A Houston-based oil and gas company won an $11.2 million verdict for royalties wrongly withheld by Warrior Energy Services Corp. for a patented invention that has revolutionized offshore oil and gas drilling.

Oilfield Specialties owns the rights to co-owners Don Umphries and Gabe Williger’s invention, WIPER, which solves a problem that offshore drilling companies such as Exxon, Chevron and Anadarko experience when a pipe gets stuck in a hole, said Tanya Dugas Dawson, a partner in Raley & Bowick in Houston who represented Oilfield Specialties. Previously it took 10 days or more to clear a stuck pipe, but the men’s invention does the job within 32 hours. The time savings is valuable because it costs $1.5 million a day to operate a rig.

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