Drilling Mud - Formation Pressure Balance

Well TVDmFormation pressurepsiSafety marginpsi

Required mud density: 1,265kg/m³

Mud weight: 10.6ppg

Changing the inputs requires JavaScript. The calculator above shows its default inputs and result. The formula, symbols, and regulatory sources are shown in the Formula section below.

Formula, assumptions, and limits

\rho = (p_f + p_{safety}) / (g \cdot TVD)

Symbol	Meaning	Unit
$TVD$	True Vertical Depth	m
$p_f$	Formation pressure	psi

Source: IADC Drilling Manual

In short

Mud density needed to balance formation pressure - mud hydrostatic > formation pressure + safety margin.

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