Methods and apparatus for remote real time oil field management
First Claim
1. A method for remote real time oil field management, comprising:
- a) installing at least one sensor in an oil field;
b) coupling the at least one sensor to a CPU memory located at the oil field;
c) programming the CPU to collect and store data from the at least one sensor;
d) programming the CPU to at least partially analyze the data; and
e) providing remote access to the data, wherein;
said step of programming the CPU to at least partially analyze the data includes programming the CPU to determine covariance of the data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of managing oil fields include installing oil field sensors, coupling them to a local CPU having memory, programming the CPU for data collection and data analysis, and coupling local oil field CPUs to a web server. Human experts are granted access to oil field data in real time via the Internet. The local CPUs provide different levels of data to the web server. The web server provides the option to view raw data, partially analyzed data, or fully analyzed data. The local CPUs are programmed with parameters for analyzing the data and automatically determining the presence of anomalies. Upon detecting the occurrence of an anomaly, the local CPUs are programmed to notify one or more human experts by email, pager, telephone, etc. If no human expert responds to the notification within a programmed period of time, the local CPU automatically takes a programmed corrective action.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for remote real time oil field management, comprising:
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a) installing at least one sensor in an oil field; b) coupling the at least one sensor to a CPU memory located at the oil field; c) programming the CPU to collect and store data from the at least one sensor; d) programming the CPU to at least partially analyze the data; and e) providing remote access to the data, wherein; said step of programming the CPU to at least partially analyze the data includes programming the CPU to determine covariance of the data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for remote real time oil field management, comprising:
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a) installing at least one sensor in an oil field; b) coupling the at least one sensor to a CPU with memory located at the oil field; c) programming the CPU to collect and store data from the at least one sensor; d) programming the CPU to at least partially analyze the data; e) providing remote access to the data; and f) programming the CPU to determine whether results of the at least partial analysis correspond to an anomaly, wherein said anomaly is a parameter going out of bounds within a predetermined interval. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. A method for remote real time oil field management, comprising:
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a) installing at least one sensor in an oil field; b) coupling the at least one sensor to a CPU with memory located at the oil field; c) programming the CPU to collect and store data from the at least one sensor; and d) providing remote access to the data, wherein said step of programming the CPU to store data includes programming the CPU to decimate based on age of the data. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. An apparatus for remote real time oil field management, comprising:
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a) at lease one sensor installed in an oil field; b) at least one CPU with memory located at the oil field coupled to said at least one sensor, said at least one CPU being programmed to collect data from said at least one sensor and store the date in said memory; and c) communications means for coupling said CPU to a communications network, wherein said CPU is programmed to determine covariance of the data. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An apparatus for remote real time oil field management, comprising:
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a) at least one sensor installed in an oil field; b) at least one CPU with memory located at the oil field coupled to said at least one sensor, said at least one CPU being programmed to collect data from said at least one sensor and store the data in said memory; and c) communications means for coupling said CPU to a communications network, wherein said CPU is programmed to at least partially analyze the data, said CPU is programmed to determine whether results of the at least partial analysis correspond to an anomaly and said anomaly is a parameter going out of bounds within a predetermined interval. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. An apparatus for remote real time oil field management, comprising:
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a) at least one sensor installed in an oil field; b) at least one CPU with memory located at the oil field coupled to said at least one sensor, said at least one CPU being programmed to collect data from said at least one sensor and store the data in said memory; c) communications means for coupling said CPU to a communications network; and d) data compression means for compressing data stored by said CPU, wherein said data compression means includes means for decimating data based on age of the data.
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25. A method, comprising:
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a) installing at least one sensor in an oil field; b) coupling the at least one sensor to a CPU with memory located at the oil field; c) programming the CPU to collect and store data from the at least one sensor; d) providing remote access to the data; e) programming the CPU to at least partially analyze the data; and f) programming the CPU to apply a correlation function, wherein said step of programming the CPU to apply a correlation function includes programming the CPU to i. let active wells produce or inject with a nearly constant rate; and ii. perform a periodic flowrate pulsing of the wells in a manner whereby the active wells are not pulsed at the same time or with the same amplitude. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification