Casing string

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In drilling technology, casing string is a long section of connected oilfield pipe that is lowered into a wellbore and cemented. The purpose of the casing pipe is as follows:

Background

The pipe segments (called "joints") are typically about 40 feet (12 m) in length, male threaded on each end and connected with short lengths of double-female threaded pipe called couplings. (Some specialty casing is manufactured in one piece with a female thread machined directly into one end.)

Specification 5C3 of the American Petroleum Institute standardizes 14 casing sizes from 4.5 inches (11.43 cm) to 20 inches (50.80 cm) outside diameter ("OD"). [1] This and related API documents also promulgate standards for the threaded end finish, the wall thickness (several are available in each size to satisfy various design parameters, and in fact are indirectly specified by standardized nominal weights per linear foot; thicker pipe obviously being heavier), and the strength and certain chemical characteristics of the steel material. Several material strengths—termed "Grades" and ranging from 40,000 pounds per square inch (276 MPa) to 150,000 pounds per square inch (1,034 MPa) minimum yield strength—are available for most combinations of OD and wall thickness to meet various design needs. Finally, the API publications provide performance minimums for longitudinal strength ("joint strength") as well as resistance to internal (bursting) and external (collapsing) pressure differentials.

A typical piece of casing might be described as 9-5/8" 53.5# P-110 LT&C Rg 3: specifying OD, weight per foot (53.5 lbm/ft thus 0.545-inch wall thickness and 8.535-inch inside diameter), steel strength (110,000 psi yield strength), end finish ("Long Threaded and Coupled"), and approximate length ("Range 3" usually runs between 40 and 42 feet).

Casing is run to protect or isolate formations adjacent to the wellbore. It is generally not possible to drill a well through all of the formations from surface (or the seabed) to the target depth in one hole-size section. For example, fresh-water-bearing zones (usually found only near the surface) must be protected soon after being penetrated. The well is therefore drilled in sections, with each section of the well being sealed off by lining the inside of the borehole with steel pipe, known as casing, and filling the annular space (or at least the lower portion) between this casing string and the borehole wall with cement. Then drilling commences on the subsequent hole section, necessarily with a smaller bit diameter that will pass through the newly installed casing.

A liner is a casing string that does not extend to the surface, being hung instead from a liner hanger set inside of the previous casing string but usually within about 300 feet (91 m) of its bottom. Other than the obvious cost savings, the liner installation allows larger drill pipe or production tubing to be used in the upper portions of the well. (A disadvantage is the occasional difficulty in effecting a pressure seal by squeeze cementing the casing-liner overlap zone.)

Depending on the conditions encountered (e.g., zones of differing formation pressure gradients), three or four casing strings may be required to reach the target depth. The cost of the casing can constitute 20-30% of the total cost of the well[ citation needed ], and failure can be catastrophic. Great care must therefore be taken when designing an economic casing programme that will meet the requirements of the well.

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Wireline (cabling) Wireline technology used by operators of oil and gas wells

In the oil and gas industry, the term wireline usually refers to the use of multi-conductor, single conductor or slickline cable, or "wireline", as a conveyance for the acquisition of subsurface petrophysical and geophysical data and the delivery of well construction services such as pipe recovery, perforating, plug setting and well cleaning and fishing. The subsurface geophysical and petrophysical information results in the description and analysis of subsurface geology, reservoir properties and production characteristics.

Drill string

A drill string on a drilling rig is a column, or string, of drill pipe that transmits drilling fluid and torque to the drill bit. The term is loosely applied to the assembled collection of the smuggler pool, drill collars, tools and drill bit. The drill string is hollow so that drilling fluid can be pumped down through it and circulated back up the annulus.

Well control is the technique used in oil and gas operations such as drilling, well workover and well completion for maintaining the hydrostatic pressure and formation pressure to prevent the influx of formation fluids into the wellbore. This technique involves the estimation of formation fluid pressures, the strength of the subsurface formations and the use of casing and mud density to offset those pressures in a predictable fashion. Understanding pressure and pressure relationships is important in well control.

Casing (borehole)

Casing is a large diameter pipe that is assembled and inserted into a recently drilled section of a borehole. Similar to the bones of a spine protecting the spinal cord, casing is set inside the drilled borehole to protect and support the wellstream. The lower portion is typically held in place with cement. Deeper strings usually are not cemented all the way to the surface, so the weight of the pipe must be partially supported by a casing hanger in the wellhead.

Production tubing is a tube used in a wellbore through which production fluids are produced (travel).

Pipe (fluid conveyance)

A pipe is a tubular section or hollow cylinder, usually but not necessarily of circular cross-section, used mainly to convey substances which can flow — liquids and gases (fluids), slurries, powders and masses of small solids. It can also be used for structural applications; hollow pipe is far stiffer per unit weight than solid members.

Nominal Pipe Size (NPS) is a North American set of standard sizes for pipes used for high or low pressures and temperatures. "Nominal" refers to pipe in non-specific terms and identifies the diameter of the hole with a non-dimensional number. Specific pipe is identified by pipe diameter and another non-dimensional number for wall thickness referred to as the Schedule. NPS is often incorrectly called National Pipe Size, due to confusion with the American standard for pipe threads, "national pipe straight", which also abbreviates as "NPS". The European and international designation equivalent to NPS is DN, in which sizes are measured in millimetres, see ISO 6708. The term NB is also frequently used interchangeably with DN.

Blowout preventer

A blowout preventer (BOP) is a specialized valve or similar mechanical device, used to seal, control and monitor oil and gas wells to prevent blowouts, the uncontrolled release of crude oil or natural gas from a well. They are usually installed in stacks of other valves.

A production packer is a standard component of the completion hardware of oil or gas wells used to provide a seal between the outside of the production tubing and the inside of the casing, liner, or wellbore wall.

Slickline refers to a single strand wire which is used to run a variety of tools down into the wellbore for several purposes. It is used during well drilling operations in the oil and gas industry. In general, it can also describe a niche of the industry that involves using a slickline truck or doing a slickline job. Slickline looks like a long, smooth, unbraided wire, often shiny, silver/chrome in appearance. It comes in varying lengths, according to the depth of wells in the area it is used up to 35,000 feet in length. It is used to lower and raise downhole tools used in oil and gas well maintenance to the appropriate depth of the drilled well.

Completion (oil and gas wells) Last operation for oil and gas wells

Well completion is the process of making a well ready for production after drilling operations. This principally involves preparing the bottom of the hole to the required specifications, running in the production tubing and its associated down hole tools as well as perforating and stimulating as required. Sometimes, the process of running in and cementing the casing is also included. After a well has been drilled, should the drilling fluids be removed, the well would eventually close in upon itself. Casing ensures that this will not happen while also protecting the wellstream from outside incumbents, like water or sand.

Oilfield terminology refers to the jargon used by those working in fields within and related to the upstream segment of the petroleum industry. It includes words and phrases describing professions, equipment, and procedures specific to the industry. It may also include slang terms used by oilfield workers to describe the same.

Oil Well Cementing Equipment are essential for the Oil/Gas exploration or production wells and are must used oilfield equipments while drilling a well.

Tube (fluid conveyance)

A tube, or tubing, is a long hollow cylinder used for moving fluids or to protect electrical or optical cables and wires.

Oil well control is the management of the dangerous effects caused by the unexpected release of formation fluid, such as natural gas and/or crude oil, upon surface equipment of oil or gas drilling rigs and escaping into the atmosphere. Technically, oil well control involves preventing the formation gas or fluid (hydrocarbons), usually referred to as kick, from entering into the wellbore during drilling or well interventions.

Hydro-slotting perforation technology is the process of opening the productive formation through the casing and cement sheath to produce the oil or gas product flow. The process has been used for industrial drilling since 1980, and involves the use of an underground hydraulic slotting engine. The technology helps to minimize compressive stress following drilling in the well-bore zone.

Pipe recovery operations

Pipe recovery is a specific wireline operation used in the oil and gas industry, when the drill string becomes stuck downhole. Stuck pipe prevents the drill rig from continuing operations. This results in costly downtime, ranging anywhere from $10,000-1,000,000 per day of downtime, therefore it is critical to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Pipe recovery is the process by which the location of the stuck pipe is identified, and the free pipe is separated from the stuck pipe either by a backoff or a chemical cut. This allows fishing tools to subsequently be run down hole to latch onto and remove the stuck pipe.

Multilevel Groundwater Monitoring Systems, also referred to as Multi-Depth Groundwater Monitoring Systems, Multilevel Systems (MLSs), or Engineered Nested Wells, are engineered technologies installed in single boreholes above and/or below the water table to obtain data from different depth intervals. The technologies may consist of various pipes, liners, access ports, sampling pumps, pressure sensors, and sealing mechanisms that are installed temporarily or permanently in boreholes drilled into unconsolidated sediments or bedrock.

References

  1. Technical Report on Equations and Calculations for Casing, Tubing, and Line Pipe used as Casing or Tubing; and Performance Properties Tables for Casing and Tubing: 7th Edition, 2008, American Petroleum Institute, 1220 L Street NW, Washington DC 20005-4070 USA