Casing serves several important functions in drilling and completing well.

It prevents collapse of
the borehole during drilling and hydraulically isolates the wellbore fluids from the subsurface
environment by the drilling process and the well by a hostile subsurface environment. It provides a
high-strength flow conduit for the drilling fluid to the surface and, with the blowout preventers
(BOP), permits the safe control of formation pressure. Selective perforation of properly cemented
casing also permits isolated communication with a given formation of interest.

As the search for commercial hydrocarbon deposits reaches greater depths, the number and sizes
of the casing strings required to drill and to complete a well successfully also increases. Casing has
become one of the most expensive parts of a drilling program; studies have shown that the
average cost of tubulars is about 18% of the average cost of a completed well. Thus, an important
responsibility of the drilling engineer is to design the least expensive casing program that will allow
the well to be drilled and operated safely throughout its life. The savings that can be achieved
through an optimal design, as well as the risk of failure from an improper design, justify a
considerable engineering effort on this phase of the drilling program.

Fig. 7.1 shows typical casing programs for deep wells in several different sedimentary basins. A
well that will not encounter abnormal formation pore pressure gradients, lost circulation zones, or
salt sections may require only conductor casing and surface casing to drill to the depth objective
for the well. The conductor casing is needed to circulate the drilling fluid to the shale shaker
without eroding the surface sediments below the rig and rig foundation when drilling is initiated.
The conductor casing also protects the subsequent casing strings from corrosion and may be used
to support structurally some of the wellhead load. A diverter system can be installed on the
conductor casing to divert flow from rig personnel and equipment in case of an unexpected influx
of formation fluids during drilling to surface casing depth. The surface casing prevents cave-in of
unconsolidated, weaker, near-surface sediments and protects the shallow, freshwater sands from
contamination. Surface casing also supports and protects from corrosion any subsequent casing
strings run in the well. In the event of a kick, surface casing generally allows the follow to be
contained by closing the BOPs.

The BOPs should not be closed unless the casing to which the BOPs are attached has been placed
deep enough into the earth to prevent a pressure-induced formation fracture initiated below the
casing seat from reaching the surface. Subsequent flow through such fractures eventually can
erode a large crater, up to several hundred feet in diameter, which could completely engulf the
rig. Surface-casing-setting depths are usually from 300 to 5000 ft. into the sediments. Because of
the possibility of contamination of shallow-water-supply aquifers, surface-casing-setting depths
and cementing practices are subject to government regulations.

Deeper wells that penetrate abnormally pressured formations, lost circulation zones, unstable
shale sections, or salt sections generally will require one or more strings of intermediate casing
between the surface-casing depth and the final well depth (fig. 7.1b). When abnormal formation
pore pressures are present in the deeper portions of a well, intermediate casing is needed to
protect formations below the surface casing from the pressures created by the required high
drilling-fluid density. Similarly, when normal pore pressures are found below sections having
abnormal pore pressure, an additional intermediate casing permits lowering the mud density to
drill deeper formations economically. Intermediate casing may also be required after a
troublesome lost-circulation zone or an unstable shale or salt section is penetrated, to prevent
well problems while drilling below these zones.

Liners are casing strings that do not extend to the surface but are suspended from the bottom of
the next larger casing string (fig. 7.1c). Several hundred feet of overlap between the liner top and
the casing seat are provided to promote a good cement seal. The principal advantage of a liner is
its lower cost. However, problems sometimes arise from hanger seal and cement leakage. Also,
using a liner exposes the casing string above it to additional wear during subsequent drilling. A
drilling-liner is similar to intermediate casing in that it serves to isolate troublesome zones that
tend to cause well problems during drilling operations.

Production casing is casing set trough the productive interval. This casing string provides
protection for the environment in the event of failure of the tubing string during production
operations and permits the production tubing to be replaced or repaired later in the life of a well.
A production liner is a liner set trough the productivity interval of the well. Production liners with
tie-back casing string when the well is completed. Tie-back casing is connected to the top of the
liner with a specially designed connector. Production liners with tie-back casing strings are most
advantageous when exploratory drilling below the productive interval is planned. Casing wear
resulting from drilling operations is limited to the deeper portion of the well, and the productive
interval is not exposed to potential damage by drilling fluid for an extended period. Use of
production liners with tie-back casing string also results in lower hanging weights in the upper part
of the well and thus often permits a more economical design.

7.1 manufacture of casing

The three basic process used in the manufacture of casing include (1) the seamless process, (2)
electric-resistance welding, and (3) electric-flash welding. In the seamless process, a billet is first
pierced by a mandrel in rotary piercing mill. The heated billet is introduced into mill, where it is
gripped by two obliquely oriented rolls that rotate and advance the billet into a central piercing
plug (Fig. 7.2a). The pierced billet is processed through plug mills, where the wall thickness of the
tube is reduced by central plugs with two single-groove rolls (Fig. 7.2b). Reelers similar in design to
the piercing mills are then used to burnish the pipe surface and to form a more uniform wall
thickness (Fig. 7.2c). Finally, sizing mills similar in design to the plug mills produce the final uniform
pipe dimensions and roundness (Fig. 7.2d).
In the electric welding processes, flat sheet stock is cut and formatted, and the two edges are
welded together, without the addition of extraneous metal, to form the desired tube. The electric-
resistance process continuously makes casing from coiled sheet stock that is fed into the machine,
formed, and welded by electric arc. The pipe leaving the machine is then cut to the desired
lengths. The electric-flash welding technique process a sheet by cutting it to the desired
dimensions, simultaneously forming the entire length to a tube, and flashing and pressing the two
edges together to make the weld. Some welded pipe is passed through dies that deform the steel
sufficiently to exceed its elastic limit. This process raises the elastic limit in the direction stressed
and reduces it in perpendicular directions.

The nominal size of casing is its OD. The strength of a given size casing is controlled by the yield
strength and wall thickness of the steel. Steel used in casing is relatively mild (0.3 carbon) and can
be normalized with small amounts of manganese to increase its strength. Strength can also be
increased by a quenching and tempering (Q & T) process, which is favored by most manufacturers
because of its lower cost.