Apparatus and method for milling/drilling windows and lateral wellbores without locking using unlocked fluid-motor

1. A method of performing an operation in a wellbore, comprising:

conveying a downhole tool that includes an anchor, a whipstock, a cutting device, and an unlocked fluid-operated motor configured to operate the cutting device into a wellbore;

wirelessly transmitting signals relating to orientation of the downhole tool from a sensor associated with the downhole tool;

determining orientation of the whipstock in response to the transmitted signals;

orienting the whipstock to a desired orientation based on the determined orientation, without flowing a fluid through the cutting device;

setting the anchor in the wellbore without flowing the fluid through the motor; and

performing the operation using the cutting device by flowing the fluid through the motor.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising orienting the whipstock and setting the anchor without locking the motor.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting wireless signals comprises sending signals selected from a group consisting of: acoustic signals; and electromagnetic signals along a member conveying the downhole tool into the wellbore.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising providing a repeater in the wellbore that receives the transmitted signals, conditions the received signals and retransmits the conditioned signals to the surface.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the anchor comprises hydraulically setting the anchor using the fluid line that bypasses the motor.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising disengaging the whipstock from the motor after setting the anchor and before performing the operation.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the downhole operation is selected from a group consisting of: (i) cutting a window in a casing in the wellbore; and (ii) forming a lateral wellbore from the wellbore.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein orienting the whipstock is performed by rotating the downhole tool in the wellbore.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor includes a plurality of accelerometers and gyroscopes.

10. A method for performing a downhole operation in a wellbore, comprising:

conveying a drill string having a downhole tool that includes a device configured to provide signals relating to orientation of the downhole tool in the wellbore, a transducer configured to wirelessly transmit the signals to a surface location, a cutting device, an unlocked fluid-operated motor that is substantially free to rotate the cutting device, a whipstock connected to the downhole tool and an anchor;

transmitting the signals wirelessly to the surface location;

determining orientation of the downhole tool using the transmitted signals;

orienting the whipstock based at least in part on the determined orientation without flowing a fluid through the motor;

setting the anchor hydraulically without flowing the fluid through the motor;

disengaging the whipstock from the downhole tool; and

performing the downhole operation using the motor.

11. A downhole tool for performing a downhole operation, comprising:

a cutting device;

an unlocked fluid-operated motor that is free to rotate the cutting device when a fluid is passed through the motor;

a whipstock connected to a selected location in the downhole tool;

a sensor that provides measurements relating to orientation of the downhole tool in a wellbore;

a wireless telemetry device that transmits signals corresponding to the measurement signals to a surface location; and

a hydraulically-operated anchor downhole of the whipstock, wherein the whipstock is oriented and the anchor is set without flowing the fluid through the motor.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the anchor is configured to be set and the whipstock is configured to be oriented while the motor is free to rotate.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the sensor includes a magnetometer and an accelerometer.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the wireless telemetry device includes a transmitter that transmits signals selected from a group consisting of: acoustic signals; and electromagnetic signals.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 further comprising a repeater that receives the transmitted signals, amplifies the received signals, and transmits the amplified signals to the surface location.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising a hydraulic device for setting the anchor that includes a hydraulic line from the hydraulic device to the anchor that bypasses the cutting device and the motor.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising a controller at the surface location that determines the orientation of the downhole tool using the signals sent to the surface location.

18. The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising a tubular that conveys the downhole tool in the wellbore, and wherein rotating the tubular rotates the downhole tool for orienting the downhole tool along a selected direction.