The present paper describes the development of reliability-based design criteria for oil and/or gas well casing/tubing. The approach is based on the fundamental principles of limit state design. Limit states for tubulars are discussed and specific techniques for the stochastic modeling of loading and resistance variables are described. Zonation methods and calibration techniques are developed which are geared specifically to the characteristic tubular design for both hydrocarbon drilling and production applications. The application of quantitative risk analysis to the development of risk-consistent design criteria is shown to be a major and necessary step forward in achieving more economic tubular design.