Weatherford International Plc recently announced its Shallow Angle QuickCut system successfully achieved what the company says is the industry’s first 12 ¼-in. casing sidetrack, delivering a 22-ft window in a single trip for an ultra-deepwater well in the Gulf of Mexico.

“The operator contacted Weatherford to perform a Gulf of Mexico ultra-deepwater exit in a 12 ¼-in. heavy wall casing,” said Chip Miller, vice president of North America geozone for Weatherford. “This successful 12 ¼-in. sidetrack casing became an industry first, made even more complicated by the need to achieve a dogleg low enough for production packers to safely pass through the resulting window.”

Leveraging its history of successful exits in heavy-walled casing, Weatherford and the operator deployed the Shallow Angle QuickCut with MultiCatch Anchor and milled the 22-ft casing window and 15-ft rat hole in a single trip.

“This industry-first serves as a best practice for successfully exiting heavy wall casing, opening up a contingency scenario that was previously not feasible while at the same time, allowing operators to tap into bypassed reservoir sections safely and efficiently,” Miller said.

Weatherford’s Shallow Angle QuickCut system delivered a 12 ¼-in. casing sidetrack in the Gulf of Mexico.
Weatherford’s Shallow Angle QuickCut system delivered a 12 ¼-in. casing sidetrack in the Gulf of Mexico. (Source: Weatherford International Plc)