least a portion of each respective borehole based on the well completion scenario.
Logan teaches,
comprising perforating at least a portion of each respective borehole based on the well completion scenario. (Para. [0005] teaches “The present disclosure is directed to well completion systems and related methods. In an aspect, the disclosure provides a well completion method that includes determining a well completion scenario based on the location of facies of a geological formation traversed by a borehole as determined by a mapping of mechanical specific energy (MSE) values of the geological formation traversed by the borehole, and perforating the well based on the well completion scenario.” Para. [0026] teaches “Once the MSE values are mapped, the well completion scenario can be developed, which permits optimization of perforation placement. At 102, the well is perforated based on the well completion scenario. The well can be subsequently fractured in accordance with the well completion scenario.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle comprising perforating at least a portion of each respective borehole based on the well completion scenario such as that of Logan.
One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to modify the combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle, because according to Para. [0026] of Logan Mapping the MSE values allows for the optimum perforation placement in the respective borehole.
With respect to claim 8,
The combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle does not explicitly teach,
The method of claim 1 wherein the well completion scenario comprises determining a hydraulic fracturing fluid initiation pressure for at least a portion of each respective borehole.
Logan teaches,
wherein the well completion scenario comprises determining a hydraulic fracturing fluid initiation pressure for at least a portion of each respective borehole. (Para. [0005] teaches “determining a hydraulic fracturing fluid initiation pressure of the borehole.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle wherein the well completion scenario comprises determining a hydraulic fracturing fluid initiation pressure for at least a portion of each respective borehole such as that of Logan.
One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to modify the combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle, because according to Para. [0028] teaches “Such variability can lead to an ineffective well completion because the geological formation will not fracture at the same or substantially similar fluid initiation pressure at most of the selected perforation cluster locations.” Therefore, setting a specific initiation pressure for each portion of the borehole will lead to an effective completion.
With respect to claim 9,
The combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle does not explicitly teach,
The method of claim 1, wherein the well completion scenario comprises selecting a proppant for use in at least a portion of each respective borehole.
Logan explicitly teaches,
wherein the well completion scenario comprises selecting a proppant for use in at least a portion of each respective borehole. (Para. [0005] teaches “It is still further contemplated that a fracturing fluid and/or proppant can be selected based on the location of facies, and used in a hydraulic fracturing process to fracture the well.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle wherein the well completion scenario comprises selecting a proppant for use in at least a portion of each respective borehole such as that of Logan.
One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to modify the combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle, because according to Para. [0040] of Logan “One or more additional proppant parameters can also be optimized based on the mapping of MSE values of the facies.” Therefore, proppant parameters are optimized by selecting the proper proppant based on the mapping of the MSE values.
With respect to claim 10,
The combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle does not explicitly teach,
The method of claim 1, wherein the well completion scenario comprises positioning at least one fracture plug at a location along each respective borehole.
Logan teaches,
wherein the well completion scenario comprises positioning at least one fracture plug at a location along each respective borehole. (Para. [0005] teaches “It is still further contemplated that at least one fracture plug can be positioned in the borehole”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle wherein the well completion scenario comprises positioning at least one fracture plug at a location along each respective borehole such as that of Logan.
One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to modify the combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle, because according to Para. [0043] of Logan “to isolate at least one section of the borehole comprising facies having the same or substantially similar MSE values. The fracture plug can also be placed to isolate areas that were previously perforated and/or fractured.” Isolating areas would allow each section to be completed following optimized procedures.
With respect to claim 11,
The combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle does not explicitly teach,
The method of claim 1, wherein the well completion scenario comprises selecting a hydraulic fracturing fluid for use in at least a portion of each respective borehole, and using the hydraulic fracturing fluid in a hydraulic fracturing process.
Logan teaches,
wherein the well completion scenario comprises selecting a hydraulic fracturing fluid for use in at least a portion of each respective borehole, and using the hydraulic fracturing fluid in a hydraulic fracturing process. (Para. [0006] teaches “It is further contemplated that a fracturing fluid and/or proppant can be selected based on the location of facies, and used in a hydraulic fracturing process to fracture the well.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle wherein the well completion scenario comprises selecting a hydraulic fracturing fluid for use in at least a portion of each respective borehole, and using the hydraulic fracturing fluid in a hydraulic fracturing process such as that of Logan.
One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to modify the combination of Rodriguez and Ruhle, because different facies of rock would require different fluids to optimize the fracking process as different facies of rock have different properties.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner
should be directed to JOSHUA L FORRISTALL whose telephone number is 703-756-4554. The examiner
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/JOSHUA L FORRISTALL/Examiner, Art Unit 2857
/LINA CORDERO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
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