Appeal No. 2005-1483 8
Application No. 90/005,947
''a production screen attached to said exterior surface covering said at least
one aperture'' (see the ''all welded screen'' covering the apertures and sliding
sleeve in Figure 8),'
''an isolation valve connected to the inner bore at said gravel packing
assembly adjacent said production screen, said isolation valve controllable
between an open position permitting fluid flow through said screen and a
closed position inhibiting fluid flow through said screen'' (see page 457,
column 2, lines 35-40 - it is noted that since claim 4 is silent regarding the
direction of fluid flow and does not require that the isolation valve controls
fluid flow through the ''at least one aperture'', the recited ''isolation valve''
does not distinguish from the ''lower return ports located at the bottom of the
screen or inside the telltale'' that are ''closed with a shifting tool as the
washpipe is pulled out of the hole'' disclosed on page 457, column 2, lines
35- 40 of the SPE reference,'
''a crossover assembly in selective fluid communication with the inner bore of
said gravel packing assembly and the annulus between said gravel packing
assembly and said well bore, said crossover assembly releasably connected
to said gravel packing assembly (see page 456 of this reference which
discloses washpipes are used with gravel pack assemblies to provide the
option of circulating a gravel pack, these gravel pack assemblies are
cross-overs to permit the deposition of the gravel outside the screen as
further disclosed in page 457, column 2, lines 32-42),.
and
''means for controlling the position of said isolation valve, said means being
attached to said crossover assembly'' (see page 457, column 2, lines 35-40
where it discloses that the lower return ports located at the bottom of the
screen or inside the telltale are closed with a shifting tool as the washpipe is
pulled out of the hole).
The Restarick paper discusses various methods and tool strings used to control
fluid loss during a gravel packing operation. A problem encountered in marginal reservoirs
where sand control is desirable is that the producing formation has insufficient bottomhole
pressure to support a column of fluid in a well bore. Thus, it is desirable to isolate the
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