CASING

DESIGN

At

the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

State
the functions of casing

Define the terms: conductor, surface, intermediate and

production
casing
List and describe the loads which must be considered in
the casing design

Design
casing setting depths and select casing sizes
Calculate burst and collapse loads on a production casing
Select casing weight, grade and connection

Introduction

Casing Configuration & Functions

Casing Properties
Casing Design

Casing

Setting Depths
Casing Sizes Selection

Casing Loads

Casing
costs is one of the largest cost items of a

drilling project
Represent up to 30% of the total cost of the well
Therefore
proper planning of casing setting

depths and casing selection is important

Size and setting depths depends almost

entirely on the geological and pore pressure
conditions

Casing
must be designed to withstand the
anticipated load during installation, drilling
another hole and production

Casings

are pipes that is

run in a wellbore after
drilling a hole.

They have various sizes to

suit different hole sizes for
each section of drilling
operations.

Normally, casing will be

WHY RUN CASING ?

Reasons for running casing :
Consolidate unstable formations
prevent cave-ins
Separate different pressure or
fluid regimes
Control the pressure encountered
avoid fracturing weaker zones
Protect the formation from any
contamination
Provide production and operation
conduit support for the
wellhead & BOP

Casing string
consists of individual joints of steel pipe which are
connected together by a threaded connections

Guide / casing shoe

attached to the bottom of the casing string
Casing hanger
Allows casing to be suspended from the wellhead,
attached to the top of casing

Others:
float collar, centralizers, scratchers

Conductor (20 30 OD)

Surface Casing
(13- 3/8 20 OD)
Intermediate Casing
(9-5/8 16 OD)

Production Casing
(4-1/2 9-5/8 OD)
Liner

HOLE SIZE

CASING SIZE

36

30

26

20 or 18-5/8

17

13-3/8

DESCRIPTION
Conductor
Surface Casing
Intermediate
Casing

12

9-5/8

Production
Casing

Casing Type

Conductor

Surface Casing

Functions

To seal off unconsolidated

formations to prevent erosion

Enables circulation of drilling

fluid

Seal off any fresh water sands

Support the wellhead and BOP
equipment
Prevent lost circulation

Setting Depths
(from seabed)

150 600 ft

1000 5000 ft

TYPICAL CASING FUNCTIONS & SETTING

DEPTH RANGES
Casing Type
Intermediate
Casing

Functions

Production Casing

Isolate troublesome formations

between surface and production
casing
Normally set in the transition
between normal and abnormal
zone
Depends on the number of
problems encountered
Separate producing zones from
other formations
Conduit for production and
testing tubing

Setting Depths
(from seabed)
1,000 10,000 ft

Set across or
above pay zone

TYPICAL CASING FUNCTIONS & SETTING

DEPTH RANGES
Casing Type

Functions

Setting
Depths
(from
seabed)
As required

Liner
(less than 5000
ft casing string
which is

Replace intermediate
casing for deeper
drilling economic
Separate producing

Casing is generally classified according to:

Sizes (OD)
Vary

from 4.5 to 36

If less than 4.5, it is called tubing

Length of Joint
Range

1, 2, 3

Casing
Weight per ft

Casing
Grade (H-40, J-55, L-80, N-80, C-90 and etc)

Connections
Short Thread (STC), LTC, buttress, IF, EF

Involves

three distinct operations

Casing

Setting Depths Selection

Casing Sizes Selection

Selection of Casing Weight, Grade and Coupling

Casing
must be able to withstand maximum load

anticipated during landing, drilling and

production.
Design must be based on the worst anticipated
loading conditions.
Minimal
cost can be achieved by using lowest

possible wt/ft and lowest coupling grades

combination string.

Main

factors that govern the setting depths are:

Formation

pressures (normally, abnormally)

Fracture Pressures

Government Legislation or Company Policy

Casing
setting depths are selected for the deepest string to

be run and then successively from the base of the well to

surface
The first selection criteria for selecting deeper setting depths
is to permit the mud weight to control formation pressures
without fracturing any overlying formations

Plot
pressure (pore, fracture and mud weight) against depth
profile

Surface casing is set here

to prevent fracturing
Required mud density to
drill to c
Intermediate casing is set
here to prevent fracturing
Required mud density to
drill to a
Prod casing is set here

Casing

sizes and string configuration are dictated

by the size of the smallest casing string to be run
Once it is known, all subsequent casing and hole
sizes are selected

Selection of the smallest casing string is based on

operational considerations
Drilling engineer will collate this information from
geology, reservoir engineering and production

engineering
The objective of the drilling engineer is to use the
smallest casing sizes possible

CASING SIZES SELECTION

(contd)

The
bit size to drill a certain interval must be slightly larger
than the casing OD (Table 7.7)
To drill the lower interval, the bit size must fit inside the
casing. in turns it determines the min size of the second

deepest casing string (Table 7.8)

Same process continues

CASING SIZES SELECTION

(contd)

Each
casing string has to be designed for burst,

collapse and tension

Thus, its grade and coupling must be able to
withstand the loads

Design load conditions vary from one casing string

to another
Should consider the design loads for collapse and
burst
first

Then evaluate the tension load and upgrade the

pipe section if necessary
Finally check for biaxial effect

Collapse Load,

Pc Pe

Pi

External pressure may be caused by:

Pore pressure
Mud weight
Column of cement

Burst Load,

Pb Pi

Pe

Internal pressure may be caused by:

Full evacuation
Hydrocarbon influx
Tubing leak

Tension Load,

Yp

= Joint yield strength

Collapse Load assume that:

well is in the last phase of production
Casing is empty
Fluid SG outside pipe is the mud SG
Beneficial effect of cement is ignored
Design Factor of 1.0

Collapse Load at Surface:

P e 0.052 17.95 0

0 psi

P i 0 psi
P c P e P i 0 psi
Collapse Load at Casing Shoe:

P e 0.052 17.95 19000

P i 0 psi
Pc

From Table 3.3, all grade satisfy

requirement.
P the
e
P i 17735 psi

17735 psi

Burst Load assume that:

well has a BHP equal to the formation pore
pressure and the producing fluid is gas
Production tubing leaks gas (0.1 psi/ft)
Fluid SG inside casing/tubing annulus is the mud
SG
Fluid SG outside casing is the saturated salt water
SG (gradient 0.465 psi/ft)
Design Factor of 1.0

Burst Load at Surface:

P e 0.052 8.94 0

0 psi

Pi = Shut in BHP Pressure due to Gas Column

Pi

Pb Pi

17.45 0.052 19000

15341 psi
P e 15341 psi

0.1 19000

Burst Load at Casing Shoe:

P e 0.052 8.94 19000

8835 psi

Pi = Pressure due to Fluid Column + Surface Pressure

due to gas leak

Pi

17.95 0.052 19000 15341 33076 psi

Pc Pi

P e 24241 psi

From Table 3.3, only grade SOO meet the burst requirement.
0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

0
2000
4000
6000

Pc
Pb
V-150 38#

8000

V-150 41#
V-150 46#

10000

MW-155
SOO-140

12000
16000
14000
18000
20000

SOO-155

Check for tensile loading (SF=1.8):

Wet Weight TotalWet

Shock Total
Depth(ft)
GradeLength
Yp(1000lb) Wn(lb/ft)
SF
(BF=0.726)
Weight
Load
Tensile
From To
0 6000 V-15038#
6000 1430
38 165528 564828 121600
686428 2.08324
000 12000 MW-155
6000 1592
38 165528 399300 121600
520900 3.05624
000 19000 V-15046#
7000 1344
46 233772 233772 147200
380972 3.52781
Since calculated SF exceed minimum SF of 1.8, all sections satisfy
tensile load requirement.
Need to check for pressure testing, biaxial effect and costs.