E21B 43/16
Enhanced recovery methods for obtaining hydrocarbons
E21B43/16 (Enhanced recovery methods for obtaining hydrocarbons) appears on 6,243 US grants and 5,793 published applications in this corpus.
Search patents in E21B- Granted patents
- 6,243
- Published applications
- 5,793
- Assignees
- 1,482
- Inventors
- 9,644
- Latest grant
- 6 Oct 2026
Filings by year
| Year | Granted patents | Published applications |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 84 | 0 |
| 1977 | 110 | 0 |
| 1978 | 127 | 0 |
| 1979 | 81 | 0 |
| 1980 | 109 | 0 |
| 1981 | 92 | 0 |
| 1982 | 58 | 0 |
| 1983 | 102 | 0 |
| 1984 | 133 | 0 |
| 1985 | 85 | 0 |
| 1986 | 78 | 0 |
| 1987 | 93 | 0 |
| 1988 | 59 | 0 |
| 1989 | 69 | 0 |
| 1990 | 60 | 0 |
| 1991 | 87 | 0 |
| 1992 | 56 | 0 |
| 1993 | 43 | 0 |
| 1994 | 44 | 0 |
| 1995 | 42 | 0 |
| 1996 | 15 | 0 |
| 1997 | 18 | 0 |
| 1998 | 35 | 0 |
| 1999 | 27 | 0 |
| 2000 | 34 | 0 |
| 2001 | 42 | 9 |
| 2002 | 18 | 95 |
| 2003 | 30 | 108 |
| 2004 | 74 | 43 |
| 2005 | 53 | 62 |
| 2006 | 82 | 61 |
| 2007 | 37 | 122 |
| 2008 | 51 | 120 |
| 2009 | 78 | 197 |
| 2010 | 120 | 214 |
| 2011 | 100 | 238 |
| 2012 | 151 | 240 |
| 2013 | 179 | 309 |
| 2014 | 216 | 404 |
| 2015 | 213 | 471 |
| 2016 | 252 | 410 |
| 2017 | 290 | 346 |
| 2018 | 347 | 331 |
| 2019 | 390 | 351 |
| 2020 | 369 | 327 |
| 2021 | 307 | 323 |
| 2022 | 278 | 252 |
| 2023 | 253 | 246 |
| 2024 | 262 | 211 |
| 2025 | 188 | 204 |
| 2026 | 122 | 99 |
By publication year. Applications have been published since 2001. 2026 runs to 8 Oct.
Subgroups
Granted patents
- E21B 43/24Using heat3,287
- E21B 43/164Injecting co2 or carbonated water702
- E21B 43/20Displacing by water695
- E21B 43/166Injecting a gaseous medium566
- E21B 43/162Injecting fluid from longitudinally spaced locations in injection well272
- E21B 43/17Interconnecting two or more wells by fracturing or otherwise attacking the formation179
- E21B 43/18Repressuring or vacuum methods150
Recent patents
- Method of improving injection pressure and asphaltene remediation6 Oct 2026US 12,753,337 B2
- Waterflooding system and process to prevent scale precipitation in oil fields6 Oct 2026US 12,753,685 B2Saudi Arabian Oil Company
- Produced water degassing using ejector6 Oct 2026US 12,753,686 B1Saudi Arabian Oil Company
- Methods for tight oil production through secondary recovery using spaced producer and injector wellbores29 Sep 2026US 12,747,657 B2
- Machine learning approach for generating subsurface representations in layer-space22 Sep 2026US 12,742,374 B2Chevron U.S.A.Inc.
- Self-correcting flow in subsurface wells8 Oct 2026US 2026/0309010 A1Fervo Energy Company
- Surface active organic alkali agents1 Oct 2026US 2026/0297420 A1Ultimate Eor Services LLC
- Methods for in-depth fluid diversion and stage by stage fluid diversion systems1 Oct 2026US 2026/0298059 A1Saudi Arabian Oil Company
- Method for optimization of huff-n-puff gas injection in hydrocarbon reservoirs1 Oct 2026US 2026/0298060 A1Texas Tech University System
- Conventional chemical eor application without salinity gradient24 Sep 2026US 2026/0286817 A1Chevron U.S.A.Inc.
Most cited
By later US patents
- Controlling hydrocarbon production609US 10,677,035 B2Saudi Arabian Oil Company · 2020
- Mobile electric power generation for hydraulic fracturing of subsurface geological formations496US 9,534,473 B2Evolution Well Services, LLC · 2017
- In-situ tuned microwave oil extraction process483US 5,082,054 A1992
- Method of pumping an oilfield fluid and split stream oilfield pumping systems475US 7,845,413 B2Schlumberger Technology Corporation · 2010
- Method for in situ heat processing of hydrocarbonaceous formations474US 4,140,180 AIIT Research Institute · 1979