Patent ID: 6968903

Claim:
A whipstock assembly for positioning in a well bore at a selected azimuth, the whipstock assembly comprising: a whipstock body supporting an inclined whipstock face, the whipstock body having a whipstock center of gravity offset radially from a central axis of the whipstock body; a counterweight releasably securable to the whipstock body, the counterweight having an offset counterweight center of gravity such that a portion of the counterweight tends to occupy a low side of the well bore; an orientation device for selectively orienting the whipstock face at a selected rotational position relative to the counterweight; a neutralizer releasably securable to the whipstock body, the neutralizer being positioned relative to the whipstock body such that a neutralizer center of gravity is radially opposite the whipstock center of gravity with respect to the central axis of the whipstock body, the neutralizer being removeably attached from the whipstock body; a combined whipstock/neutralizer center of gravity is substantially closer to the central axis of the whipstock body than the whipstock center of gravity to reduce the mass of the counterweight; and a detaching mechanism for selectively releasing the neutralizer from the whipstock body, such that the neutralizer may be returned to the surface after the whipstock body is set in the well.