Company patents
SHELL USA, INC.
SHELL USA INC. exhibits a surprising patent strategy, with a strong and growing focus on "Petroleum / Hydrocarbon Refining," which accounts for 23.1% of its portfolio and saw a significant 50.0% YoY growth in 2025, despite the broader industry shift towards renewables. Concurrently, the company appears to be shifting priorities away from "Geophysics & Gravity Measurement," which experienced a -66.7% decline in 2025 and has seen no patents so far in 2026, indicating a potential divestment from traditional exploration technologies.
Patent Trend by Technology Area
Yearly patent publications since 2023
Product themes
Product-level themes inferred from filings since 2023, with category chips showing where each theme appears. Select a theme to filter the patents below.
225 US filings (since 2023) · 12 categories · 32 themes
Systems and methods for producing fuels, such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), or hydrogen with a reduced carbon intensity, often leveraging alternative feedstocks, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, or integrated energy recovery.
Catalytic processes and novel catalyst materials designed to efficiently produce hydrogen gas from various feedstocks, including hydrocarbons (e.g., methane, natural gas) and ammonia.
Chemical processes that utilize hydrogen to remove impurities like sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen from hydrocarbon feedstocks, or to saturate aromatic compounds, often employing specific catalysts and process conditions.
Technologies focused on converting waste plastics, residual polymers, or aromatic waste streams into valuable hydrocarbon liquids, gases, or chemical feedstocks through thermal or catalytic pyrolysis, followed by upgrading and separation processes.
Processes and reactor designs for breaking down heavier hydrocarbon feedstocks into lighter, more valuable products using catalysts, including methods for regenerating spent catalysts through coke burning or other means.
Methods and apparatus for the efficient and selective production of organic compounds, including amines, acids, and esters, often involving catalytic or continuous processes and purification steps.
Novel or optimized methods and apparatus for efficiently separating desired products, recovering valuable components, or managing effluents from complex hydrocarbon mixtures and refining processes.
Technologies and materials for capturing carbon dioxide from gas streams and subsequently converting it into valuable chemical products or materials, rather than simply storing it.
Methods and apparatus for generating, storing, and distributing electrical power within a wellbore, or for powering downhole tools and systems from the surface.
Technologies and systems for removing unwanted components or separating desired gases from a mixed gas stream, including adsorption, absorption, and membrane-based methods.
Deployment and operation of specialized sensors within wellbores to monitor formation properties, fluid flow, and well integrity, often using acoustic, optical, or radiation-based methods, and integrating with well operations.
Methods for producing organic chemicals from biomass or through fermentation processes, often focusing on carbohydrates or fatty acid derivatives for food, health, or industrial applications.
Design and engineering of specialized mechanical and electrical tools for drilling, coring, perforating, and manipulating equipment within the wellbore environment.
Systems and methods employing sensors, data processing, and control algorithms to automate and optimize drilling, fracturing, and fluid production processes in real-time.
Techniques for enhancing, interpreting, and modeling subsurface data, including seismic, electromagnetic, and nuclear magnetic resonance measurements, often involving advanced signal processing, inversion, and parallel computing methods.
Systems designed to manage the temperature of multiple components in electric or hybrid vehicles, such as batteries, electric motors, power electronics, and the passenger cabin, often using shared or interconnected cooling/heating circuits.
Engineering approaches to improve the efficiency, control, and performance of chemical reactors, encompassing continuous processes, heat exchange integration, and specialized reactor configurations for various chemical transformations.
Synthesis and modification of polysiloxane polymers to introduce specific functional groups or structures, enhancing properties for applications like composites, coatings, biomedical uses, or powder treatment.
Methods for synthesizing polyurethanes and polyureas, including non-isocyanate routes, using various monomers, catalysts, and curing agents, often for foams, coatings, or adhesives.
Specialized fluid compositions, including additives and inhibitors, used in oil and gas exploration and production for purposes like drilling, fracturing, cementing, corrosion inhibition, and formation stimulation.
Specific techniques and materials developed to remove persistent or difficult-to-treat pollutants from water, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), micropollutants, or specific industrial chemicals.
Software, algorithms, and associated hardware for monitoring, controlling, and optimizing battery performance, safety, and lifespan, including charge/discharge cycles, thermal regulation, and system integration.
Systems and methods specifically engineered for removing pollutants and impurities from water sources, ranging from groundwater decontamination to point-of-use filtration, often employing adsorption, membrane, or distillation techniques.
Synthesis and formulation of polymers, such as epoxy resins, polyimides, or ionic binders, tailored for specific functions in electronic components like sealing, insulation, or energy storage.
Technologies and systems specifically designed for extracting thermal energy from subterranean heat sources, including magma reservoirs or low-permeability fractured formations.
Membrane and depth filtration for industrial separation, gas purification, and bioprocess clarification including cross-flow, dead-end, tangential flow filtration, and oil/water separation.
Equipment and processes for separating solid particles from liquid or gas phases in industrial settings, encompassing mechanical screening, filtration of molten materials, and various filter media designs.
Process and equipment for producing solid-state battery cells, including solid electrolyte synthesis (sulfide/oxide/polymer), thin-film deposition, lamination, sintering, dry-electrode fabrication, and stacking under controlled atmosphere.
Development of materials with tailored porosity, surface chemistry, or structure, such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), zeolites, or superficially porous particles, for selective adsorption, ion exchange, or chromatographic separations.
Development and synthesis of catalysts with unique compositions or structures, such as medium entropy alloys, metal foam-supported catalysts, layered catalytic articles, or high-entropy oxides, to enhance activity, selectivity, or stability in chemical reactions.
Development and application of polymer compositions designed for reprocessability, recyclability, or incorporating sustainable additives, often featuring reversible bonds or bio-based components.
Active anode materials and manufacturing techniques for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, including silicon-carbon composites, graphite, lithium-metal anodes, and electrode coating processes that improve capacity, cycle life, and rate capability.
Patents
Showing 1-10 of 50
Hydroprocessing & Desulfurization