Directional Drilling

Drilling at an angle, instead of on the perpendicular, by using a whipstock to bend the pipe until it is going in the desired direction. Directional drilling is used to develop offshore leases, where it is very costly and sometimes impossible to prepare separate sites for every well; to reach oil beneath a building or some other location which cannot be drilled directly; or to control damage or as a last resort when a well has cratered. It is much more expensive than conventional drilling procedures.

Intentional deviation of a wellbore from the vertical. Although wellbores are normally drilled vertically, it is sometimes necessary or advantageous to drill at an angle from the vertical. Controlled directional drilling makes it possible to reach subsurface areas laterally remote from the point where the bit enters the earth. It often involves the use of deflection tools.