A system and method for rheology measurement of a drilling fluid. The system may comprise an ultrasound transmitter positioned to direct ultrasound pulses into the drilling fluid; an ultrasound receiver positioned to receive sound waves reflected from the drilling fluid; and a computer system configured to determine a velocity profile of the drilling fluid based at least in part on the reflected sound waves. The method may comprise flowing at least a portion of the drilling fluid through a rheology measurement system; directing ultrasound pulses into the drilling fluid while the drilling fluid is flowing through the rheology measurement system; measuring sound waves reflected by the drilling fluid; and determining a velocity profile of the drilling fluid based at least on the measured sound waves.

An apparatus has been described, including a tubular housing including opposing first and second end portions and defining an interior surface, an exterior surface, and an internal flow passage; an open inflow area extending radially through the tobular housing and adapted to distribute the radial flow of a fluid from the internal flow passage to the wellbore; a closure member extending within the tubular housing and adapted to cover the open inflow area; and a filter defining a plurality of gaps, the filter concentrically disposed about the exterior surface of the tubular housing and extending axially along at least the open inflow area. In an exemplary embodiment, the open inflow area includes a plurality of openings formed radially through the tubular housing and defining a tubular injection interval extending axially along the tubular housing. A system and assembly have also been described, each incorporating elements of the above described apparatus.

A ball launcher for launching a plurality of balls into a well, including an endless conveyor belt, the conveyor belt forming a plurality of ball retainers, each operable to contain one of the plurality of balls, a drive motor for selectively driving the conveyor belt, and a brake for braking the conveyor belt.

A settable down hole tool is of increased drillability and/or of increased expansibility. The improvement in drillability can be caused by fracturing cast iron slips into a large number of small pieces that can be circulated out of a well without further reduction in size. The improvement in expansibility can be partially caused by providing an expander cone of increased hardness thereby allowing an increased angle on the expander cone and slips. The improvement in expansibility can be partially caused by increasing the thickness of the slips.

A settable down hole tool is of increased drillability and/or of increased expansibility. The improvement in drillability can be caused by fracturing cast iron slips into a large number of small pieces that can be circulated out of a well without further reduction in size. The improvement in expansibility can be partially caused by providing an expander cone of increased hardness thereby allowing an increased angle on the expander cone and slips. The improvement in expansibility can be partially caused by increasing the thickness of the slips.

The invention relates to a multistage high pressure fracturing system and tubular hydraulic valve (THV) system for connection to a completion string to enable isolation of a zone of interest within a well. In particular, the system enables access to a downhole formation for fracturing the zone of interest and for hydrocarbon production. The system generally includes a plug counting system, a plug capture system and a valve system wherein dropping a series of plugs down the completion string enables successive capture of individual plugs within individual THVs for subsequent fracturing operations.

A plan structure and a method for creating a plan for forming/operating a sub-sea or sub-terranean well, in an automated planner, are disclosed. The plan defines logical, sequential and conditional interrelationships between events in the plan, so that a controller can carry out the plan in a flexible and time-independent manner to complete the sequenced events. The definition of the logical, sequential and conditional interdependencies permits flexibility in how the controller uses the time and resources available to it so that the plan directs the controller in a non-prescriptive manner, allowing greater flexibility in plan execution and reducing the necessity for re-planning to occur when changes in the world or environment in which the controller executes the plan are detected.

A flowback system and method employ a flowback model that characterizes fluid properties and rock mechanical properties of the reservoir during flowback in conjunction with measurement and analysis of chemistry and solids production with respect to the flowback fluid in order to maximize efficiency during the flowback operations, while mitigating formation damage and hydraulic fracture conductivity degradation. The methodology can define a safe drawdown operating zone for conducting flowback operations.

Methods and systems for stimulating light tight shale oil formations to recover hydrocarbons from the formations. One embodiment includes positioning a downhole burner in a first well, supplying a fuel, oxidizer, and water to the burner to form steam, injecting the steam and surplus oxygen into the shale reservoir to form a heated zone within the shale reservoir, wherein the surplus oxygen reacts with hydrocarbons in the reservoir to generate heat; wherein the heat from the reactions with the hydrocarbons and the steam increases permeability in a kerogen-rich portion of the shale reservoir, and producing hydrocarbons from the shale reservoir.

A communication unit is situated in or on a casing collar. The casing collar has two threaded ends for joining casing joints to construct a well casing, and a communication unit is disposed in or on a central region of the tube between the two threaded ends. In an example, the communication unit has a transmitter for transmitting sensor data uphole from a sensor sensing a well bore condition. For example, the communication unit has a receiver for receiving sensor data from Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) sensors, a transceiver for interrogating RFID tags, an acoustic transceiver for sensing wellbore conditions, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and batteries for powering the communication unit.