Comparing Water-Based Muds and Oil-Based Muds
Drilling muds are actually the life blood of a drilling system, keeping the wellbore clean and all operations running smoothly while avoiding formation damage. The two most common types are oil-based muds and water-based muds, with both having many variations designed to meet the demands of specific drilling applications.
When determining what type of mud is most appropriate for a drilling project, mud formulators take into account multiple factors such as geology, geo-pressure, and the casing point placement which is extremely important for efficiency. Of course, government regulation and budgets come into play as well.
Today we wanted to focus on the benefits of water-based muds, for which Chemstar produces a variety of products to fits specific applications. Water-based muds provide stable drilling and have comparable performance to oil-based muds, but have additional benefits including:
- Being more environmentally-friendly than oil-based muds
- Can be used in land spreading operations due to their non-toxic nature
- Provide more information to the drilling engineers
That last point is very important. Any time a company attempts to study the geology of what they’re drilling into, water-based muds are the best solution. You may want to think of water-based muds as “smart muds” because they provide much more information to drilling engineers, along with higher quality core and side-wall samples that provide important indicators as to hydrocarbon location. Quite simply, if you’re drilling with oil-based muds (which contain hydrocarbons) and trying to determine if you’ve found oil (hydrocarbons), the data can be confusing. Water-based muds provide a clear reading and not conflicting information.
Of course, certain applications such as high-heat environments or expandable clays demand oil-based muds. We continue to develop new solutions for water-based muds that meet these challenges. If you have any questions about water-based muds or our line of drilling products, please feel free to email me. I’ll be glad to help.
-Bruce Hanshaw
Business Manager, Global Oil & Gas Applications