Two Cy-Fair men earn patent for flexible drilling method

Two men from the Cy-Fair area have been granted a U.S. patent for a flexible
drilling method they developed for Harris County-based Smith International Inc.

When drilling for oil and natural gas, engineers often need to change
direction to build a better well. In the patent, the inventors claim
that they accomplish this without the drawbacks of similar devices.
Specifically, they claim that their apparatus avoids irregularities
that occur in the last hundred feet of the borehole.

The patent names Lance D. Underwood of Cypress and Charles H. Dewey of the Cy-Fair area of Houston as inventors.
The official patent number is 7,861,802 and it was originally filed on Jan. 18, 2006. The patent is owned by Smith.

Smith International supplies various products to gas and oil production companies. In February 2010,
they were acquired by multinational oilfield services company Schlumberger.