Whipstock Options For Sidetracking: Greg Bruton
Whipstock Options For Sidetracking: Greg Bruton
Whipstock Options For Sidetracking: Greg Bruton
Historically, drillers have relied on openhole cement plugs or cased hole whipstocks
for sidetracking wells. By incorporating an innovative downhole anchor with a
whipstock assembly, drillers can set whipstocks in open holes without concern for
cement plug integrity. Advances in whipstock and mill design are also signicantly
reducing the time required to initiate cased hole sidetracks.
Greg Bruton
Chesapeake Operating, Inc.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
Jimmy Land
David Moran
Shantanu Swadi
Houston, Texas, USA
Ryan Strachan
Aberdeen, Scotland
Ketil Trge
Stavanger, Norway
Oileld Review Spring 2014: 26, no. 1.
Copyright 2014 Schlumberger.
For help in preparation of this article, thanks to Joshua
Anderson, Aliaksei Koran, Scott LaBelle and Eric Wilshusen,
Houston; James Bain, Paris; Kendall Decou, Broussard,
Louisiana, USA; Aaron Miller, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,
USA; and Andrew Redden and David Stewart, Aberdeen.
i-DRILL, Runner, TrackMaster, TrackMaster CH,
TrackMaster OH, TrackMaster OH-C, TrackMaster TT and
WhipSim are marks of Schlumberger.
1. A drilling template is a metal guide used to drill multiple
wells from a single surface location. It has multiple holes,
or slots, that are used to direct the position and
orientation of the conductor pipe or drillstring as the
surface hole is being drilled. When production from a
well is no longer protable, the operator may choose to
recover the slot by plugging the original well and
sidetracking to create a new wellbore. Slot recovery
operations usually involve removing a section of casing,
followed by performing an openhole sidetrack or creating
a casing exit using a whipstock and mill combination. For
more on slot recovery: Abshire LW, Desai P, Mueller D,
Paulsen WB, Robertson RDB and Solheim T: Offshore
Permanent Well Abandonment, Oileld Review 24, no. 1
(Spring 2012): 4250.
2. Fuller GA and Edwards J: Key Factors to Consider for
Sidetrack Success in Deepwater Operations Using
Synthetic Based Muds, paper OTC 23663, presented
at the Offshore Technology Conference, Houston,
April 30May 3, 2012.
3. Time drilling is a process requiring an extremely low rate
of penetrationsometimes less than 1 m/h [3 ft/h].
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Spring 2014
lish a reliable KOP at the precise depth and orientation neededoften, in just one trip. Operators
may take a similar approach for sidetracking out of
cased hole using the TrackMaster CH cased hole
whipstock system. Openhole and cased hole sidetrack examples from the US and North Sea demonstrate the reliability and accuracy of this integrated
whipstock system.
System Options
Cased hole sidetracks have relied on whipstocks
for several decades. The TrackMaster whipstock
systems were developed to address the challenges
of sidetracking in openhole and cased wellbores.
The openhole system provides two options for setting the whipstock, which depend on whether the
operator will need to access or isolate the interval
beneath the KOP. The cased hole system is
designed to mill a smooth window through the casing before drilling into the formation.
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Anchor
Cement
> Sidetracking after pumping cement. With its anchor in place, the
TrackMaster OH-C system permits drillers to sidetrack without having to wait
for cement to cure.
The TrackMaster OH openhole whipstock system is engineered for sidetracks in which lowerzone isolation is not required. It permits single trip
sidetracking without the uncertainty associated
with setting a conventional cement plug. To achieve
their wellbore departure objectives, operators can
> Four cased hole options for securing the whipstock. The hydraulically actuated expandable anchor (A) provides exibility for a range of casing sizes and
is used when borehole isolation with a packing element is not required. The retrievable anchor (B) is hydraulically set. The retrievable anchor with packer
assembly (C) is a hydraulically set system and can be used when borehole isolation with a packing element is required. The permanent packer anchor (D) is
used when an isolation barrier is required; as its name suggests, this packer is not retrievable.
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Cement
Casing
Bypass valve
Top of window
Dress mill
Running tool
Expandable
anchor
Bit attached
to whipstock
Whipstock
Follow mill
Lead mill
Base of
window
Expandable anchor
Variations on a Theme
TrackMaster whipstock systems are composed of
basic subassemblies with variations between
openhole and cased hole models. Each subassembly is integral to the whipstock system and to the
operational reliability of the sidetracking opera4. Typically, only a couple of meters of rathole are drilled
before the mill is pulled, and a directional drilling
assembly is installed to continue sidetracking operations.
5. Whipstock rotation can be caused by torque in the
drillstring or by settling under gravity in response to
wellbore inclination.
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Side View
Top
Cementing
stinger
Front View
Fast-cutout ramp
Full-gauge section
Midramp
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Exit ramp
Bottom of ramp
Base
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The midramp accelerates the lateral movement of the lead mill past its center point to
reduce the risk of coring the mill and to allow
the mill to more fully engage the formation for
facilitating completion of the window and rathole in one run (right).
The exit ramp provides the necessary angle to
allow the mill to reliably depart the whipstock.
This section helps minimize the possibility of
the mill tracking back into the original wellbore.
Drill bits or mills establish the KOP and the
rathole beyond. The TrackMaster system can
accommodate a wide range of bits and mills
from roller cone bits to PDC, tungsten carbide
insert and diamond-impregnated mills (below).
TrackMaster performance specialists use
dynamic modeling software to help operators
select the optimal bit or mill for the job. For
openhole applications, the software can be used
to investigate how directional assemblies such
as rotary steerable systems, positive displacement motors or turbodrilling systems might
affect the sidetrack.
Cement
Casing
Whipstock
Follow mill
Lead mill
Anchor
> Coring a mill. Mill coring occurs when the lead mill is gouged by the edge of the casing, thereby
creating a hole at the center of the mill (circled, photograph). As the center of the lead mill crosses
the casing wall (left ), the tip of the mill can be subjected to extreme wear, which adversely affects
milling efciency.
> Bit and mill options. The bit or mill is attached to the top of the whipstock before it is run in the hole. On an openhole assembly, the bit is attached to the
whipstock by shear pins. The openhole system can accommodate PDC (A), roller cone (B) or diamond-impregnated bits (C). Cased hole mills (D) are
attached to the top of the whipstock by a break bolt. After the whipstock is oriented and the anchor is set, the bit or mill is separated from the whipstock by
exerting upward or downward force to shear the attachment points.
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In cased hole jobs, the standard mill conguration comprises a lead, a follow and a dress mill
(below). The lead mill geometry is matched to
the angles on the TrackMaster whipstock to maximize cutting structure engagement with the casing while minimizing loads against the whipstock
face. This arrangement directs more of the milling force into the casing than into the whipstock.
Lead mills are available in a variety of cutting
structures to optimize performance for a wide
range of sidetracking objectives. The follow mills
function is to elongate the window. The dress mill
further scours the window, ensuring that subsequent assemblies can pass through smoothly. For
some jobs, the dress mill is eliminated, resulting
in a bimill design.
The running tool, which is critical for positioning the whipstock, is located above the bit or
mill. It consists of a uid-lled chamber with a
> Making the grade. Every component is measured and calipered before going in the hole. Once the milling assembly is retrieved, each mill is graded for
wear. The lead mill (foreground) is designed to initiate the cutout and mill the window as it slides down the whipstock. It also drills the rathole. The follow
mill (middle) engages the casing and elongates the window. The dress mill (background) removes rough edges around the window.
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Side view
Front view
> WhipSim casing window simulation. Side and front views show casing outside diameter (green) and inside diameter (red) . Multiple
mills produce a window that extends 42.4 in. [108 cm] above and 318.1 in. [808 cm] below the top of the whipstock (left, blue) for a
total opening of 360.5 in. [916 cm]. The WhipSim program models the shape of the rathole (gray) produced by the lead and follow mills
and the resulting openhole diameter (red arrows). The track that the milling assembly (purple) will follow (red centerline) is also
modeled. Engineers can study the progression of window and rathole development using a slider bar at the bottom (blue) to view
simulation playbacks at various stages throughout the process.
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9 5/8-in. casing
to 1,500 ft
7-in. casing
to 12,489 ft
Kickoff point at 12,520 ft
TD at 17,679 ft MD
Whipstock
with anchor
TD at 13,400 ft
6 1/8-in. lateral
Landing point at 13,236 ft MD
> Wellbore conguration. After drilling a pilot hole, the operator logged the well to ascertain the depth
of the target horizon. A kickoff point was set at 12,520 ft [3,816 m] with a build rate of 14/100 ft [14/30 m]
to allow the directional assembly to land at 13,236 ft [4,034 m]. (Adapted from Bruton et al, reference 7.)
Chesapeake Operating, Inc. is actively drilling in this play. For wells planned with kickoffs
from pilot holes, the operator typically drilled
through the desired objective and logged the
well. After Chesapeake determined the target
interval, the driller would set a whipstock and
anchor assembly at the KOP, then pull out of the
hole to run a directional drilling assembly and
build the curve section to reach the landing
point. Chesapeake sought to eliminate the trip
required for picking up the directional assembly.
The operator also wanted to establish a reliable
kickoff structure and drill a curve free of additional doglegs that might hamper subsequent
passage of BHAs or completion equipment.
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Dress mill
Cement
Follow mill
Casing
Lead mill
Whipstock ramp
Anchor
Dress mill
Follow mill
Lead mill
> Casing exits. Wellbore angle, window orientation and formation characteristics can cause some high-side casing exits to track along the casing. Gravity
works in favor of low-side exits, pulling the milling assembly away from the casing.
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Operator Flexibility
Recovering used drill slots, drilling multilateral
wells, sidetracking around pieces of junk or drilling extended-reach wells present unique engineering challenges that can be compounded by
kickoff problems. Rather than setting the whipstock only 30 right or left of the high side of a
wellborea common practice for many whipstock
servicesthe TrackMaster whipstock system provides the exibility to reliably sidetrack at any orientation and at any wellbore inclination.
This capability gives operators a direct path to
the target without the need to drill an oriented,
high-side sidetrack. They no longer have to drill
around and down to reach their target, which pays
off with a reduction in drilling time. Now, instead
of sidetracking around trouble, operators are sidetracking toward opportunity.
MV
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