Place ICC in casing below proposed lateral depth and cement casing. The ICC is
not oriented in advance. Cement casing.
2 -
Drill out cement. A proprietary coating prevents cement from sticking to an ICC
profile. Wiper plugs typically clean the ICC, but a jetting
tool is available to clean ICC profiles. Determine ICC orientation
with USI UltraSonic Imager log measurements acquired during
a USI and CBT Cement Bond Tool evaluation.
3 -
Attach retrievable whipstock and selective landing tool to milling assembly.
Lock selective landing tool with orienting key adjusted to
properly position tools in ICC profile. Shear off of whipstock
and mill window through casing. Remove milling assembly and
retrieve whipstock.
4 -
Clean out main wellbore.Set reentry deployment tool (RDT) and selective landing
tool in ICC to divert drilling assemblies and logging tools
through casing window. Drill lateral borehole.
5 -
Install liner on drillpipe guided by RDT for borehole stability and zonal isolation.
Pump cement through drillpipe and liner into liner-borehole
annulus to a point below the polished-bore receptacle (PBR)
on top of the liner. Release drillpipe from liner and retrieve
running tool before cement hardens.
6 -
Run overshot to latch onto RDT and selective landing tool. Retrieve RDT and selective
landing tool.
Milling Casing Windows
The RapidAccess system uses an indexing casing coupling (ICC) installed
in the primary casing to mill exit windows for openhole laterals.
The fullbore ICC serves as a permanent depth and directional orientation
reference for drilling or reentry operations, allows conventional
cementing operations and provides a platform for constructing RapidConnect
and RapidExclude junctions.
A two-stage process using a whipstock followed by a special reentry
deployment tool (RDT) improves window milling and junction construction
compared with systems that just use a whipstock. The RDT outside diameter
is smaller and easier to retrieve than standard equipment, which minimizes
debris and tool-retrieval problems after drilling. Redundant tool-retrieval
features further ensure access to lower laterals.
Wireline or measurements-while-drilling (MWD) tools determine ICC depth
and directional orientation so a selective landing tool can orient
the whipstock and milling assembly in a specific direction. The ICC
position also can be determined from USI UltraSonic Imager log data
acquired during CBT Cement Bond Tool evaluations, eliminating one logging
run.