NOTES ON CASING

INTRODUCTION

The steel tubes that become a permanent part of an oil or gas well are called Casing. Oil-field
casing is manufactured in various diameters, wall thicknesses, lengths, strengths, and with
various connections.

FUNCTIONS (OPERATIONS)

The functions of casing may be summarised as follows:

1. To keep the hole open and to provide a support for weak, or fractured formations. In
the latter case, if the hole is left uncased, the formation may cave in and re-drilling of
the hole will then become necessary.
2. To isolate porous media with different fluid/pressure regimes from contaminating the
pay zone. This is basically achieved through the combined presence of cement and
casing. Therefore, production from a specific zone can be made.
3. To prevent contamination of near-surface fresh-water zones.
4. To provide a passage for hydrocarbon fluids; most production operations are carried
out through special tubings which are run inside the casing.
5. To provide a suitable connection for the wellhead equipment (e.g. the christmas tree).
The casing also serves to connect the blowout prevention equipment (BOP) which is
used to control the well while drilling.
6. To provide a hole of known diameter and depth to facilitate the running of testing and
completion equipment.

CASING TYPES

In practice, it would be much cheaper to drill a single-size hole to target depth (TD), probably
with a small-diameter drill bit, and then to case the hole from the surface to the TD. However,
the presence of high-pressured zones at different depths along the well bore, and the presence
of weak, unconsolidated formations or sloughing shaly zones, necessitates running casing to
seal off these troublesome zones and to allow of drilling to TD. A large-size casing is run at
the surface followed by one or several intermediate casings and finally a small size casing for
production purposes.

STOVE PIPE

Stove pipe (or marine conductor or foundation pile for offshore drilling) is run to prevent
washout of near-surface unconsolidated formations, to provide a circulation system for the
drilling mud and to ensure the stability of the ground surface upon which the rig is sited. This
pipe does not carry any wellhead equipment and can be driven into the ground with a pile
driver. The normal size for a Stove pipe in abroad ranges from 26 in to 42 in. In India, Stove
Pipes are very rarely used.
CONDUCTOR PIPE

Conductor pipe is run from the surface to some shallow depth to protect near-surface
unconsolidated formations, seal off shallow-water zones, provide protection against shallow
gas flows and provide a circuit for the drilling mud to protect the foundations of the platform
(offshore).

In India, it is the largest diameter of casing used in a well and is used for the same
purpose as stove pipe i.e., to prevent washout of near-surface unconsolidated formations.
Usually, BOP’s are not connected till surface casing is set. Instead diverter is used. Typical
size is 30″

SURFACE CASING

Surface casing is run to prevent caving of weak formations that are encountered at shallow
depths. This casing should be set in competent rocks such as hard limestone, sandstone
bedrock. This will ensure that the formations at the casing shoe will not fracture at high
hydrostatic pressures which may be used later. The surface casing also serves to provide
protection against shallow blow-outs as drilling progresses. BOPs are connected after surface
casing has been set. Typical size of surface casing in India is 13⅜″.

INTERMEDIATE CASING

Intermediate casing is usually set depending upon the depth of the well and the anticipated
problems in drilling the well such as abnormal pressured zone, loss circulation, salt sections or
heaving and caving shale formation. Good cementation of this casing must be ensured via
CBL/VDL, to prevent communication behind the casing between the lower hydrocarbon zones
and upper water formations. It may be necessary to set a number of intermediate strings.
Sometimes, multi-stage cementing may be used to cement long strings of intermediate casing.
The most common size of this casing is 9⅝″.

PRODUCTION CASING

Production string represents the last casing string or oil string. The following are the purpose
for lowering production casing:

 To isolate producing zones from the other formation

This is the string through which the well will be completed. In India, Normally 5½″ casing are
used as production casing which provide enough clearance to lower 2⅞″ production tubing.

LINER CASING

A liner is a string of casing that does not reach the surface. Liners are hung on the intermediate
or production casing, by use of a suitable arrangement of a packer and slips called a liner
hanger. In India, typical sizes of liner casing are 7″ and 5″
The advantages of a liner are:

1. Total costs of the production string are reduced, and running and cementing times are
reduced
2. The length of reduced diameter is reduced, which allows completion with adequate
sizes of production tubing.

The disadvantages of a liner are:

1. Possible leak across a liner hanger

CASING SIZES IN INDIA AND HOLE SIZES

Most typically used casing Sizes in India are: 30″, 20″, 13⅜″, 9⅝″ and 5½″. Whereas
2⅞″ is the most typically used tubing size. The most widely available drill bit sizes in India
are: 26″, 17½″, 12¼″ and 8½″.

The following table relates the combination of casing size and drill bits to drill a well.

Casing Size Drill bit size for next section Recommended Casing Size
for the Next Section
Conductor Casing 30″ 26″ 20″
Surface Casing 20″ 17½″ 13⅜″
Intermediate Casing 13⅜″ 12¼″ 9⅝″
Intermediate Casing 9⅝″ 8½″ 5½″
Production Casing 5½″ ----- ------
Production Tubing 2⅞″ -----

CASING HANDLING PRACTICES

Once casings are off-loaded from trucks onto pipe racks or off workboats or barges
onto the rig itself. But it is imperative that the casing be subjected to as little transfer as possible
to reduce the chances for damage. All transfer must be done using good practices to prevent
damage to the casing. Another important consideration is that the final transfer, whether to the
racks or onto a barge, must be done so that the casing is in the proper sequence in which it will
be run into the hole. It is not acceptable to try to swap the order of pipe on the racks during the
running process. All transfers must be considered when the pipe is loaded at the pipe yard.

Whether or not a company requires some type of electromagnetic inspection on location

 Casing should be drifted on location to ensure that no damage has caused a reduction
of the internal diameter and that nothing is lodged inside the pipe.
 The thread protectors should be removed and the threads cleaned with a solvent to
remove any unknown type of lubricant on the threads.
 The cleaned threads should be visually inspected.
 In offshore locations where bare metal rusts in a matter of minutes, the threads should
be lubricated as soon as they are inspected with the same lubricant that will be used
when the string is run in the hole.
 In most cases, the protectors on the pin end should be cleaned and reinstalled.
 Do not place any type of equipment, such as casing spiders or tongs, on the casing that
is on the pipe rack. This is not always possible on many small offshore rigs, but it is a
bad practice that should be avoided.