Status quo of progress in key technology for international deepwater oil and gas production from the perspective of patent analysis

The deep-water oil and gas resources are plentiful, making it a hotspot for global oil-gas exploration and the primary driver of rising reserves and production. The development trend of international deep-water oi-gas key technologies was studied based on patent analysis and visualized in diagrams. Results show that the United States is the world leader in global deep-water oil and gas discovery and exploitation. Due to the rapid development of technology, China and the western developed countries, as well as countries with mature exploration activities, such as Brazil, are the main technology application country. The international oil giants (such as Schlumberger, Halliburton, and General Electric) and other American enterprises and institutions have clear advantages in patent technologies internationalization. Patents in deep-water oil and gas exploration and development technologies are held by mainly the Schlumberger, Halliburton, and General Electric, while CNOOC of China focused on deep-water oil and gas drilling technologies. The number of global deep-water oil and gas patent applications is highly consistent with the development history of deep-water oil and gas industry, indicating that technical innovation is an important internal driving force for the deep-water oil and gas industry, while political policies and global oil prices are external driving forces. The deep-water oil and gas industry’s development will continue to rely on conventional core technologies (e.g. fracking) in the future, while increasingly-evolving technological networks and ventures will be more closely connected to marginal and core technologies, pushing new technology networks forward.