The Next Generation of Salt String Elimination Systems


How do you drill a sub-pressured zone with a saturated brine to prevent washout of the salts?

The answer is N-GAUGE.

Keep the saturation of the fluid but lower the mud weight to acceptable levels by emulsifying oil/diesel into water.

Nova Mud, Inc. has designed a simple two product solution that creates a water like drilling fluid that solves both issues.


•Uses saturated brine as the base so there is no washout of the salts. •Two base products. •Easily scalable to mud weight requirements. •Cheaper than OBM or MMH.

•Better volume control than “SLOP” mud.


•Needs precise mixing techniques.

•Some measure of separation while static.


N-Gauge is a simple two product system utilizing saturated brine as the base.

Diesel/Oil is then emulsified into the water phase to lower the mud weight to prevent losses in sub-pressured zones that occur below the salt.

While there is a creation of viscosity due to the emulsification process, the fluid still maintains water-like drilling properties.

The fluid can be mudded up, if needed, while sweeps and LCM pills can be mixed using standard procedures.

The system does not require special solids control.

Typical Log