Impact of Salt Creep and Well Shut-Down on Casing Collapse in the Lower Fars Formation, Southern Iran
Amiri M. Khosravifard A. Riazi M. Veiskarami M. Adoko A.C. Amerian D. Rahimi A. Shiroodi S.K. Saeidi O. Rahbar M. Alavi F. Rostami E.A.
2026Springer
Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering
2026
Casing collapse is a significant problem in the exploitation of oil wells in many parts of the world, as it can inflict additional production costs. In Iran, most casing collapse incidents occur in the lower Fars formation, known as Gachsaran. Casing collapse has led to production interruptions in numerous wells and remains a potential threat to the oil and gas industry despite scientific and technological advances. For this reason, studying its causes and developing proper mitigation strategies is critical. In this paper, first, a one-dimensional mechanical earth model (1D MEM) was developed based on petrophysical data. Then, the model was validated using in-situ field data and events that occurred during drilling. In the next step, the numerical model’s geometry and boundary conditions were defined using data derived from the 1D MEM. The simulation results revealed significant creep activity in the well, which led to high strain values. The creep strains observed in the surrounding formations induce substantial stress and deformation in both the casing and the cement, ultimately leading to the collapse of the casing and tubing. Finally, the effect of the well shut-down on casing and tubing collapse was investigated. The results showed that well shut-down is somewhat effective on the collapse phenomenon and can accelerate it, but its effect is negligible compared to the salt creep rate. The obtained results were confirmed by the actual events in the field.
1D Mechanical earth model , Casing collapse , Lower Fars Formation , Numerical modeling , Salt creep , Shut-down
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Department of Petroleum Engineering, School of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
School of Mining and Geosciences, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan
School of Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
Iranian Offshore Oil Company, Tehran, Iran
Department of Petroleum Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
School of Mining and Geosciences
School of Engineering
Iranian Offshore Oil Company
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Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026