Published: 02/19/2014
Published: 02/19/2014
Unable to run 9 5/8-in casing to the bottom of a section due to wellbore instability, an operator working in Malaysia reasoned that the hole should be plugged and a sidetrack performed from the 13 3/8-in casing. After sidetracking, the operator wanted to directionally drill a section of at least 2,500 m while enlarging it from 12 1/4 in to 13 1/2 in, build a wellbore inclination angle from approximately 25° to 80°, and reduce the vibrations experienced during previous drilling efforts.
Schlumberger recommended anchoring a TrackMaster CH cased hole whipstock system in the 13 3/8-in casing, milling an exit, and drilling a rathole. To kickoff from the whipstock and directionally drill the section, an integrated BHA was configured that combined PowerDrive Xceed RSS, Rhino XS hydraulically expandable reamer, and a 12 1/4-in PDC bit from Smith Bits, a Schlumberger company.
To optimize the BHA for this application, i-DRILL engineered drilling system design was used to predict formation-generated impediments to drilling performance, such as vibration and bit cutting action instability.
The TrackMaster CH cased hole whipstock system milled the 13 3/8-in casing exit and drilled a 7-m rathole in one trip. The integrated BHA directionally drilled the 2,719-m section while enlarging it from 12 1/4 in to 13 1/2 in. Providing stability and durability in the challenging formation, the integrated drilling system built a high-quality wellbore with an inclination angle of 28.1° to 80.6°, setting a record for the longest RSS run in Malaysia.
Challenge: Sidetrack out of 13 3/8-in casing and directionally drill a section of at least 2,500 m, enlarging it from 12 1/4 in to 13 1/2 in while building a wellbore inclination angle of 25° to 80° to efficiently run 95/8-in casing
Solution: Use a TrackMaster CH cased hole whipstock system to mill a casing exit and drill a rathole to run an integrated drilling system that combines a 12 1/4-in M75HSPX PDC bit, PowerDrive Xceed ruggedized rotary steerable system (RSS), arcVISION array resistivity compensated service, and Rhino XS hydraulically expandable reamer
Results: Milled a window in the 13 3/8-in casing and drilled a 7-m rathole to sidetrack in one trip. Directionally drilled the 2,719-m section while enlarging it from 12 1/4 in to 13 1/2 in with a wellbore inclination angle of 28.1° to 80.6°
