CASING DESIGN
By
Engr. Jam Muhammad
Kashif
CONTENTS
The Primary Function of Oil/Gas Well Casing
The Various Types of Casing String Used
The Procedures Used in the design of casing String
INTRODUCTION
At the search for commercial hydrocarbon deposits reaches greater
depths, the number and sizes of casing string s required to drill and to
complete well successfully also increases
It is most expensive part of drilling which is 18% of average cost of
well completed.
It is important responsibility of drilling engineer to design least
expensive casing program that will allow the well to be drilled and
operated safely throughout the life
TYPES OF CASING
Conductor casing
Surface casing
Intermediate casing
Liners
Production Casing
Production Liners
FUNCTION OF CASING
To prevent collapse of borehole during drilling and
To prevent hydraulically isolates the wellbore fluids from the
surface formation and formation fluids
To minimize the damage of both subsurface environment by
drilling process and the well by hostile subsurface
environment
FUNCTION OF CASING
To provide high strength flow conduit for the drilling fluids to
the surface and with the blowout preventers BOP, permit the
safe control of formation pressure
Selective perforation of properly cemented casing also
permits isolated communication with given formation of
interest
CONDUCTOR CASING
A well that will not encounter abnormal formation pore
pressure gradient, lost circulation zones, or salt solutions
may require only conductor casing and surface casing to drill
to the depth objective for well
It is needed to circulate the drilling fluid to the shale shaker
without eroding the surface equipment below the rig and rig
foundation when drilling is initiated
CONDUCTOR CASING
To protects the subsequent casing string from corrosion
To support structurally some of the wellhead load
A diverting system is installed on the conductor casing to
divert flow from the rig personnel and equipment incase of
unexpected influx of formation fluids during drilling to surface
casing depth
SURFACE CASING
To prevents cave-in of unconsolidated, weaker, near surface
sediments, and protects the shallow, fresh water sands, from
contamination
It is also support and protect from corrosion any subsequent
casing string run in the well
In the event of kick, it generally allows the flow to be
contained by closing BOP’s.
SURFACE CASING
BOP’s could not be closed unless the casing which the BOP’s
are attached has been placed deep enough into the earth to
prevent the pressure-initiated below the casing seat from
reaching the surface
SURFACE CASING
Subsequent flow through such fractures eventually can erode
a large crater, up to several hundred feet in diameter, which
could completely engulf the rig
Surface-casing-setting depth are usually from 300 to 5,000 ft
into the sediments
INTERMEDIATE CASING
Deeper wells that penetrate abnormally pressured formations,
lost circulation zones, unstable shale section, or salt sections
generally require one or more string of intermediate casing
It is placed between the surface casing depth and final casing
depth
INTERMEDIATE CASING
To prevent abnormal high formation pore pressure in the
deeper portion
To protect the formation below surface casing from pressures
created by the required high drilling fluid density
INTERMEDIATE CASING
Similarly, when normal pore pressure are found below
sections having abnormal pore pressure, and additional
intermediate casing permits lowering the mud density to drill
deeper formation economically
It is also required after troublesome lost circulation zone or
an unstable shale or salt section is penetrated, to prevent
well problems drilling these zones
LINERS
It is casing string that do not extend to the surface but are suspended from the bottom
of the next larger casing
Several hundred feet of overlap between the liner top and the casing seat are
provided to promote good cement seal
Principal advantage of the liner is its lower cost
However, problems sometimes arise from hanger seal and cement leakage
Also, using a linear exposes the casing string above it to additional wear during
subsequent drilling
PRODUCTION CASING
It is set through the productive interval
This casing provides protection for the environment in the
event of a failure of the tubing string during production
operations and permits the production tubing to be replaced
later in the life of well
PRODUCTION CASING
A production liner is liner set through the productive interval
of the well
Production liners generally are connected to the surface well
head using a tie back casing string when the well is
completed
Tie-back casing is connected to the top of the liner with
specially designed connector
PRODUCTION CASING
Production liners with tie-back casing strings are most
advantageous when exploratory drilling below the productive
drilling is planned
Casing wear resulting from drilling operations is limited to the
deeper portion potential damage by the drilling fluid for an
extended period
PRODUCTION CASING
Use of production liners with the tie-back casing strings also
results in lower hanging weights in the upper part of the well
and thus often permits a more economical design