Table 1.

Properties of the muds used to drill natural gas wells

Mud Sample	pH	Mud temp (°C)	Components (lb/barrel) used to make drilling muda
			Bentonite (12-65)	Cellulose (0.3-1.2)	Nut hulls (0-5.3)	Cedar fiber (0-26)	Xanthan gum (0-0.5)	Barite (0-104)	Lignosulfonate (0-1.7)
AI	9.5	49	×	×	−	−	−	−	×
AJT	9.4	43	×	×	×	×	−	−	×
BY	9.3	44	×	×	−	×	−	−	×
GA	9.0	37	×	×	×	×	×	×	×
GRT	9.2	43	×	×	−	−	−	×	×
RE	9.4	40	×	×	×	×	−	−	−
SM	9.7	41	×	×	×	×	−	×	×

^aThis table does not contain every ingredient that was added to each mud sample. The exact formulation cannot be listed due to the proprietary nature of this information. The exact concentration of each component (i.e., barite, cellulose, etc.) that was used to make drilling mud at each site cannot be shown due to the proprietary nature of this information. The final concentration of each component varied from site to site. Therefore, the concentration range used for each component in all of the mud samples is shown. ×, the specified component was added to the mud sample; −, the specified component was not added to the mud sample.