Definition(s)
Mud
The weighted liquid circulated through the wellbore during rotary drilling and workover operations. In addition to its function of bringing cuttings to the surface, drilling mud cools and lubricates the bit and drill stem, protects against blowouts by holding back subsurface pressures, and deposits a mud cake on the wall of the borehole to prevent loss of fluids into the formation. Originally a suspension of clays in water, the mud used in modem drilling is often a more complex mixture of liquids, reactive solids, or oil, often containing one or more conditioners. Water base mud made from oil field brine may also be used as a well control fluid in plugging operations. Also known as drilling fluid or drilling mud.
Source: API BULLETIN E3, Environmental Guidance Document: Well Abandonment and Inactive Well Practices for U.S. Exploration and Production Operations, First Edition, January 1993 (Reaffirmed June 2000). Global Standards
Mud
Fluid that is circulated through the wellbore during drilling or workover operations.
Source: API RP 10B-2, Recommended Practice for Testing Well Cements, First Edition, July 2005 (Reaffirmed: July 2010). Global Standards
Mud
Slurry of insoluble and soluble solids in either a water, synthetic or oil continuous-phase fluid. cf. drilling fluid (3.1.34).
Source: API RP 13C, Recommended Practice on Drilling Fluids Processing Systems Evaluation, Upstream Segment, Fourth Edition, December 2010. Global Standards
Mud
See Drilling Fluid.
Source: API Specification 16Q, Design, Selection, Operation, and Maintenance of Marine Drilling Riser Systems, Second Edition, April 2017. Global Standards
Source: API RP 16Q, Recommended Practice for Design, Selection, Operation and Maintenance of Marine Drilling Riser Systems, First Edition, November 1993 (Reaffirmed August 2001). Global Standards
Mud
“Mud” means any mixture of water and clay or other material as the term is commonly used in the industry.
Source: Corporation Commission, Oil and Gas Conservation, Oklahoma Administrative Code 165:10, February 2013. Regulations
Mud
Water- or oil-based fluid circulated down the drillpipe into the well and back up to the rig for purposes including containment of formation pressure, the removal of cuttings, bit lubrication and cooling, treating the wall of the well and providing a source for well data.
Source: ISO 13624-1:2009, Petroleum and natural gas industries – Drilling and production equipment – Part 1:Design and operation of marine drilling riser equipment. Global Standards