Claims
- 1. A wellbore apparatus comprisinganchor apparatus for anchoring the wellbore apparatus in a bore, the anchor apparatus actuated by fluid under pressure supplied thereto, sealing apparatus selectively inflatable to close off the bore to fluid flow therethrough, and whipstock apparatus connected to the anchor apparatus.
- 2. The wellbore apparatus of claim 1 wherein the anchor apparatus is connected to and in fluid communication with a tubular string for lowering the wellbore apparatus down into the bore and the fluid under pressure for actuating the anchor apparatus and the sealing apparatus is supplied through the tubular string.
- 3. The wellbore apparatus of claim 1 wherein the anchor apparatus is releasably connected to the sealing apparatus.
- 4. The wellbore apparatus of claim 1 further comprising orienting apparatus for orienting the anchor apparatus to a desired orientation within the bore.
- 5. The wellbore apparatus of claim 4 wherein the orienting apparatus includes a measurement while drilling device.
- 6. The wellbore apparatus of claim 1 wherein the anchor apparatus is connected to coiled tubing for lowering the wellbore apparatus down into the bore.
- 7. The wellbore apparatus of claim 1 wherein the sealing apparatus is an inflatable sealing packer.
- 8. The wellbore apparatus of claim 1 further comprisingorienting apparatus for orienting the whipstock to a desired orientation within the bore.
- 9. The wellbore apparatus of claim 8 wherein the orienting apparatus includes measurement while drilling apparatus.
- 10. The wellbore apparatus of claim 1 wherein the whipstock apparatus is retrievable from within the bore.
- 11. The wellbore apparatus of claim 1 wherein the whipstock apparatus is hollow and filled with drillable or millable filler material.
- 12. The wellbore apparatus of claim 1 wherein the whipstock, anchor apparatus and sealing apparatus are configured and sized for through-tubing wellbore operations.
- 13. The wellbore apparatus of claim 1 further comprisingtemperature compensating apparatus for maintaining a desired fluid pressure in the anchor apparatus.
- 14. The wellbore apparatus of claim 1 further comprising temperature compensating apparatus for maintaining a desired fluid pressure in the sealing apparatus.
- 15. The wellbore apparatus of claim 1 further comprising wellbore milling apparatus selectively releasably connected to the whipstock apparatus.
- 16. The wellbore apparatus of claim 15 wherein the wellbore milling apparatus, whipstock apparatus, anchor apparatus and sealing apparatus are configured and sized for through-tubing wellbore operations.
- 17. The wellbore apparatus of claim 15 wherein the wellbore milling apparatus is from the group consisting of: a starter mill; a window mill; a combination of a plurality of at least two mills; at least one watermelon mill; and a milling-drilling apparatus.
- 18. The wellbore apparatus of claim 1 wherein the whipstock apparatus has a channel therethrough and valve apparatus for controlling fluid flow through the channel.
- 19. The wellbore apparatus of claim 1 wherein the anchor apparatus and sealing apparatus can be selectively deactivated for retrieval from the bore.
- 20. A wellbore apparatus comprisinganchor apparatus for anchoring the wellbore apparatus in a bore, the anchor apparatus actuated by fluid under pressure supplied thereto, and sealing apparatus selectively inflatable to close off the bore to fluid flow therethrough, orienting apparatus for orienting the anchor apparatus to a desired orientation within the bore, and wherein the orienting apparatus includes a measurement while drilling device.
- 21. A wellbore apparatus comprisinganchor apparatus for selectively anchoring in a bore the anchor apparatus actuatable by fluid under pressure, temperature compensation apparatus for maintaining fluid under pressure in the sealing apparatus at a desired pressure, and wherein the temperature compensating apparatus comprises a cylinder in which is displaceably positioned a reciprocatingly slidable piston which is movable in response to fluid pressure variations and which has a cavity in fluid communication with a cavity of said cylinder, the piston having a first piston surface which is influenced by the fluid pressure inside the sealing apparatus, and a second piston surface facing a direction opposite the first piston surface which second piston surface is influenced by fluid pressure in the bore, the two piston surfaces having mutually different areas, the temperature compensator arranged to regulate, on the basis of said difference in piston surface area, internal fluid pressure in the sealing apparatus in relating to ambient fluid pressure effective downstream of the sealing apparatus and thus constituting a reference pressure for the internal pressure of the sealing apparatus.
- 22. The wellbore apparatus of claim 21 further comprising a mill guide connected to the anchor apparatus.
- 23. The wellbore apparatus of claim 22 further comprising mill apparatus selectively releasably connected to the mill guide.
- 24. A wellbore apparatus comprisinganchor apparatus for anchoring the wellbore apparatus in a bore, the anchor apparatus actuated by fluid under pressure supplied thereto, sealing apparatus selectively inflatable to close off the bore to fluid flow therethrough, temperature compensating apparatus for maintaining a desired fluid pressure in the sealing apparatus, and orienting apparatus for orienting the anchor apparatus to a desired orientation within the bore, wherein the orienting apparatus includes a measurement while drilling device.
- 25. A wellbore apparatus comprisinganchor apparatus for anchoring the wellbore apparatus in a bore, the anchor apparatus actuated by fluid under pressure supplied thereto, sealing apparatus selectively inflatable to close off the bore to fluid flow therethrough, temperature compensating apparatus for maintaining a desired fluid pressure in the sealing apparatus, and whipstock apparatus connected to the anchor apparatus.
- 26. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 further comprising orienting apparatus for orienting the whipstock to a desired orientation within the bore.
- 27. The wellbore apparatus of claim 26 wherein the orienting apparatus includes measurement while drilling apparatus.
- 28. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 wherein the whipstock apparatus is retrievable from within the bore.
- 29. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 wherein the whipstock apparatus is hollow and filled with drillable or millable filler material.
- 30. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 wherein the whipstock, anchor apparatus and sealing apparatus are configured and sized for through-tubing wellbore operations.
- 31. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 further comprisingtemperature compensating apparatus for maintaining a desired fluid pressure in the anchor apparatus.
- 32. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 wherein the temperature compensating apparatus comprises a cylinder in which is displaceably positioned a reciprocatingly slidable piston which is movable in response to fluid pressure variations and which has a cavity in fluid communication with a cavity of said cylinder, the piston having a first piston surface which is influenced by the fluid pressure inside the sealing apparatus, and a second piston surface facing a direction opposite the first piston surface which second piston surface is influenced by fluid pressure in the bore, the two piston surfaces having mutually different areas, the temperature compensator arranged to regulate, on the basis of said difference in piston surface area, internal fluid pressure in the sealing apparatus in relating to ambient fluid pressure effective downstream of the sealing apparatus and thus constituting a reference pressure for the internal pressure of the sealing apparatus.
- 33. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 further comprisingwellbore milling apparatus selectively releasably connected to the whipstock apparatus.
- 34. The wellbore apparatus of claim 33 wherein the wellbore milling apparatus, whipstock apparatus, anchor apparatus and sealing apparatus are configured and sized for through-tubing wellbore operations.
- 35. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 wherein the anchor apparatus is effective to anchor the wellbore apparatus, and the sealing apparatus is effective to seal the bore to create a primary barrier in the bore.
- 36. The wellbore apparatus of claim 33 wherein the wellbore milling apparatus is from the group consisting of: a starter mill; a window mill; a combination of a plurality of at least two mills; at least one watermelon mill; and a milling-drilling apparatus.
- 37. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 wherein the whipstock apparatus has a channel therethrough and valve apparatus for controlling fluid flow through the channel.
- 38. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 wherein the anchor apparatus and sealing apparatus can be selectively deactivated for retrieval from the bore.
- 39. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 wherein the anchor apparatus is connected to and in fluid communication with a tubular string for lowering the wellbore apparatus down into the bore and the fluid under pressure for actuating the anchor apparatus and the sealing apparatus is supplied through the tubular string.
- 40. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 further comprisinga pump in fluid communication with and interconnected with the anchor apparatus for pumping fluid under pressure to the anchor apparatus to actuate the anchor apparatus and to the sealing apparatus to inflate the sealing apparatus.
- 41. The wellbore apparatus of claim 40 further comprisinga wellbore wireline connected to the pump for lowering the wellbore apparatus down into the bore.
- 42. The wellbore apparatus of claim 40 wherein the pump is selectively releasably connected to the anchor apparatus.
- 43. The wellbore apparatus of claim 40 wherein the pump carries a charge of fluid for pumping under pressure to supply the fluid under pressure.
- 44. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 wherein the fluid under pressure is hydraulic fluid.
- 45. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 wherein the anchor apparatus is releasably connected to the sealing apparatus.
- 46. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 wherein the anchor apparatus has a plurality of selectively extendable members movable in response to the fluid under pressure to anchor the anchor apparatus in the bore.
- 47. The wellbore apparatus of claim 46 wherein the plurality of selectively extendable members are movable to concentrically anchor the anchor apparatus centered within the bore.
- 48. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 wherein the bore is a wellbore.
- 49. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 wherein the bore is a bore within a tubular in a wellbore.
- 50. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 wherein the anchor apparatus is connected to coiled tubing for lowering the wellbore apparatus down into the bore.
- 51. The wellbore apparatus of claim 25 wherein the sealing apparatus is an inflatable sealing packer.
- 52. A multi-bore wellbore system comprisinga main wellbore cased with casing, at least one lined lateral wellbore extending from and in fluid communication with the main wellbore, at least one of the casing of the main wellbore and the at least one lined lateral wellbore closed off by a primary barrier comprising a wellbore apparatus comprising anchor apparatus for anchoring the wellbore apparatus in a bore, the anchor apparatus actuated by fluid under pressure supplied thereto, and sealing apparatus selectively inflatable to close off the bore to fluid flow therethrough, temperature compensating apparatus for maintaining a desired fluid pressure in the anchor apparatus and in the sealing apparatus, and whipstock apparatus connected to the anchor apparatus, and wherein the temperature compensating apparatus comprises a cylinder in which is displaceably positioned a reciprocatingly slidable piston which is movable in response to fluid pressure variations and which has a cavity in fluid communication with a cavity of said cylinder, the piston having a first piston surface which is influenced by the fluid pressure inside the sealing apparatus, and a second piston surface facing a direction opposite the first piston surface which second piston surface is influenced by fluid pressure in the bore, the two piston surfaces having mutually different areas, the temperature compensator arranged to regulate, on the basis of said difference in piston surface area, internal fluid pressure in the sealing apparatus in relating to ambient fluid pressure effective downstream of the sealing apparatus and thus constituting a reference pressure for the internal pressure of the sealing apparatus.
- 53. The multi-bore wellbore system of claim 52 wherein tubing is above and in fluid communication with the casing of the main wellbore and the primary barrier is configured and sized for passage through the tubing into the main wellbore, the tubing smaller in diameter than diameter of the main wellbore.
- 54. The multi-bore wellbore system of claim 12 wherein the primary barrier is selectively deactivatable and retrievable.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/183,943 filed Oct. 3, 1998 and of Patent Cooperation Treaty Application No. PCT/NO98/00037 filed Feb. 3, 1998, both of which are incorporated fully herein for all purposes.
This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/962,162 filed Oct. 31, 1997 entitled “Wellbore Mills and Methods” now U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,168 which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/752,359 filed Nov. 19, 1996 entitled “Multi-Face Whipstock With Sacrificial Face Element” now U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,978 and of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/590,747 filed Jan. 24, 1996 entitled “Wellbore Milling Guide.” U.S. application Ser. No. 08/590,747 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. Nos. 08/414,201 filed Mar. 31, 1995 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,271; 08/300,917 filed Sep. 6, 1994; now U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,417; 08/225,384 filed Apr. 4, 1994 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,060; 08/119,813 filed Sep. 10, 1993 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,759; 08,210,697 filed Mar. 18, 1994 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,187. U.S. application Ser. No. 08/752,359 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,620,051 issued Jun. 3, 1996 and 5,522,461 issued Mar. 31, 1995; and of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/542,439 filed Oct. 12, 1995.
This is a continuation-in-part of pending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/790,543 which was filed Jan. 30, 1997 entitled “Wellbore Milling & Drilling” which is a continuation-in-part of pending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/673,791 filed on Jun. 27, 1996 entitled “Wellbore Securement System, ” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/210,697 filed on Mar. 18, 1994 entitled “Milling Tool & Operations” now U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,187 issued Jul. 4, 1995 and is a division of application Ser. No. 414,201 filed on Mar. 31, 1995 entitled “Whipstock Side Support” now U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,271 issued Jul. 2, 1996, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/300,917, filed on Sep. 6, 1994 entitled “Wellbore Tool Setting System” now U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,417 issued Jun. 20, 1995 which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/225,384, filed on Apr. 4, 1994 entitled “Wellbore Tool Orientation,” now U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,060 issued on Apr. 25, 1995 which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/119,813 filed on Sep. 10, 1993 entitled “Whipstock System” now U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,759 issued on Sep. 26, 1995. This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/642,118 filed May 20, 1996 entitled “Wellbore Milling System” and of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/752,359 filed Nov. 19, 1996 entitled “Multi-Face Whipstock With Sacrificial Face Element” which is a continuation-in-part of pending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/655,087 filed Jun. 3, 1996 entitled “Whipstock” which is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/414,338 filed Mar. 31, 1995 entitled “Mill Valve” issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,461 on Jun. 4, 1996, and a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/542,439 filed Oct. 12, 1995 entitled “Starting Mill and Operations.” All applications cited above are co-owned with the present invention and incorporated herein in their entirety for all purposes.
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Continuation in Parts (23)
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09/183943 |
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PCT/NO98/00037 |
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