Reservoir Simulation Numerics Patents: Who Leads, Where Gaps Are 2026
- Filing has cooled sharply. documented growth runs -100% from 2021 (3 filings) to 2024 (0), with 2019 as the peak year at 9 filings — a mature, largely settled claim landscape rather than an emerging one.
- Two classes dominate almost equally. G01V (geophysics) and G06F (digital data processing) each cover 47.5% of the 244 records in scope, showing simulation claims are split almost evenly between subsurface modelling and the computational method itself.
- The ranking has a long tail. the leader sits at 64 records while tenth place holds just 8, across 60 ranked companies — a small group of oil majors and oilfield service firms account for most volume, with a long tail of single-digit filers behind them.
Filing growth compares 2021 (3 records) with 2024 (0) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field.
What this patent set covers
This landscape draws on 244 published records filed against reservoir simulator, black oil model and compositional simulation search terms, paired with numerical methods including adaptive implicit methods, Newton-Raphson iteration, grid coarsening, corner-point geometry, timestep control and linear solver preconditioners. The scope spans oilfield service companies, national oil companies and integrated majors, filed across six major receiving offices from the United States to Norway.
The data cut-off is 2026-07-31, and because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years of the trend are understated by construction — treat any apparent drop in 2025-2026 filings as an artefact of that lag, not a real signal.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 244 records: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those records distribute across IPC subclasses. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, the class shares below add up to well over 100% of the record total — that is expected and does not indicate double-counting of records.
A peak in 2019, then a steep decline
Filings ran from 8 in 2017 to a peak of 9 in 2019, then fell to 3 by 2021 and to 0 by 2024 — a documented -100% change over that three-year span. Treat 2025 and 2026 figures as provisional given publication lag; they are not evidence of a further slowdown.
Subsurface modelling and computation share the field evenly
G01V (geophysics and gravity surveying) and G06F (electric digital data processing) each appear in 47.5% of the 244 records, with E21B (earth and rock drilling) close behind at 35.7%. G06G (analogue computers) still holds 18.9% of records, a reminder that legacy computational-method claims remain active prior art. AI-flagged G06N claims sit at just 3.3%, marking where newer computational approaches have not yet been heavily claimed.
Shares are the percentage of the 244 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Reservoir Simulation Numerics with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about reservoir simulation numerics and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe records other filings build on
US20200226311A1 — Reservoir regions management with unstructured grid reservoir simulation model
Reservoir management based on unstructured grid reservoir simulation is improved with machine learning based intelligent automation. Reservoir heterogeneity, geological internal boundary features and well geometry complexity are taken into account to automatically detect well zone and focusing reservoir area by calculating the region-of-interests in the model and defining cell spacing for grid coarsening and refinement in the reservoir. Data points for wells in the reservoir are grouped into reservoir regions according to datasets organized as a convex hull, which is a minimum convex set in spatial geometry which encloses the totality of such data points.Filed by Saudi Arabian Oil Company, published 2020-07-16.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6078869A | Method and apparatus for generating more accurate earth formation grid cell property information for use by a… | 289 |
| 2 | US6018497A | Method and apparatus for generating more accurate earth formation grid cell property information for use by a… | 253 |
| 3 | US5740342A | Method for generating a three-dimensional, locally-unstructured hybrid grid for sloping faults | 194 |
| 4 | US6052520A | Process for predicting behavior of a subterranean formation | 153 |
| 5 | US20060235667A1 | Solution method and apparatus for large-scale simulation of layered formations | 130 |
| 6 | US20100082142A1 | Simulation System and Method | 121 |
| 7 | US20050015231A1 | Near wellbore modeling method and apparatus | 118 |
| 8 | US6662146B1 | Methods for performing reservoir simulation | 117 |
| 9 | US7451066B2 | Near wellbore modeling method and apparatus | 113 |
| 10 | US20080208539A1 | Method, apparatus and system for reservoir simulation using a multi-scale finite volume method including blac… | 102 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations — read this as a signal of foundational influence, not of current filing activity.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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The composition and trend data point to a field where core numerical methods are heavily claimed by a small group, but newer computational approaches remain lightly staked out.
The core numerics wave has crested
Filing volume peaked in 2019 at 9 records and fell to zero completed filings by 2024. This is consistent with a technology area where the foundational claim space around grid coarsening, timestep control and linear solver preconditioning has already been substantially staked out by early movers.
Subsurface modelling and computation are equally claimed
G01V and G06F each cover just under half of all records, meaning most filings frame their claims around either the geophysical model or the computational method rather than one dominant framing. E21B drilling-context claims sit close behind at 35.7%, showing many filings tie simulation numerics directly to wellbore operations.
AI-assisted simulation is still lightly claimed
Only 8 of 244 records carry a G06N (AI-based computing) classification, and G06T (image processing) covers just 5 records. Against a backdrop of near-total claim saturation in classical numerics, these adjacent computational branches remain comparatively open.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to reservoir simulation numerics, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the claim space
The assignee ranking covers 60 companies counted in records, led by a filer at 64 records with fifth place at 26 and tenth place at 8 — a steep drop-off that marks a small leading group followed by a long tail of lighter filers. Co-assignee pairs, most involving Chevron USA and Schlumberger-affiliated entities, suggest that joint development between operators and service companies is common in this field.
A single filer leads by a wide margin
The top-ranked assignee holds 64 records against 26 at fifth place — more than double the fifth-place count. That gap suggests one organisation has built a genuinely broad portfolio across grid, solver and timestep methods rather than a narrow set of core patents.
Oil majors and service companies co-file
The strongest co-assignee pair links Chevron USA with LOGINED at 19 shared records, and Schlumberger-affiliated entities appear in two of the three strongest pairs. This points to joint operator-service company development being a structural feature of this field rather than an exception.
Filing is concentrated in US, PCT and Canadian offices
The United States receives the largest share of filings at 66, followed by WIPO (PCT) filings at 35 and Canada at 31. Europe (EPO) and Norway follow closely, reflecting the geographic footprint of major offshore and unconventional reservoir operations.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) | 0 | — |
| Chevron USA Inc. | 0 | — |
| ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company | 0 | — |
| Schlumberger Technology Corporation | 0 | — |
| LOGINED | 0 | — |
| Schlumberger Canada Limited | 0 | — |
| Schlumberger Holdings Limited | 0 | — |
| Schlumberger Limited | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a mature core and a thin edge of newer computational methods. The next steps depend on whether the goal is defensive clearance or identifying open claim space.
Check freedom-to-operate against the leading assignee's portfolio
With one filer holding 64 records against a fifth-place count of 26, any new grid coarsening or linear solver filing should be checked against that portfolio specifically before drafting claims.
Run a freedom-to-operate search in EurekaExplore the AI-assisted simulation gap
G06N classifications cover only 3.3% of the 244 records, and G06T just 2.0%. Machine-learning-driven grid refinement and timestep control both remain lightly claimed relative to classical numerics.
Map the white space in EurekaTrack co-filing patterns for partnership signals
The strongest co-assignee pairs consistently pair an operator with a service company, suggesting joint development is a normal path into this field rather than an exception.
Analyse assignee networks in EurekaCommon questions about reservoir simulation numerics patents
The assignee ranking in this dataset covers 60 companies, with the leading filer holding 64 records compared with 26 at fifth place and 8 at tenth place. That is a steep drop-off rather than an even spread, meaning one organisation has built a portfolio more than double the size of its closest mid-ranked competitors. The leaders are a mix of an integrated oil major, a national oil company and major oilfield service companies, several of which also appear together in co-assignee pairs, indicating joint development rather than purely independent portfolios.
No. The documented growth figure for this field is -100% from 2021 (3 filings) to 2024 (0 filings), with the historical peak at 9 filings in 2019. Filing activity has clearly cooled from its late-2010s high point, though because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the very latest years in any dataset always understate true activity, so 2025-2026 figures should not be read as confirmation of a continuing decline.
Records in this dataset split almost evenly between G01V (geophysics and gravity surveying) and G06F (electric digital data processing), each covering 47.5% of the 244 records, with E21B (earth and rock drilling) close behind at 35.7%. Because a single filing can carry several IPC classifications, these percentages add up to more than 100% of the record total. Newer computational approaches classified under G06N (AI-based computing) and G06T (image processing) cover only 3.3% and 2.0% of records respectively, marking them as comparatively open relative to the classical grid and solver clusters.
The United States is the largest receiving office in this dataset at 66 records, followed by WIPO PCT filings at 35 and Canada at 31. Europe (EPO) and Norway follow closely at 28 and 24 respectively, with the United Kingdom trailing at 17. This distribution reflects the geographic concentration of major oil and gas operations, particularly North American unconventional plays and North Sea offshore fields.
US20200226311A1, filed by Saudi Arabian Oil Company and published 2020-07-16, covers reservoir management using unstructured grid simulation combined with machine-learning-based automation. Its claims describe automatically detecting well zones and regions of interest by grouping well data points into reservoir regions organized as a convex hull, then defining cell spacing for grid coarsening and refinement based on that grouping. Anyone developing automated grid-refinement logic tied to well geometry or reservoir heterogeneity detection should review this filing closely, since it sits in one of the more lightly populated IPC branches (G06N-adjacent) identified in this landscape.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.