Introduc)on

 to  Running  Pipe  Oil  

and  Gas  Wells  
OCTG Products Introduction
Handout 03
Introduction to Running Pipe Oil and Gas Wells
OCTG Products Introduction
Handout 03

OCTG (Oil Country Tubular Goods) is the name commonly applied to identify
the pipes used in the oil and gas industry. These pipes can serve different
purposes in the wells, such as producing or injecting oil, gas, steam, water.
According to their application, they can be classified as casing or tubing. The
casing preserves the integrity of the well during its entire life, while the tubing is
used either to inject or to produce fluids.

To select the appropriate pipe, that is, the Outside Diameter (OD), the Weight
and the Grade for each application, it is important to understand its purpose. If
we want to drill a well of 15,000 ft. of depth, we need to drill by sections and
after having drilled each section; we must isolate and protect them because the
raw sides of the well cannot support themselves. We do this by casing.

Casing also allow us to protect the well stream from outside contaminants, as
well as any fresh water reservoirs from the oil or gas that is being produced.
Casing can be divided in different steps:

•  Conductor Casing: is the first casing step. It is needed to circulate the drilling
fluid up to the surface without eroding the upper sediments below the rig
foundations. Generally this is a very short string, normally consisting of 1 to 3
joints.
•  Surface Casing: this string prevents the cave-in of unconsolidated sediments
near the surface and fundamentally it protects the shallow freshwater sands
from contamination. It supports the subsequent casing strings and also
provides the primary pressure control, being the support for the blow out
preventer (BOP). This is a valve that allows us to control the well in the event
of a sudden influx of gas.
•  Intermediate Casing: It seals off troublesome formations or transition zones
which could cause drilling problems, such as weak formations which lead to
loss of circulation, sloughing shales, high pressure zones, depleted zones,
salt formations which tends to collapse the well, and so on.
•  Production Casing: is set in the productive interval of the well. The
production casing is always set facing the tubing. In such way, it must be
designed to withstand all the fluids properties (as pressure, temperature,
corrosiveness). This casing protects the environment in the event of a failure
or damage on the tubing during the production stage, as well as it allows the
production tubing to be replaced or repaired during the entire life cycle of the
well.
•  Drilling Liner: it has the same concept of the intermediate casing. They do
not face the drilling.
•  Production Liner: this is set in front of the productive interval of the well. They
face the tubing.

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Introduction to Running Pipe Oil and Gas Wells
OCTG Products Introduction
Handout 03

•  Tie Back: is a string connected from the top of a liner up to the surface of the
well. A use of tie backs is when a large and heavy casing string needs to be
run from the surface to the bottom of the well, and due to its weight, it cannot
be hanged by the rig. In this particular case, such long and heavy casing
string is divided in two shorter and lighter strings: a liner at the bottom and a
tie back at the upper part, and both of them are run separately.

All pipes must be identified, and the most important international standards for
pipe manufacturing are the API 5CT and the ISO 11960, ‘Petroleum and natural
gas industries — Steel pipes for use as casing or tubing for wells’. A tube is
identified for its outside diameter expressed in inches, its weight expressed in
pounds per foot, its steel grade and its connection.

Different Types of Oil Drilling Wells

Identification of a tube according to standard

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 Introduction to Running Pipe Oil and Gas Wells
OCTG Products Introduction
Handout 03

Casing & Tubing Strings

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