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Oil, Gas & Mining vocabulary · Drilling & Wells

Spud

Meaning in oil, gas & mining, with examples

/spʌd/verbCommon term

In oil, gas & mining, spud means: To start drilling a new well, from the moment the bit first enters the ground or the seabed.

In Turkish: sondaja başlamak, kuyuya başlamak

How it is used

Used in drilling reports, press releases and contracts: 'the well was spudded on 3 May'. The spud date marks the start of a well, and drilling time is measured from spud to total depth (TD). The noun 'spud-in' is also used.

Example sentences

  1. We expect to spud the well next Monday.

  2. The well was spudded on 12 March and reached TD in 41 days.

Common collocations

  • spud a well
  • spud date
  • spud-in
  • from spud to TD
  • wellA deep, narrow hole drilled into the ground to find or produce oil, gas or water, or to inject fluids back into a reservoir.
  • drilling rigThe complete set of machinery used to drill a well, including the tower, engines, pumps, hoisting system and the equipment that turns the drill pipe.
  • casingLarge steel pipe lowered into a newly drilled section of a well and cemented in place to stop the hole collapsing and to keep rock layers and fluids apart.
  • drill bitThe cutting tool at the bottom of the drill string that breaks and crushes rock as it turns, making the hole deeper.

More terms: Drilling & Wells

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