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AbstractSidetracking mills designed with PDC insert cutting structures were able to effectively mill a casing window and drill the required lateral in one trip. This new application of advanced PDC technology in Fruitland Formation coalbed methane gas wells provides cost and timesaving benefits. This progressive effort by the operator to improve efficiency and to optimize the recompletion procedures for San Juan Basin wells is furthering exploitation of hydrocarbon reservoirs. This paper discusses how mills designed with PDC inserts swiftly cut steel and drill formation to produce a lateral well bore from the mother bore. The technique reduces the number of trips, equipment, costs, and time required to recomplete the well. The operator is able to minimize loss of production on a downed well by getting the well back on-line sooner.Three case histories are presented that illustrate how this new technology and technique were first applied in the San Juan Basin and further developed through their utilization to recomplete coalbed methane gas wells.
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