(12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 8,505,620 B2 Zupanick (45) Date of Patent: *Aug
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US00850562OB2 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 8,505,620 B2 Zupanick (45) Date of Patent: *Aug. 13, 2013 (54) METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ACCESSING (58) Field of Classification Search SUBTERRANEAN DEPOSTS FROM THE USPC .............................................. 166/50, 52, 245 SURFACE AND TOOLS THEREFOR See application file for complete search history. (75) Inventor: Joseph A. Zupanick, Beckley, WV (US) (56) References Cited (73) Assignee: Vitruvian Exploration, LLC, Houston, U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS TX (US) 54,144 A 4, 1866 Hamar 274,740 A 3/1883 Douglass (*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this (Continued) patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days. FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS AU 85,49964 A 11, 1986 This patent is Subject to a terminal dis CA 2210866 1, 1998 claimer. (Continued) (21) Appl. No.: 11/982,249 OTHER PUBLICATIONS (22) Filed: Oct. 31, 2007 McCray, Arthur, et al., “Oil Well Drilling Technology.” University of Oklahoma Press, 1959, Title Page, Copyright Page and pp. 315-319 (65) Prior Publication Data (7 pages). US 2008/OO60806A1 Mar. 13, 2008 (Continued) Primary Examiner — John Kreck Related U.S. Application Data (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Fish & Richardson P.C. (60) Continuation of application No. 10/630,345, filed on Jul. 29, 2003, which is a continuation-in-part of (57) ABSTRACT According to one embodiment, a system for accessing a Sub (Continued) terranean Zone from the surface includes a well bore extend ing from the Surface to the Subterranean Zone, and a well bore (51) Int. C. pattern connected to the junction and operable to drain fluid E2IB 43/00 (2006.01) from a region of the Subterranean Zone to the junction. (52) U.S. C. USPC ............................................................ 166/52 25 Claims, 86 Drawing Sheets 6014 US 8,505,620 B2 Page 2 Related U.S. Application Data 6.357.523, which is a continuation-in-part of application No. 09/197.687, filed on Nov. 20, 1998, (60) application No. 10/165,627, filed on Jun. 7, 2002, now now Pat. No. 6,280,000. Pat. No. 6,668,918, which is a continuation of application No. 09/789,956, filed on Feb. 20, 2001, (56) References Cited now Pat. No. 6,478,085, which is a division of application No. 09/444,029, filed on Nov. 19, 1999, U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS now Pat. No. 6,357,523, which is a 526,708 A 10, 1894 Horton continuation-in-part of application No. 09/197.687, 639,036 A 12, 1899 Heald filed on Nov. 20, 1998, now Pat. No. 6,280,000, 1,189,560 A 7, 1916 Gondos 1,285,347 A 11, 1918 Otto application No. 10/630,345, filed on Jul. 29, 2003, 1467.480 A 9/1923 Hogue which is a continuation of application No. 09/774,996, 1485,615 A 3, 1924 Jones filed on Jan. 30, 2001, now Pat. No. 6,662,870, and a 1488,106 A 3/1924 Fitzpatrick continuation-in-part of application No. 10/123,561, 1,520,737 A 12/1924 Wright 1,674,392 A 6/1928 Flansburg filed on Apr. 15, 2002, now Pat. No. 6,604,580, which 1,777,961 A 10/1930 Capeliuschnicoff is a division of application No. 09/773.217, filed on 2,018,285 A 10, 1935 Schweitzer et al. Jan. 30, 2001, now Pat. No. 6,425,448, and a 2,069,482 A 2/1937 Seay continuation-in-part of application No. 09/885.219, 2,150,228 A 3, 1939 Lamb filed on Jun. 20, 2001, now Pat. No. 6,561,288, which 2,169,718 A 8, 1939 BS11 et al. 2,335,085 A 11/1943 Roberts is a continuation of application No. 09/444,029, filed 2.450,223. A 9, 1948 Barbour on Nov. 19, 1999, now Pat. 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No. 6,732,792, which 3,587,743 A 6, 1971 Howard 3,647,230 A 3/1972 Smedley is a division of application No. 09/444,029, filed on 3.684,041 A 8, 1972 Kammerer, Jr. et al. Nov. 19, 1999, now Pat. No. 6,357,523, which is a 3,687,204 A 8, 1972 Marshall et al. continuation-in-part of application No. 09/197.687, 3,692,041 A 9, 1972 Bondi filed on Nov. 20, 1998, now Pat. No. 6,280,000, 3,744,565 A 7, 1973 Brown application No. 10/630,345, filed on Jul. 29, 2003, 3,757,876 A 9, 1973 Pereau 3,757,877 A 9, 1973 Leathers which is a continuation-in-part of application No. 3,759,328 A 9, 1973 Ueber et al. 10/264,535, filed on Oct. 3, 2002, now Pat. No. 3,763,652 A 10, 1973 Rinta 6.988,548, and a continuation-in-part of application 3,800,830 A 4, 1974 Etter No. 10/244,082, filed on Sep. 12, 2002, now Pat. No. 3,809,519 A 5, 1974 Garner 7,073,595, and a continuation-in-part of application 3,825,081 A 7, 1974 McMahon 3,828,867 A 8, 1974 Elwood No. 09/769,098, filed on Jan. 24, 2001, now Pat. 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