Case History
PathMAKER and AMT Glyphaloy Watermelon
Mill Provided One-Trip Full-Gauge Exit
Milled casing window and retrieved whipstock while keeping
costs down
Benefits
„„One-trip window milling
„„Complete full-gauge window
and rathole
„„No extra runs were needed to open up
window or drill extra rathole
Background and challenges
„„Well in Hunton basin,
central Oklahoma
„„Operator needed casing exit in high
deviation wellbore
„„Hard limestone formation was present
at kickoff point
„„Whipstock needed to be retrieved
Baker Hughes solution and results
„„Deployed PathMaster whipstock
system with PathMAKER PDC window
mill and watermelon mill dressed
with AMT Glyphaloy carbide
cutting structure
„„Achieved one-trip window cutting
with near-zero wear on watermelon
mill for complete-gauge windows
„„Successfully retrieved whipstocks
In central Oklahoma, an operator drilling
in the Hunton basin needed to cut
windows in 7-in. casing that was set in up
to 60° deviation. These windows needed
to be milled through a hard limestone
formation and cut in one trip without any
additional reaming. The whipstock would
then need to be retrieved after the lateral
was drilled for completion with access to
the main bore below the whipstock. All of
this needed to be done at a maximum cost
savings to the customer.
To provide an economical single-trip
option to the customer, Baker Hughes 6.151-in. Glyphaloy mill maintained full gauge with
proposed using its PathMaster™ whipstock little to no wear on carbide cutting structure
system with a PathMAKER™ PDC
formation mill and a watermelon mill
dressed with Advanced Milling Technology
(AMT™) Glyphaloy™ carbide. The short-
radius PathMaster whipstock provided a
positive kickoff point to sidetrack the well,
with the PathMAKER PDC formation mill
providing an efficient cutting mill to both
mill the steel of the casing and drill the
hard limestone formation. AMT Glyphaloy
carbide was applied to the watermelon
mill for a wear-resistant cutting structure
that would ream the window and maintain
full gauge.
The whipstock system was then run and
set on an N-1™ cast iron bridge plug (CIBP)
with a TorqueMaster™ bottom-set anchor.
The plan was to retrieve the whipstock
later with a fixed lug retrieval tool by direct
61/8-in. PathMAKER PDC formation mill used to mill
overpull, and mill out the CIBP to clean out
steel and drill the limestone formation
the main bore for completion.
Baker Hughes deployed the whipstock system on top of the CIBP
and oriented the whipstock with a measurement while drilling
(MWD) system. The mills were then sheared off and a window
was then milled with only 1,000 – 1,500 lb (453.5 – 680.3 kg)
of weight on the mills and 5 ft (1.5 m) of rathole drilled. After
confirmation that the window was clean, the milling bottomhole
assembly (BHA) was pulled out of hole. Both the window and the
watermelon mill were still in exceptional condition with 1/16-in.
wear on the window mill. The Glyphaloy watermelon mill was still
100% in gauge with little to no wear on the carbide.
A steerable drilling BHA was then run to drill the complete lateral.
After drilling, the whipstock and anchor were then retrieved with
the fixed lug retrieval tool and the CIBP was milled out to clean
out the well for its completion.
All goals were achieved and the operator was pleased with the
performance of Baker Hughes and its products and services. Since
this project, the same AMT Glyphaloy watermelon mill has been
run on three more wells in the Hunton basin with little to no
gauge outside diameter wear after each job.

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© 2012 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All rights reserved. 37537 11/2012