A charge tube for shaped charges into a perforating gun having a hollow cylindrical body with a first end and a second end, one or more cutouts adapted to fit a shaped charge, one or more apex cutouts, located 180 degrees about the center axis of the hollow cylindrical body from the at least one or more cutouts, adapted to fit the apex end of a shaped charge, and at least one set of parallel, partially circumferential, slot cuts proximate to the first end of the cylindrical body.

A charge tube for shaped charges into a perforating gun having a hollow cylindrical body with a first end and a second end, one or more cutouts adapted to fit a shaped charge, one or more apex cutouts, located 180 degrees about the center axis of the hollow cylindrical body from the at least one or more cutouts, adapted to fit the apex end of a shaped charge, and at least one set of parallel, partially circumferential, slot cuts proximate to the first end of the cylindrical body.

A method and apparatus for containing one or more shaped charges in a single plane, using a shaped charge housing containing a cluster of one or more shaped charges, with the apex ends facing each other, arrayed about the center axis of a gun body, and detonated from a single initiator located in the middle of the cluster of the one or more shaped charges, the shaped charge housing can be one of many shaped charge housings coupled together to perforate in a plurality of single planes.

A method and apparatus for containing one or more shaped charges in a single plane, using a shaped charge housing containing a cluster of one or more shaped charges, with the apex ends facing each other, arrayed about the center axis of a gun body, and detonated from a single initiator located in the middle of the cluster of the one or more shaped charges, the shaped charge housing can be one of many shaped charge housings coupled together to perforate in a plurality of single planes.

Autonomous tools for use in tubular members associated with managing hydrocarbons. The autonomous tools are at least partially fabricated from a dissolvable material, which is configured to dissolve in the fluid within the tubular member. The autonomous tool includes one or more components that determine the location of the autonomous tool within the tubular member and actuate the actuatable tool component once a predetermined or selected location has been reached within the tubular member.

A method for the fracking or stimulation of a hydrocarbon-bearing formation, said method comprising the steps of: providing a wellbore in need of stimulation; inserting a plug in the wellbore at a predetermined location; inserting a perforating tool and a spearhead or breakdown acid into the wellbore; positioning the tool at said predetermined location; perforating the wellbore with the tool thereby creating a perforated area; allowing the spearhead acid to come into contact with the perforated area for a predetermined period of time sufficient to prepare the formation for fracking or stimulation; removing the tool from the wellbore; and initiating the fracking of the perforated area using a fracking fluid. Also disclosed is a corrosion inhibiting composition for use with the acid composition.

A method for the fracking or stimulation of a hydrocarbon-bearing formation, said method comprising the steps of: providing a wellbore in need of stimulation; inserting a plug in the wellbore at a predetermined location; inserting a perforating tool and a spearhead or breakdown acid into the wellbore; positioning the tool at said predetermined location; perforating the wellbore with the tool thereby creating a perforated area; allowing the spearhead acid to come into contact with the perforated area for a predetermined period of time sufficient to prepare the formation for fracking or stimulation; removing the tool from the wellbore; and initiating the fracking of the perforated area using a fracking fluid. Also disclosed is a corrosion inhibiting composition for use with the acid composition.

An outer tube for a perforating gun is provided that includes an inner wall and an outer wall and also a wall thickness (D) and a length (L), wherein the outer tube has a hardness over its entire longitudinal extent along the length (L) and its transverse extent along the wall thickness (D), wherein the hardness of the outer tube is reduced, in at least one region, to an extent (T) measured from the outer wall to the inner wall, wherein, in this region, the outer tube has a reduced hardness (HV) on its outer wall, said reduced hardness being reduced in this region by at least 5% in relation to the hardness (H) of the inner wall.

An outer tube for a perforating gun is provided that includes an inner wall and an outer wall and also a wall thickness (D) and a length (L), wherein the outer tube has a hardness over its entire longitudinal extent along the length (L) and its transverse extent along the wall thickness (D), wherein the hardness of the outer tube is reduced, in at least one region, to an extent (T) measured from the outer wall to the inner wall, wherein, in this region, the outer tube has a reduced hardness (HV) on its outer wall, said reduced hardness being reduced in this region by at least 5% in relation to the hardness (H) of the inner wall.

A perforation cluster of a longitudinal section of a wellbore is provided. The wellbore is for hydraulic fracturing in a preferred direction of a subsurface surrounding the longitudinal section. The longitudinal section has a longitudinal axis in a longitudinal direction and defining a radial direction about the longitudinal axis. The perforation cluster includes all of the perforations of the wellbore within the longitudinal section. The perforations are separated in the longitudinal and radial directions. Two perforations are adjacent in the longitudinal direction and have a first diameter. They also have respective centers that are aligned in the preferred direction with respect to the longitudinal axis and 180° apart in the radial direction, for initiating fractures through hydraulic fracturing in the subsurface. The remaining perforations have a second diameter smaller than the first diameter.