Mud Logging for Dummies

mudlogger in trailer

When it comes to careers, we've always been of the rather old-fashioned opinion that if you're curious abut what a professional does, you should probably ask someone who actually does the job or has at least seen it performed. Asking some retired upcycling freelancer questions like, "What Does a Mudlogging Geologist Do?" isn't a particularly good idea. Maybe you should ask a petroleum geologist... like ours. He found a version of the "answer" to that question Terrie Brockmann wrote for WiseGEEK.com, but it was pretty much substandard.

If you want to know the actual answer, mudlogging is an entry-level geology position in the petroleum industry. Mudloggers sit in a trailer and monitor a couple of graphs (gas log and penetration) and "catch" samples at regular intervals. They inspect the cuttings for lithology and hydrocarbon shows, creating a running log of their findings.

Here's what Brockmann thought mudloggers do, in italics, with our petroleum geologist's corrections:

"...[inspect] the rock or sediment dislodged by the circulating mud through the borehole..." – A) That's not "sediment," cuttings are chips of consolidated rock. B) The mud does not "dislodge" cuttings, they're produced by the teeth on the drill bit and float back to the surface in the mud. All that aside, why the "inspection"? "...[provide] support to the oil well managers..." – We have no idea what an "oil well manager" is. "...provides expert advice to the oil well owners..." – Ummm, no, the "owner" typically has staff geologists or consultants for that "expert advice." "A mudlogging geologist often is responsible for managing the personnel and equipment of the mobile unit." – WTF is this "mobile unit" of which you speak, Terrie?

What Terrie didn't mention is that,

• Mudloggers typically work a 12-hour tour (pronounced "tower").
• The mudlogger captures and saves samples of the cuttings at regular intervals, usually ten feet, and uses a microscope to identify the rock penetrated by the drill.

• Mudloggers inspect cuttings under black light for "shows," evidence of hydrocarbons.
• Mudloggers "lag" at regular intervals to determine mud circulation time.

In other words, Brockmann had no earthly idea what a mudlogger does before cobbling this rubbish together, and had only the vaguest idea (as do her readers) after writing it. You know what that wins her? Right: a Dumbass of the Day award.

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