Technological Prospection on Nanotechnologies Applied to the Petroleum Industry

This paper presents a technological prospection on nanotechnologies applied to the petroleum industry through the creation of a worldwide overview regarding scientific paper publications and patents concerning that business, with the purpose of identifying the main trends on research and development (R&D), the annual evolution, as well as the key agents and countries involved. In this research, it was possible to verify the presence of services oil companies, like Baker, Schlumberger and Halliburton. In scientific paper publications, it was possible to observe university departments, related to petroleum studies, from different countries, as Thailand, China, USA, Iran.