Invert Mud Cut Costs Of Deep Delaware Basin Wells

Inverted emulsion (water in oil) muds have long been used for formation protection and improvement of hole stability, but slow penetration rates often offset advantages. Recently, relaxation of control of mud properties-notably fluid loss-has led to significant improvement in penetration rate. A comparison of weIls drilled in the Delaware Basin shows that significant savings in total well cost can be obtained through the use of new generation invert muds.