Weatherford Announces AlphaST, Single-Trip Openhole Cementing and Sidetrack System

Author photo: Tim Shea
ByTim Shea
Category:
Company and Product News

Weatherford International has announced the market launch of its AlphaST single-trip open-hole cementing sidetrack system, a 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 open-hole cementing and sidetrack system, according to the company.

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 bottom-hole 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.

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