Casing Design

Function and Classification of casing

Casing

Functions of Casing
Isolate porous formations with different
fluid-pressure regimes and also allow
isolated communication with selectively
perforated formation(s) of interest.
Isolate troublesome zones (high
pressured zones, weak and fractured
formations, unconsolidated formations,
and sloughing shale) and to allow drilling
to the total depth.
Prevent the hole from caving in

Functions
Serve as a high-strength flow conduit to
surface for both drilling and production fluids.
Prevent near-surface fresh water zones from
contamination with drilling mud.
Provide a connection and support of the
wellhead equipment and blowout preventers.
Provide exact dimensions for running testing,
completion, and production subsurface
equipment.

Types of Casing Strings

There are different types of casing for different

functions and drilling conditions.

They are run to different depths and one or
two of them may be omitted depending on the
drilling conditions. They are:
Cassion pipe
Conductor pipe
Surface casing
Intermediate casing
Production casing
Liners

Cassion pipe (26 to 42 in.

OD)
For offshore drilling only.
Driven into the sea bed.
It is tied back to the conductor or surface casing
and usually does not carry any load.
Prevents washouts of near-surface
unconsolidated formations.
Ensures the stability of the ground surface upon
which the rig is seated.
Serves as a flow conduit for the drilling mud to
the surface

Conductor pipe (7 to 20 in.

OD)
The outermost casing string.
It is 40 to 500 ft in length for onshore and up
to 1,000 ft for offshore.
Generally, for shallow wells OD is 16 in. and
20 in. for deep wells.
Isolates very weak formations.
Prevents erosion of ground below rig.
Provides a mud return path.
Supports the weight of subsequent casing
strings.

Surface casing (17-1/2 to 20

in. OD)
The setting depths vary from 300 to 5,000 ft
10-3/4 in. and 13-3/8 in. being the most common
sizes.
Setting depth is often determined by government
or company policy and not selected due to
technical reasoning.
Provides a means of nippling up BOP.
Provides a casing seat strong enough to safely
close in a well after a kick.
Provides protection of fresh water sands.
Provides wellbore stabilization.

Intermediate casing (17-1/2 to 95/8 in.

OD)

Also called a protective casing, it is purely

a technical casing.
The length varies from 7,000 to 15,000 ft.
Provides isolation of potentially
troublesome zones (abnormal pressure
formations, unstable shale, lost
circulation zones and salt sections).
Provides integrity to withstand the high
mud weights necessary to reach TD or
next casing seat

Production casing (9-5/8 to 5

in. OD)
It is set through the protective
productive zone(s).
It is designed to hold the maximal shutin pressure of the producing formations.
It is designed to withstand stimulating
pressures during completion and
workover operations.
A 7-in. OD production casing is often
used

Production Casing
Provides zonal isolation (prevents
migration of water to producing zones,
isolates different production zones).
Confines production to wellbore.
Provides the environment to install
subsurface completion equipment.
Provides protection for the environment
in the event of tubing failure during
production operations and allows for the
tubing to be repaired and replaced.

Casing diagram

Liners
They are casings that do not reach the surface.
They are mounted on liner hangers to the previous
casing string.
Usually, they are set to seal off troublesome
sections of the well or through the producing zones
for economic reasons (i.e. to save costs).
Drilling liner
Production liner
Tie-back liner
Scab liner
Scab tie-back liner

Liner
Drilling Liner Same as intermediate/protective casing. It overlaps
the existing casing by 200 to 400 ft. It is used to isolate
troublesome zones and to permit drilling below these zones without
having well problems.
Production Liner Same as production casing. It is run to provide
isolation across the production or injection zones.
Tie-back Liner it is connected to the top of the liner with a
specially designed connector and extends to the surface, i.e.
converts liner to full string of casing.
Scab Liner A section of casing used to repair existing damaged
casing. It may be cemented or sealed with packers at the top and
bottom.
Scab Tie-back LinerA section of casing extending upwards from the
existing liner, but which does not reach the surface and normally
cemented in place. They are commonly used with cemented heavywall casing to isolate salt sectons in deeper portions of the well.

Diagram