Intercept Wellbore Drilling Below Casing Obstructions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Access to subterranean wellbores is prevented by obstructions such as collapsed or sheared casing, leading to challenges in plugging, repurposing, or placing wells back in production.
Innovation Solution
A method involving steerable drilling assemblies with ranging means to create an intercept wellbore adjacent to the obstruction, establishing fluid communication through techniques like milling or perforating, and using coiled tubing to set cement plugs, allowing access and plugging of target wellbores.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional drilling methods are used to access wellbores below obstructions, then multiple trips are required for cleaning, drilling, and cementing operations, but this increases operational time and reduces efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The intercept wellbore is drilled in advance through the obstruction from the surface, creating a pre-established access pathway before the actual wellbore operations begin. This preliminary action enables all subsequent cleaning, drilling, and cementing operations to be performed in a single trip through the intercept wellbore, eliminating the need for multiple separate trips that would otherwise be required.
Solution Approach 2:
The intercept wellbore serves as an intermediary access pathway between the surface and the target wellbore below the obstruction. By drilling this intermediate wellbore through the obstruction (casing, cement, or other materials), it creates a mediator route that allows tools and fluids to be transmitted from the surface to the target wellbore without requiring direct access through the obstruction, thereby enabling single-trip operations.
2Reliability
If the obstruction is completely sealed or plugged, then access to the wellbore below is completely prevented, but this may be the desired outcome for certain operations like plugging the wellbore
Solution Approach 1:
The intercept wellbore extraction method involves removing or bypassing the obstruction (casing, cement, or other blocking materials) by drilling a new wellbore through it from the surface. This extracts the obstruction from the original wellbore pathway, creating a separate intercept wellbore that provides access to the target wellbore below while leaving the obstruction in place or removing it independently, thereby maintaining reliability of the obstruction while enabling operational access.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of trying to access the target wellbore through the obstruction from the inside (one-dimensional approach), the intercept wellbore creates a new spatial dimension by drilling through the obstruction from the surface, establishing a perpendicular or angled pathway. This dimensional change allows access to the target wellbore below the obstruction without compromising the obstruction's sealing function, enabling both reliability and ease of operation.
3Productivity
If steerable drilling assemblies with ranging means are used to create intercept wellbores, then access to target wellbores below obstructions is enabled in a single trip, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The steerable drilling assembly is designed with multi-functionality, integrating ranging means, steering mechanisms, and drilling capabilities into a single universal tool. This assembly can perform multiple functions including locating the target wellbore, steering through the obstruction, and creating the intercept wellbore, thereby enabling single-trip operations while managing device complexity through consolidation of functions rather than requiring multiple separate tools.
Solution Approach 2:
The ranging means in the steerable drilling assembly provides real-time feedback on the drill bit's position and orientation relative to the target wellbore. This feedback mechanism enables precise steering and positioning during the drilling operation, allowing the complex steerable assembly to operate with controlled accuracy. The feedback system manages the complexity by providing continuous guidance that simplifies the operation of the steerable drilling assembly.
Data Source
AI summary
A system can include a tubular string with a drilling bottom hole assembly connected at a distal end of a coiled tubing including a communication line permitting communication between surface instrumentation and the drilling bottom hole assembly, and the drilling bottom hole assembly including an orienter and ranging equipment. The tubular string is positioned in an intercept wellbore which intersects a target wellbore downhole of an obstruction that prevents access to the target wellbore downhole of the obstruction. A method can include drilling an intercept wellbore outward from an original wellbore, after an obstruction is introduced between the original wellbore and a target wellbore, and intersecting the target wellbore with the intercept wellbore, so that fluid communication is provided between the intercept and target wellbores.