Weatherford International Plc has launched to market its AlphaST single-trip openhole cementing sidetrack system on Aug. 1, a market-first capability to initiate sidetrack operations without the need of a cement plug. Designed to increase operator flexibility, eliminate multiple trips, and avoid costly cementing operations, AlphaST is the world’s only single-trip openhole cementing and sidetrack system. “For operators, AlphaST means you will never again need to sidetrack from a cement plug,” Dean Bell, president of well construction for Weatherford, said. “AlphaST enables operators to avoid the cost and time of setting a cement plug, waiting on cement and time drilling. The bottom line is OpEx savings equal to days of rig time.” For an operator in the Permian Basin, previous sidetrack attempts with conventional cement plugs failed in the hard formation, requiring multiple trips in the hole and resulting in damaged directional bottomhole assemblies. Weatherford re-entry experts reviewed the application and installed the AlphaST system. After landing at the required depth, the team set the inflatable production packer (IPP) to anchor the whipstock and drilled off the formation in a single trip, saving the operator 29 hours of rig time and more than $100,000 of operational expense. “AlphaST is another example of how Weatherford develops technologies that others don't, so our customers can do what others can’t,” Bell said. “For more than four decades Weatherford has led the industry's re-entry market. With AlphaST, that legacy continues.”
Weatherford International has launched the AlphaST single-trip sidetrack cementing system, aimed at cutting rig operator costs and avoiding the time-consuming use of a cement plug. The company said previous attempts in the Permian Basin to use cement plugs for sidetracking had needed multiple trips. “Sidetracks are very expensive because they have to be done every time you do an upgrade,” said John O’Connor, president of Alpha Stock.