Cypress man claims patent for offshore drilling pressure management system

A Cypress man is part of a team that received a U.S. patent for a system designed to better measure pressure changes in offshore drilling.

In the patent, the inventors claim that their system can manage a sudden influx of water, oil, gas or other pressurized fluid through a series of conduits and seals. The system allows for more effective and efficient control than past devices, they say.

The official patent number is 7,866,399. It lists inventors John Kozicz of Spring, Tim Juran of Cypress, Andy Legault of Houston, and a Scottish team consisting of Sandy Black, John Mackay, Scott Niven and Iain Sneddon.

The patent was originally filed on Oct. 20, 2006, and the inventors were represented by Houston-based law firm Fulbright & Jaworski LLC.

The official owner of the patent is listed as the Cayman Islands office of Transocean Sedco Forex Ventures Ltd., one of the world's largest offshore drilling companies. Previously incorporated in the Cayman Islands with management in Houston, the company has since moved its headquarters to Switzerland.