Method and apparatus for horizontal drilling and oil recovery

Abstract

An oil tool forms holes or perforations which extend horizontally away from the borehole and into the formation for recovering additional oil and gas from the formation. The tool provides a downhole tool capable of drilling horizontally into a formation and further capable of operating in a relatively small well bore, such as those having a diameter of less than six inches. In addition, the tool does not tend to spiral or otherwise deviate from horizontal during drilling operations. The tool of the present invention includes a drill capable of drilling or tunneling through the formation, a magazine or carrier which contains a plurality of hollow joints or segments, a hydraulic pump and a mechanism for assembling and disassembling the segments. Once in place, the assembly mechanism removably attaches a segment from the magazine to the drill.

1 . An apparatus for drilling a horizontal borehole from a vertical wellbore, comprising: 
 a. a drill bit;    b. a plurality of hollow segments in the vertical wellbore, one of which is attached to the drill bit; and    c. means for driving the drill bit through the hollow segments.    
   
   
       2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the segments are stored in an unattached manner within the wellbore and are sequentially attached to one another as the drill bit advancehorizontally.  
   
   
       3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , further including a magazine of stacked segments in the wellbore.  
   
   
       4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , further including a load cell located at a position in the wellbore at which a horizontal perforation is desired, wherein each segment in the magazine of stacked segments drops into the load cell and is attached to the next adjacent segment as the drill bit horizontally advances.  
   
   
       5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further including a drill stem extending through the segments and attached to the drill bit for driving the drill.  
   
   
       6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the hollow interior of the segments form a fluid conduit for hydraulic fluid for driving the drill bit.  
   
   
       7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the segments are connected in a chain and are carried in a loop in the well bore.  
   
   
       8 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , further including a first guide means near the top of the well bore for supporting and guiding the chain of segments into the wellbore and a second guide means adjacent a location in the wellbore where a horizontal perforation is desired for guiding the segments into the horizontal perforation.  
   
   
       9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the first guide means is axially movable in the wellbore for keeping the chain of segments in tension.  
   
   
       10 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the guide means is a pulley.  
   
   
       11 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the guide means is a sprocket gear designed to engage the chain segments.