Basic Mud Logging Guide Practice Flashcards

Comprehensive practice flashcards covering basic mud logging, rig systems, drilling fluids, and geological evaluation based on the PetroServices manual.

Operating Companies (Operators)

Companies engaged in finding, producing, or refining petroleum that own the majority of leases or wells.

Drilling Contractor

An individual or firm that owns a drilling rig and is hired by an operator to drill a well.

Company Man (Drilling Supervisor)

The individual representing the operating company on the rig site, responsible for all phases of drilling and services.

Meter to Feet Conversion

A unit of measure where one meter equals approximately $3.281$ feet.

Land Rigs

Generally wheel-mounted portables or component systems moved by trucks, with a drilling floor atop a steel substructure often $30$ feet high or more.

Jackup Rig

An offshore rig with a watertight hull and mobile legs that are jacked down to the seabed, ideal for water depths up to $600$ feet.

Semi-submersible Rig

A floating rig supported on ballasted pontoons, capable of operating in water depths from $600$ to $4,000$ feet.

Drill Ship

Self-propelled vessels designed for deep-water drilling up to $9,000$ feet, offering high mobility and large load capacities.

Platform Rigs

Fixed offshore structures consisting of legs driven into the seabed, used for development drilling and production.

Inland Barge Rigs

Floating structures used in marshes or shallow inland bays, typically limited to water depths less than $50$ feet.

Tension Leg Platforms (TLP)

A combination of a semi-submersible and a platform rig, permanently moored by tethers and used strictly for production drilling in up to $5,000$ feet of water.

Hoisting System

One of the five basic rig systems, used to raise and lower drill pipe, casing, and tubing.

Circulating System

The system used to remove cuttings and maintain pressure in the well bore via drilling fluid.

Rotating System

The system used to turn the drill stem to make a hole, consisting of the swivel, kelly, rotary table, drill string, and bit.

Blowout Prevention System

The system used to seal off the well bore to control formation fluids using valves called blowout preventers.

Derrick or Mast

The vertical load-bearing structure of a rig; a derrick is assembled piece by piece, while a mast is a single unit raised hydraulically.

Substructure

The base that supports the rig floor and provide space underneath for blowout preventers.

Draw Works (Hoist)

A heavy machinery piece with a revolving drum used to spool the drill line for lifting or lowering pipe.

Makeup Cat-head

A device on the driller’s side of the draw works used to spin up and tighten drill pipe joints.

Breakout Cat-head

A device located opposite the driller used to loosen drill pipe joints when withdrawing from the hole.

Traveling Block

A large set of pulleys or sheaves that moves up and down the derrick to support the drill string load.

Crown Block

A stationary assembly of sheaves at the top of the derrick over which the drill line is threaded.

Drill Line

A wire rope, generally $1.5$ to $1.75$ inches in diameter, used for hoisting loads on the rig.

Elevators

A set of clamps hung from the hook used for latching around and lifting drill pipe, collars, or casing during tripping.

Slips

Hinged devices with tapered outer sections placed around the pipe to hold its weight in the rotary table when not supported by the hook.

Swivel

A mechanical device that supports the weight of the drill string, allows it to rotate, and provides a pressure-tight seal for mud pumping.

Kelly

A three, four, or six-sided pipe about $50$ feet long that transmits rotary movement from the rotary table to the drill string.

Top Drive System

An integrated unit replacing the kelly and rotary table, powered by a motor to rotate the drill string from above.

Drill String

The assembly of equipment between the swivel and the bit, primarily referring to the drill pipe and drill collars.

Drill Collars

Heavy, thick-walled steel tubes used on the bottom of the drill string to provide weight on the bit.

Tool Joints

The threaded ends of drill pipe segments, consisting of a 'box' (interior threads) and a 'pin' (exterior threads).

Stabilizers

Blade-type construction tools run between drill collars to centralize them and keep the hole straight.

Reamers

Tools used to cut the hole out to full size behind the bit, available in soft, medium, or hard formation cutter types.

Bumper Sub

A tool used in offshore operations to maintain constant weight on the bit despite vessel heave.

Rock Bits (Roller Cone Bits)

Bits with cone-shaped steel devices that rotate to cut or gouge the formation using milled teeth or tungsten carbide inserts.

PDC Bits

Polycrystalline Diamond Compact bits that use embedded diamonds instead of cones to drill through formations.

Triplex Pumps

Mud pumps with three cylinders operating on one crankshaft, widely used for their better performance over duplex pumps.

Shale Shaker

A vibrating screen used to separate drilled solids from the drilling fluid as it returns from the well.

Mud Degasser

A unit that removes entrained natural gas from the drilling mud to restore its density and hydrostatic pressure.

Annular Blowout Preventer

A preventer with a rubber sealing element that can seal the annulus around any part of the drill stem or an open hole.

Ram Blowout Preventer

Large steel rams used for sealing; 'pipe rams' seal around drill pipe, while 'blind rams' seal an open hole.

Marine Riser System

A flexible path for drilling fluids between the drill floor and the subsea wellbore on floating rigs.

Driller

The working supervisor for a shift who operates the rig's controls, mud pumps, and BOP stack.

Roughnecks

Workers who make up and break out joints of pipe and maintain equipment on the rig floor.

Hydraulic Horsepower (at the bit)

Energy measured in $\text{hp}$ used to maximize penetration rates by improving cuttings removal at the bit face.

Bentonite (Gel)

A common clay additive used in water-based muds that builds a structure to resist flow when static.

Oil-based Mud (OBM)

A drilling fluid where the base is a petroleum product like diesel, used for increased lubricity and shale inhibition.

Mud Weight (Density) Calibration

Standard calibration where fresh water at $70^\text{o} F$ reads $8.33\text{ lb/gal}$ or $62.3\text{ lbs/cu ft}$.

Marsh Funnel Viscosity

The time in seconds required for one quart ($946\text{ cc}$) of mud to flow out of a full funnel; fresh water at $70^\text{o} F$ is $26 \ne 0.5$ seconds.

Plastic Viscosity (PV)

The flow resistance caused by mechanical friction within a fluid, defined as the $600\text{-RPM}$ reading minus the $300\text{-RPM}$ reading.

Yield Point (YP)

A measure of electrochemical forces and attractive forces between clay particles under flow, defined as the $300\text{-RPM}$ reading minus the PV.

Gel Strengths

A measure of the attractive forces of suspended particles while the liquid is in a static state, reported in $\text{lb/100 sq ft}$.

Sand Content

The volume percentage of particles larger than $74$ microns in the drilling fluid.

Neutral pH

A hydrogen-ion concentration value of $7.0$, where values above denote alkalinity and below denote acidity.

Coring

The process of extracting a cylindrical section of rock (a core sample) from a well using a special bit.

Tripping

The operation of removing the entire drill string from the hole or running it back in.

Conductor Pipe

The first casing string, ranging from $16$ to $42$ inches, used to raise fluid to the surface pits and prevent washouts.

Liner String

A string of casing that does not extend to the surface but is suspended from the bottom of the previous casing string.

Guide Shoe

A rounded aluminum device attached to the first joint of casing to guide it around obstructions in the borehole.

Float Collar

A back-pressure valve in the casing string that prevents mud entry during lowering and prevents cement backflow.

Primary Cementing

The process performed immediately after casing is run to bond the pipe to the formation and achieve zonal separation.

Leak Off Test

A test used to determine the maximum pressure a formation can withstand at the casing shoe before fracturing.

Fishing

The technique of removing pieces of equipment ('junk' or 'fish') that have been lost or stuck in the borehole.

Overshot

A fishing tool designed to slide over and grip the outside of a fish to retrieve it from the hole.

Jars

Tools used during fishing to provide an upward jerk or 'trip-hammer' effect to free stuck pipe.

Christmas Tree

An assembly of valves, fittings, and chokes at the surface of a completed well to control the flow of produced fluids.

Packer

A device that seals the annulus between the tubing string and the casing string to confine production to the tubing.

Acidization

A well stimulation treatment using chemicals like $\text{HCl}$ or $\text{HF}$ to dissolve formation damage or create new channels.

Hydraulic Fracturing

A process of pumping viscous fluid at high pressure to crack the formation, using 'proppants' like sand to keep the fissures open.

Mud Logging

A service that obtains data from drilled rocks and fluids to formulate concepts of in situ characteristics and identify hydrocarbon shows.

Background Gas

The relatively small amount of gas continuously observed during normal drilling, often originating from previously drilled sections.

Connection Gas

Gas peaks observed on recorders due to the temporary reduction in hydrostatic pressure when mud pumps are shut down for a connection.

Trip Gas

An increase in gas readings observed after a trip, caused by the swabbing action of the bit during its withdrawal.

Lag

The critical interval of time or pump cycles required for a sample cut at the bit to reach the surface at the shale shaker.

Sphericity

A measure of shape that compares the surface area of a sphere of the same volume as a grain to the actual surface area of the grain.

Roundness

The sharpness of the edges and corners of a fragment, categorized from 'Angular' to 'Well rounded'.

Alizarin Red S

A staining agent used to distinguish between calcite (which turns deep red) and dolomite (which remains uncolored).

Calcigraph

An instrument used to determine the amount of calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate in samples by measuring $\text{CO}_2$ pressure release.