An open hole sidetrack depends entirely on the cement plug. It must be hard enough and long enough to deflect the bit, placed where the formation is suitable, and dressed off to leave a clean kick-off surface. Plugs placed in washed-out hole, in soft formation or with contaminated cement produce repeated failed attempts, each costing a day or more.

Window milling is a different problem. The whipstock must be anchored and oriented correctly, the mills must cut the casing cleanly without damaging the window edges, and the swarf has to be circulated out. A rough or incomplete window makes everything that follows harder, from running the bottomhole assembly to running casing and completions later.

The decision to sidetrack is economic as much as technical. It abandons the hole below, costs rig days and may require new casing and a new completion plan. Comparing it against continued fishing, against plugging and abandoning, or against drilling a new well is the calculation that should precede the operation rather than follow it.

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Evaluate the decision to sidetrack against the alternatives.
• Plan a sidetrack, including kick-off point and new trajectory.
• Design and place cement plugs for open hole sidetracking.
• Test and dress off plugs and initiate the new hole.
• Select whipstock systems and plan casing exit operations.
• Set and orient anchors and whipstocks.
• Select mills and plan window milling operations and parameters.
• Apply section milling as an alternative exit method.
• Control direction after the exit and manage the new hole.
• Assess sidetrack cost and economics and plan for the problems that occur.

The course is instructor-led. Both sidetrack types are covered through procedures, tool drawings and field records, with participants planning sidetracks for given wells including plug design, whipstock selection and milling programmes. Case studies cover failed kick-offs, poor windows and the recovery from each. Participants are encouraged to bring their own sidetrack experience for discussion.

Organisations sending participants to this training will:

• Improve sidetrack success rates and reduce repeated attempts.
• Reduce rig time lost to failed kick-offs and poor windows.
• Make sidetrack decisions on sound economic comparison.
• Improve window quality and the operations that follow.
• Recover slots and re-use existing wells effectively.

Participants will:

• Be able to plan and justify a sidetrack.
• Be able to design cement plugs that kick off reliably.
• Be able to plan whipstock and window milling operations.
• Be able to control direction after an exit.
• Be able to anticipate and respond to sidetrack problems.

• Drilling and well engineers
• Rig site supervisors and company representatives
• Directional drilling specialists
• Well intervention and workover engineers
• Service company engineers supporting milling and sidetracks
• Well planners working with existing wells

Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.

Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide.