Why enroll

Drilling and production personnel, should understand the basic principles of drilling fluids, governing their behaviour, and the relation of these principles to drilling and production performance.

Your instructor

Dr Surekha Prabhu

R & D | Drilling & Completion Fluid I Catalysis I Analytical Chemistry I Material Science I LLM Trainer

Researcher/ Consultant

Total experience: 25+ years
Location: India

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Course details

This course outline covers the fundamental aspects of drilling fluid functions providing a comprehensive introduction suitable for students, new industry professionals or anyone interested in the field.

The successful completion of an oil well and its cost depend to a considerable extent on the properties of the drilling fluid. The cost of the drilling fluid itself is relatively small, but the choice of the right fluid and maintenance of the right properties while drilling profoundly influence total well costs.

It follows that the selection of a suitable drilling fluid and the day-to-day control of its properties are the concern not only of the mud engineer, but also of the drilling supervisor, the drilling foreman, and drilling, logging and production engineers.

Course suitable for

Is this course for you?

Perfect for

You work in Oil & Gas Upstream
You're a Petroleum Technology / Chemical & Process professional
You prefer live, instructor-led training with Q&A

Before you enrol

No prior experience needed for this course
Live online sessions, 1 hour per day — join on the scheduled dates

Key topics covered

Introduction of Drilling fluids
Different functions of Drilling fluid
Importance of Drilling fluid

Training details

This is a live course that has a scheduled start date.

Live session

Started

Sat, Mar 21, 2026 Ended

1:00 PM UTC· your timezone

Duration

1 hour per day

Opportunities that await you!

Career opportunities

Frequently asked questions

Q: Night shift, returns suddenly drop while pumps are steady. You're searching "what function of drilling fluid prevents kicks when returns drop suddenly". The active mud weight is unchanged, but the annulus is partially unloaded. Which drilling fluid function has effectively failed, and what physical consequence does that failure NOT protect you from?

A: 0.052 psi/ft is the hard boundary. If the fluid column no longer provides enough hydrostatic head, well control is gone regardless of pump rate. Hydrostatic pressure prevents influx at static conditions, but it doesn't cover dynamic swab effects when pipe movement locally drops BHP below pore pressure.

Q: You're reviewing rev 4 well schematic at 02:00 and Googling "drilling fluid function shown on P&ID vs mud program inconsistency". The P&ID shows a single arrow annular return to shakers, but the mud program lists lost-circulation material sized for fracture sealing. What drilling fluid function is implied by the mud program but not visible on the drawing?

A: 100 microns is the tell. LCM sizing targets pore throat or fracture width, a formation sealing role that won't show up as a line on a P&ID. The drawing only shows flow paths, not the intent to bridge losses in the rock.

Q: While drilling, torque climbs, ROP drops, but flow-out looks clean. You're searching "drilling fluid functions torque increase clean returns". Which failed drilling fluid function best explains all observed symptoms together?

A: 30–40% torque increase without shaker loading points to friction, not solids. Lubricity affects torque and ROP directly, while cuttings transport issues almost always show up in returns before torque spikes this cleanly.

Q: You're doing a quick check and type "estimate mud hydrostatic pressure per 1000 ft". Using first principles, what pressure does a 10.0 ppg drilling fluid exert over 5,000 ft TVD?

A: 0.052 psi/ft/ppg drives this. 10.0 × 0.052 × 5,000 gives about 2,600 psi. Miss the constant or the depth conversion and you're off by a factor of two or ten.