Conocophillips Company

John G Eller

Jason P Burke

Matthew White

Lamar L Gantt

Dan E Venhaus

Anthony Ryan

Kenneth Maribu

David D Hearn

David G Hearn

A process is described for milling a window in the casing () of an oil or gas producing well, for example in order to drill a lateral well branching off from the main well. A wireline milling tool is first used, in a relatively low cost operation, to create a small window () or notch in the casing (). Provided a small window () or notch can be created successfully, an expensive heavy duty coil tubing milling operation can then be conducted to create the full window, some 4-6 feet in length. Previous attempts to create a full window using wireline tools have encountered difficulties due to there being no circulating drilling fluid to remove metal swarf and due to the need for the tool to be supported by casing during the milling operation, when the integrity of the casing is being compromised by drilling the window. The proposed wireline tool has an actuator () with relatively small stroke length and a relatively small container () to manage the swarf produced by the milling process.

Method and apparatus for milling a window in casing

Gravity driven reverse circulator tools are provided and methods of using same. One tool has nested pipes that when fully nested close a hole in one of the pipes, but when the drillstring is lifted, the pipes partially separate under the force of gravity to expose the hole. The other embodiment is similar, but the hole is hook shaped (hook on top as in a walking cane) and a protrusion from the other pipe fits in the hole. Thus, both lifting and rotation are needed open the tool.

Reverse circulator and method

Disclosed are systems and methods for pressure testing coiled tubing (CT) in a well. A CT pressure testing device may include a CT connector for attaching to a CT segment and a pressure test housing defining a pressure chamber. A rod may extend through a top opening of the pressure test housing and through the CT connector to the severed end of the CT segment. A sealing plug coupled to a bottom end of the rod may create an interface between the CT connector and the CT segment. A force activator may apply a force to a top end of the rod, causing the rod to push the sealing plug into the CT segment and tighten the interface. A pump may pressurize the pressure chamber to perform a pressure test on the sealing plug. Accordingly, the CT pressure testing device may establish a well control barrier for the well.

Systems and methods of pressure testing coiled tubing

The present invention relates to drilling lateral wells or sidetrack wells from a primary wellbore to enhance the efficiency and productivity of oil and gas wells.

Growing community of inventors

Anchorage, AK, United States of America

John G Eller