• Define the weight, grade and, to some extent, influence the metallurgy and

size of the completion.

• Ensure that the selected tubing will withstand all projected installation and
service loads for the life of the well. If it cannot, then it is necessary to revise the
desiB1, plan for workovers or put in place measures to limit the load, for example
limiting the injection pressure or rate during stimulation.
• Help define what packers/anchors and expansion devices (if any) are required.
The loads on any packers and the lengths of seal bores in expansion devices will
need defining. Loads transferred through packers/anchors to the casing will need
assessing.

• Assist in the definition ofsurface equipment such as wellheads, trees and

Howlines by assessing load cases such as shut-in pressures and flowing
temperatures.
• Ensure that the tubing can be run into the well and eventually pulled out. This
might not be considered the role of tubing stress analysis, but it is related — and
 often overlooked even in highly deviated wells. Special cases include overpulls
to shear latches or to unlatch a retrievable packer.
• Ensure that through tubing interventions are not adversely affected by stress
effects such as buckling. For example, can a large diameter gun string be
retrieved through the completion after perforating the well and it has heated up?
• Assist the drilling engineers in defining loads for casing stress analysis —
especially those on the inside of production casing and liners. For example,
consider the impact of evacuating the inner annulus during operations. What
would happen to the casing if the tubing bursts during
There are several methods of stress analysis covering a range in detail. In some
instances, simple burst and collapse calculations are suffcient and can be performed
by hand. In more cases, axial analysis (upward and downward loads) is required and