Patent · US Expired

Method for determining the producibility of a hydrocarbon formation

US4990773A · kind A · utility

28Cited by
18References
10Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 1, 1988
Grant dateFeb 5, 1991
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 1, 2008

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01N21/64
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

The invention is a method of evaluating a sample of an underground formation such as drill cuttings to determine the producibility of any hydrocarbons present in the formation by solvating a sample in a polar solvent which will solvate asphaltenes, solvating the sample in an aliphatic solvent which will solvate most crude fractions without solvating asphaltenes, quantitatively measuring the emission fluorescence at a wavelength below 400 nm of both solvated samples at an excitation wavelength at which most petroleum compounds fluoresce, and determining the producibility of any hydrocarbon present in the sample by comparing the emission fluorescence of the two samples to previous correlations made between fluorescence and known producibility.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.