Title: Leakage from drill pipe casing subject to shear deformation

Authors: Walter Gerstle; Tess McCarty-Glenn; Stephen F. Dwyer; John H. Gerstle

Addresses: Department of Civil Engineering MSC01-1070, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA ' Department of Civil Engineering MSC01-1070, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA ' Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87125, USA ' Gerstle & Co LLC, Boulder, CO, 80304, USA

Abstract: The possibility of fluids leaking from a pressurised drill pipe casing subject to shear deformation caused by various events, including geological activity (such as seismic activity or deformations associated with subsidence related to excavation and construction) in the vicinity of the bore hole, is investigated. An experimental laboratory scoping investigation has been conducted to determine the potential for leakage from a pressurised drill pipe casing. The laboratory tests show that leakage from sheared casings is much more likely to occur in the neighbourhood of the threaded couplers than at locations far from couplers. With the caveat that the effects of surrounding rock and internal cement between concentric casings may not have been accurately simulated or characterised, the tests show that if a threaded coupler is located within a band of tectonic shear deformation, development of a leak at the location of the coupler is predictable.

Keywords: pressurised drill pipe casing; joints; oil and gas industry; pipe casing leakage; tectonic shear deformation; bore holes; sheared casings; threaded couplers; petroleum engineering.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPE.2014.059420

International Journal of Petroleum Engineering, 2014 Vol.1 No.1, pp.49 - 61

Received: 24 Feb 2013
Accepted: 25 Jun 2013

Published online: 26 Jul 2014 *

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