Coiled-Tubing-Deployed Re-Entry Whipstocks—Technology Overview and CaseHistories (2006)

Coiled Tubing Deployed Re-Entry Whipstocks - Technology Overview and Case Histories Gordon Mackenzie; Gordon Mackenzie Baker Oil Tools Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Steve Bryant Wilson Steve Bryant Wilson Baker Oil Tools Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the International Oil Conference and Exhibition in Mexico, Cancun, Mexico, August 2006. Paper Number: SPE-103645-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/103645-MS Published: August 31 2006 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Mackenzie, Gordon, and Steve Bryant Wilson. "Coiled Tubing Deployed Re-Entry Whipstocks - Technology Overview and Case Histories." Paper presented at the International Oil Conference and Exhibition in Mexico, Cancun, Mexico, August 2006. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/103645-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE International Oil Conference and Exhibition in Mexico Search Advanced Search AbstractThis paper will focus on providing the reading audience with a general overview of the practice of utilizing a whipstock methodology with the conveyance method of coiled tubing in order to create a casing / liner window. The overview will discuss general practices, tool selection criteria and provide case history demonstration of such. The case histories demonstrated will be representative of placement of the whipstock with both electric wireline and coiled tubing with actual window milling being performed with coiled tubing and workover motors. The case histories will encompass monobore applications, through tubing re-entry environments, fluid operations and also under balanced nitrogen driven applications.HistoricalIt has long been known as an oilfield drilling practice to create a sidetrack out of the motherbore of a drilled well. The reasons for such a requirement are extremely varied and may include but are certainly not limited to; fault avoidance in openhole, lost bottom hole assembly (BHA) resulting in obstruction to planned drilling trajectory, casing collapse or damage, multi-lateral drilling practices, infill drilling, slot recovery. All these applications have used a sidetrack philosophy by threaded tubular drilling conveyance for decades. However, from the standpoint of a coiled tubing methodology, the practice of sidetracking a well may still be seen by some as being in its infancy with the practice not gaining real acceptance until the early to mid 1990s. Coiled tubing in the mid to late 1980s was finally evolving from being utilized almost exclusively for no more than clean out or gas lift operations. This evolvement includes many areas of traditional well intervention practices such as performing cement squeezes, setting and retrieving flow control and plugging devices, fishing operations, scale and cement etc. removal operations and many more that we now accept as common practice in the coiled tubing fraternity. It was a natural desire to be able to exploit the inherent advantages of coiled tubing and marry it to the practice of being able to perform a sidetrack. The primary advantages for the operator community to utilize coiled tubing include, improved safety primarily from a pipe handling perspective, faster trip times, under balanced capability, reduced operational footprint, reduced environmental impact, achieved economic returns etc.General PracticesThere are two primary methods that need to be considered when discussing sidetracking from a coiled tubing perspective. These two methods can be broken down by wellbore design IE monobore and through tubing. To the purist a definition of a monobore environment would be as a minimum, a well with an unrestricted ID, although realistically it would appear that a well with minor geometry changes today may still be considered as monobore. Through tubing generally consists of multiple restrictions of varying types which may include subsurface safety valves, flow control devices, production packers, previously installed straddles and the tubing itself, all preventing unrestricted access to the area of interest for the sidetrack below. Although both methods are functionally identical, due to the restriction issue there are significant differences that must be overcome in order to be successful in either environment. Keywords: Coiled tubing operations, Technology Overview, foot window, application, drilling operation, monobore system, workover motor, Completion Installation and Operations, Upstream Oil & Gas, Case History Subjects: Drilling Operations, Completion Installation and Operations, Coiled tubing operations This content is only available via PDF. 2006. Society of Petroleum Engineers You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.