Patent ID: 9428996
Filing Date: 2016-08-30
CPC Classification: E21B

Claim Text:
1. A method to determine a testing zone around an oil or gas well, the method comprising: receiving, by data processing apparatus, a plurality of first variables associated with an oil or gas well, the plurality of first variables including one or more first variables associated with a location of the oil or gas well and one or more first variables associated with an age of the oil or gas well; receiving, by the data processing apparatus, a plurality of second variables associated with an entity performing hydraulic fracturing in the oil or gas well, the plurality of second variables including one or more second variables associated with a past contamination history of the entity; receiving, by the data processing apparatus, a plurality of third variables associated with inhabitable regions surrounding the oil or gas well, the plurality of third variables including one or more third variables associated with a number of inhabitable regions surrounding the oil or gas well and one or more third variables associated with a distance of the inhabitable regions from the oil or gas well; processing, by the data processing apparatus, the plurality of first variables, the plurality of second variables, and the plurality of third variables; in response to processing the plurality of first variables, the plurality of second variables, and the plurality of third variables, determining, by the data processing apparatus, a zone around the oil or gas well within which to test for contamination due to the hydraulic fracturing in the oil or gas well; and collecting a test sample from within the determined zone to test for contamination due to the hydraulic fracturing in the oil or gas well.