Sonatrach Casing Design

INTRODUCTION TO HYDROCARBON EXPLOITATION
Development Phase
Introduction to Hydrocarbon Exploitation

Casing Design
Section
By Pratap Thimaiah
2005 Abalt Solutions Limited. All rights reserved
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Drilling Technolo gy-Casing De sig n
Well Planning
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abalt solutions limited - 2005
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September October 2005

Development Phase
Drilling T echnology -Casing Design
Well Construction
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Drilling Team
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Development Phase
Operational Pressures
Overbalance
In balance
Underbalance
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Overbalance
Condition where the wellbore

pressure >pore pressure.
Margin of over balance is
often called safety or trip
margin
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Development Phase
In Balance
Pore pressure of formation=wellbore pressure
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Underbalance
Wellbore
pressure<formation
pressure.
Controlled flow of
formation fluids mixing
with drilling fluids.
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Development Phase
Pressure
Force exerted on a cross section area

Pressure gradient is pressure exerted per unit
length
Key objectives of evaluation

Gain an accurate knowledge of formation
pressure to ensure well control.
Estimate formation fracture pressure in order to
set working pressures.
Reduce risks
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Key types of Operating Pressures
Hydrostatic
BHCP
Pump pressure
Overburden pressure
Formation pressure
Fracture pressure
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Development Phase
Hydrostatic Pressure
Pressure due to unit weight and vertical height

of a static column of fluid.
Expressed in field units as:
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Bottom Hole Circulating Pressure (BHCP)

On circulation, pressure losses occur in the
annulus due to friction.
For circulation to be maintained, these losses
must be overcome by pumps.
This leads to:
BHCP can be expressed in terms of equivalent

circulating density in pounds per gallon (ppg)
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Development Phase
Pump Pressure
Pump pressure must

overcome all the losses in
the mud path:
Surface equipment
(rotary hose,kelly,swivel
etc)
Drill pipe
BHA
Bit
BHA Annulus
Drill Pipe Annulus
All other losses are termed parasitic

losses and calculated from standard
pressure equations
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Overburden Pressure
Pressure exerted by
total weight of solids
and fluids in the
formation
Caused by weight of
rock above the area
of interest
z is unique and
constant for a
particular formation
ob can be calculated
by
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Development Phase
Formation Pressure
Pressure exerted by fluids contained in pore
spaces of rocks.
Depends upon fluid column density & vertical
depth.
For a normal formation, pore pressure is:
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Formation Pressure
Normal formation Pressure

Saline water is common in porous rocks.
Formation pressure is a function of formation
water density.
Depending on salinity, pressures range from
0.433 psi/ft (fresh water) to 0.465psi/ft
Abnormal formation Pressure

When Pf<0.433psi/ft -Subnormal
When Pf>0.465psi/ft -Geopressured or Over
pressured
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Development Phase
Fracture Pressure
Critical pressure to break down
formation or induce fractures.
Fracture gradient is a plot of

Pressure vs. depth necessary for
this to occur.
Knowledge of fracture gradient
helps to:
Determine setting depths
for intermediate casing
strings
Maximum allowable
annular surface pressure to
control a Kick.
Maximum allowable Mud
density during drilling.
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Leak off Test
Method for positive determination of maximum mud weight permitted

in an open hole section of well.
The crew performs test in first few feet of new hole drilled below a
new casing shoe.
The results when converted to equivalent mud weight, determines
maximum mud weight the section can withstand without loss
circulation.
Test consists of well closure at surface and pressure application until
mud just begins to inject into formation.
Procedure
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
After Cementing casing, run with bit and drill string

Pressure test casing and drill out casing shoe to about 10 ft of new
formation.
Pull bit to casing shoe.
Shut off pumps, wait for flow to cease, then close kelly cock and BOP.
Using cementing unit pump mud into hole annulus.
Monitor pressure build up and volume.
Pressure build up is linear until mud begins to bleed into formation.
This is called Leak-off Pressure (PLOT)
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Development Phase
Leak off Test
8. as pumping continues, build up curve flattens out until pressure no

longer increases. This is called Injection Pressure.
9. At injectivity point, pump should be shut off and choke closed.
10. Monitor pressure until shut-in pressure falls to equilibrium called Bleed off Point.
11. Hold bleed-off pressure for several minutes to confirm no break down.
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Casing Strings
Conductor
Surface
Intermediate
Production
Liner
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Development Phase
Casing Strings-Configurations
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Casing Strings
Reasons for casing off open hole:
Prevent unstable formations from caving in

Protect weak formations from mud weights that cause
zones to break.
Abnormal pressure isolation in zones.
Seal off lost circulation
To complete and produce zone effectively
Structural support for Bops and Wellheads.
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Development Phase
Casing String Types
Conductor Casing
First casing string to be run from surface to

shallow depth and has the largest
diameter.
Surface formations usually have low

fracture strength which could exceed
hydrostatic pressure exerted by drilling
fluids.
Conductor provides a conduit for mud

returns and always cemented to surface.
Its functions mainly are
Seal off unconsolidated formations

at shallow depths.
Prevent wash outs.
Protection of shallow gas flows.
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Casing String Types

Surface Casing
The main function is to seal off
the fresh water sands.
Support the BOP Equipment.

The casing setting depth is
important where abnormal
pressures are expected.
Casing is usually set in
competent formations
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Development Phase
Casing String Types
Intermediate Casing
Isolate troublesome formations

/Transition zones which would
cause drilling problems such as lost
circulation, sloughing shale, high
pressure zones, salt zones etc.
Number of intermediate strings
may be required depending upon
pore and fracture gradients.
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Casing String Types

Production Casing
Usually the last string of

casing to be run either
through pay zone or above
pay zone.
Isolation of production
interval from other zones.
Protection of tubing and
other equipment, basis for
well completions.
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Development Phase
Casing String Types
Liner
Short string of casing that does not

extend back to surface.
Run back inside the previous
casing to provide overlap.
If required tie-back string can be
extend to wellhead.
Advantages
Complete wells with light
weight on wellheads and
surface pipe.
Total cost of production string
is reduced & also
running/cementing times
allowing optimal size of tubing.
Improved completion flexibility.
Disadvantages
Possible leak in liner hanger.
Difficulty in obtaining a good
cementing job due to narrow
annulus.
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Properties of Casing
Casings are manufactured from different sizes,
lengths, grades and weights.
API Bulletin 5C2 has specifications for minimum
standards that must be met for each type of
casing.
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Development Phase
Outside Diameter (OD):
Casings vary from 4.5 to 36 .They can be found in the
manufactures catalogue or field books.
Casing Grade and Properties:

Grades refer to physical properties of steel in the manufacturing process.
API Specification contains various grades designated by a letter and number
referring to minimum yield strength.
Ex- N80 casing has a minimum yield strength of 80,000 psi.
Manufactures also produce their own grades but have almost similar
properties to API Casings.
Grade Yield Strength Mini (psi)
H-40
4000
J-55
55000
K- 55
55000
C-75
75000
L- 80
80000
N-80
80000
C-95
95000
Max Yield Strength (psi) Tensile Strength (psi)

60000
80000
75000
80000
95000
90000
95000
95000
95000
110000
100000
110000
105000
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Length of Joint : Casings are
available in three ranges:
Range 1: 16 to 25 ft
Range 2: 25 to 34 ft
Range 3: 34 + ft
Weight of Casing: Wall thickness is

indicated by weight per foot.
Weigh t (lb/ft)
OD (inches)
ID (inches)
Wall Thickness (in)
53.5
9.625
8.535
0.545
47
9.625
8.681
0.472
43.5
9.625
8.755
0.435
40
9.625
8.835
0.395
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Development Phase
Connections
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Casing Wear
Adhesive Wear
Occurs when contact pressure >250 psi

Pressure and movement cause part of
casing to weld themselves to tool joint.
Solid phase welding of chip to tool joint
Transport
Chip dislodged
Abrasive Machining Wear
Particles of metal shaved off

Tong die marks and hard facing
Rapid wear of metal
Abrasive Grinding Wear
Contact pressure <250 psi

Fine particles of metal seen on surface
and wear is slow.
Particles in mud causing slow polishing
wear.
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Development Phase
Casing Wear
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Casing Wear
Internal Diameter Changes
Changes in casing sizes

Change in casing hanger to top of joint
Wear bushing ID<top casing ID
Sharp Shoulder
Tapered Shoulder
Severe wear
Lighter wear
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Development Phase
Minimize Casing Wear
Minimize rotation hours for High ROP Bits and

DHMM.
Change tong dies in good time
Specify correct hard banding on tool joints
Use drill pipe protectors
Weighted drilling mud
Smooth transition of ID at changes of casing
size.
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Basic Casing Design
Casing Design Process
Data Collection
Preliminary Design
Detailed Design
Triaxial analysis
Documentation
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Development Phase
Data Collection
Pore Pressure and Fracture Pressure
Calculations for burst and collapse pressures.

Kick tolerance for casing setting depths.
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Data Collection
Lithology
Formation types from offset wells vs depth.
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Development Phase
Data Collection
Final Hole Size

Minimum size determined by completions.
Exploration wells require logging to determine
final hole sizes.
Contingency hole size maybe required for
exploration wells.
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Data Collection
Temperature gradient
Yield strength of casing decreases with

temperature increase.
Problematic zones
Offset well analysis
Identification of problematic zones like salt
diapers, lost circulation zones etc.
Casing designed to withstand mobile salt
movement.
Drilling with salt saturated mud.
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Development Phase
Data Collection
Bit and Casing sizes
Using sizes available in yard or area of
operations
Life cycle loads

Artificial lift methods
Injection systems
Abandonment plans
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Preliminary Design
Identify
Wellbore fluid densities
Casing diameters
Lowest hole section
determined by IPR and
completion tubing size
From lowest hole section bit
size, next casing string up
must have an ID which
allows this bit size to be
passed.
Casing Shoe setting depths

Casing shoes should be
cemented in strong &
competent formations.
Isolating troublesome zones.
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Development Phase
Preliminary Design
Casing Setting Depths
Initial setting depths is based on pore and fracture pressure gradients.
The total depth of well and setting depth of production casing or liner
is driven by logging, testing and completion requirements.
1.
2.
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Preliminary Design
3.
4.
5.
6.
Draw mean pore pressure gradient curve along with lithology.Note any
intervals of problematic zones-such as differential sticking, lost
circulation or high pressure gas zones.
Draw mud weight curve. It should include 200-400 psi trip margin.
specific companies may require different levels of over balance.
Draw predicted fracture gradient curve. Draw a fracture gradient
design curve parallel to predicted with 0.3 to 0.5 ppg reduction, for
kicks and ECD during cementing.
Plot mud weights and Leak off tests to provide check of pore pressure
predictions.
To estimate Casing setting Depths:
Enter mud at point A (Total depth)

Move up to point B which determines initial estimated setting depth for
intermediate casing.
Move across to point C which determines mud weight requirement for
that depth.
Move up to point D which determines preferred setting depth for
surface casing.
Move across to point E to identify mud weight required at that depth.
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Development Phase
Preliminary Design
Other factors for casing setting depth
Shallow gas
Lost circulation zones
Formation stability
Directional well profile
Fresh water sands
Salt sections
High pressure zones
Competent formations
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Detailed Design
Burst and Collapse Loads

Installation Loads
Service Loads
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Development Phase
Burst Loads
Burst Pressure=Internal Pressure- External

Pressure exceeding casing burst strength.
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Burst Loads
Internal Pressures for Burst

Burst pressures occur when formation fluids
enter the casing while drilling or produce next
hole section. (fig 5.3 pg110 rabia)
Assuming a gas kick of pressure Pf from next TD
and gas filling the entire well then internal
pressure at surface and shoe are:
Internal pressure at surface= Pf G x TD
Internal Pressure at Shoe = Pf G x (TD-CSD)
Where G= gas gradient (generally 0.1 psi/ft)
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Development Phase
Burst Loads
External Pressures for Burst
1. Ext pressure =0.465 psi/ft x csd (ft)
2. External pressure is not based on the cement

column.
3. If casing is cemented to surface i.e.- conductor and
surface casing
Ext Pressure = maximum expected pore pressure
4. If casing is uncemented i.e.- Intermediate and

production strings then
In open hole use column of mud to balance lowest pore

pressure.
Inside another casing, use mud down to TOC and from
TOC to shoe use column of mud to balance lowest pore
pressure in open hole.
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Collapse Loads
Collapse Pressure = External pressure

Internal Pressure.
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Development Phase
Collapse Loads
Occurs mainly due to
Cementing
Salt loading
Partial or total casing evacuation
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Tension Load
Due to weight of casing itself.

Uppermost part/joint of string is weakest, as it
carries total weight of string.
Other loads arise due to:
Bending
Drag
Shock
Pressure testing
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Development Phase
Tension Load
Tensile forces are calculated by:
Weight of casing in air using TVD.

Buoyancy force
Bending force in deviated wells
Drag force while POOH.
Shock load due to arresting casing in slips
Pressure testing forces.
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Tension Calculations
Weight of casing in air = casing weight (lb/ft) x
TVD (ft)
Bending Force =63Wn x OD x

Where Wn = weight of casing
=dogleg severity , degrees/100ft
Buoyancy force for open ended casing= Pe (AeAi) (Fig 5.7,pg 123,Rabia)
Buoyancy force for closed casing= Pe Ae Pi Ai
Where
Pe=external hydrostatic pressure ,psi

Pi=internal hydrostatic pressure , psi
Ae and Ai are external and internal areas of
casing.
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Development Phase
Drag Forces Usually in order of 100,000 lbf.

Last for the duration of running a joint of casing.
Results usually when POOH due to tight hole
Shock Load results when Sudden decelerations are applied
Casing picked off slips
Slips kicked in while pipe is moving
Casing jumps off edge downhole
Fshock = 1780 V As
where
V = pipe velocity (ft/s)
As=C/s area.
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Pressure Testing
Casing should be tested to maximum pressure

which it sees during drilling and production
operations
Test Pressure force Ft (lb) = (ID)2 x test pressure
4
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Development Phase
Compression Loads
Arise in casings that carry inner casing strings.

Weight of inner strings is transferred to larger
supporting string.
Integrity of surface casings are checked with
buoyant weight of all subsequent strings.
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Service Loads
Loads anticipated while the well is used in service
during production, injection etc through to
abandonment.
Pressure
Temperature
Buckling
Point Loads
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Development Phase
Service Loads
Buckling
Changes in pressure, temperature
etc increase at bottom end of
casing
Point Loads
Acting on single location on casing
strings
Packer setting force
Weight on packer
Pressure test against packer
Temperature
Thermal expansion of
uncemented casings & fluids.
Pressure
Tubing leaks
Extra pressure exerted into
production casing
Gas leak below hanger
Mobile formations
Well stimulation
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Safety Factor
Safety Factor = Failure Load

Actual applied load
Safety factor is always >1
Used in relation to catastrophic failure and
lifting equipment
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Development Phase
Design Factors
DF =
Rating of Pipe
Maximum anticipated service load
Uses API minimum Yield.

May be equal or >1
Used in downhole tubular.
Typical design factors:

Burst Design
API no recommendations
Generally 1.1 to API Minimum internal yield pressure.
Collapse Design
1.0 generally used.
Compression design factors
API no recommendations
Generally 1.00
Tension design factors
1.3 (Neal Adams)
1.8(Preston Moore)
API Recommends at least 1.11
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INTRODUCTION TO HYDROCARBON EXPLOITATION

Introduction to Hydrocarbon Exploitation

2005 Abalt Solutions Limited. All rights reserved

Drilling Technolo gy-Casing De sig n

2005 Abalt Solutions Limited. All rights reserved

abalt solutions limited - 2005

September October 2005

INTRODUCTION TO HYDROCARBON EXPLOITATION

Drilling T echnology -Casing Design

2005 Abalt Solutions Limited. All rights reserved

Drilling Technolo gy-Casing De sig n

2005 Abalt Solutions Limited. All rights reserved

abalt solutions limited - 2005

September October 2005

INTRODUCTION TO HYDROCARBON EXPLOITATION

Drilling T echnology -Casing Design

2005 Abalt Solutions Limited. All rights reserved

Drilling Technolo gy-Casing De sig n

Condition where the wellbore

2005 Abalt Solutions Limited. All rights reserved

abalt solutions limited - 2005

September October 2005

INTRODUCTION TO HYDROCARBON EXPLOITATION

Drilling T echnology -Casing Design

Pore pressure of formation=wellbore pressure

2005 Abalt Solutions Limited. All rights reserved

Drilling Technolo gy-Casing De sig n

2005 Abalt Solutions Limited. All rights reserved

abalt solutions limited - 2005

September October 2005

INTRODUCTION TO HYDROCARBON EXPLOITATION

Drilling T echnology -Casing Design

Force exerted on a cross section area

Key objectives of evaluation

2005 Abalt Solutions Limited. All rights reserved

Drilling Technolo gy-Casing De sig n

Key types of Operating Pressures

2005 Abalt Solutions Limited. All rights reserved

abalt solutions limited - 2005

September October 2005

INTRODUCTION TO HYDROCARBON EXPLOITATION

Drilling T echnology -Casing Design

Pressure due to unit weight and vertical height

2005 Abalt Solutions Limited. All rights reserved

Drilling Technolo gy-Casing De sig n

Bottom Hole Circulating Pressure (BHCP)

BHCP can be expressed in terms of equivalent

2005 Abalt Solutions Limited. All rights reserved

abalt solutions limited - 2005

September October 2005

INTRODUCTION TO HYDROCARBON EXPLOITATION

Drilling T echnology -Casing Design

Pump pressure must

All other losses are termed parasitic

2005 Abalt Solutions Limited. All rights reserved

Drilling Technolo gy-Casing De sig n

2005 Abalt Solutions Limited. All rights reserved

abalt solutions limited - 2005

September October 2005

INTRODUCTION TO HYDROCARBON EXPLOITATION

Drilling T echnology -Casing Design

2005 Abalt Solutions Limited. All rights reserved

Drilling Technolo gy-Casing De sig n

Normal formation Pressure