Course Description

This drilling fluids school course prepares the trainee for an oil field position managing the drilling fluids on drilling rigs searching for oil or gas anywhere in the world.

Drilling fluids engineers; commonly known as ‘mud men, mud engineers, drilling fluids representatives, or drilling fluids technicians, are an important part of the oil field team. Poor drilling fluids management can cost an operator hundreds of thousands of dollars dealing with unplanned events such as stuck pipe, slow rates of penetration (ROP), poor logging and cementing operations, and in some situations, even well blow outs. 

Drilling fluids engineers develop expertise over time and know how to keep the mud functioning properly by using standardized testing procedures as recommended by the American Petroleum Institute (API).  

The testing data provides a detailed overview of the drilling mud’s properties, i.e. temperature, viscosity, pH, etc.  The mud man can then begin chemical or mechanical treatments to raise or lower the mud’s properties, bringing them in line with parameters as set forth in the mud program.

Course Objectives

Participants of this course will be able to:

• Be familiar with the mud types, tests, and properties
• Calculate volumes and economics of mud
• Select mud addicts for the appropriate properties
• Combat drilling problems related to mud
• Optimize solids contents in drilling mud
• Perform tests to justify drilling problems and contaminants
• Optimize hydraulics for drilling operations
• Work with mud conditioning systems and optimize each one
• Troubleshoot drilling problems with mud additives
• Manage wastes generated from drilling operations
• Perform exercises related to the objectives

Who Can Benefit

Junior drilling engineers, mud engineers, geologist, mud loggers, operation engineers,