UNSPSC 71121009: Oilfield mud removal services

A service performed to remove unwanted drilling-fluids as prerequisite for primary cementing success. Mud left in the wellbore can prevent development of a hydraulic seal.

UNSPSC 71121009, Oilfield mud removal services, is a Commodity code that state and local governments apply inconsistently to water-well drilling, well abandonment, well maintenance, and associated infrastructure projects rather than oilfield mud removal per se. Recent solicitations tagged under this code center on well installation, plugging, rehabilitation, and pump station work across water utilities, environmental remediation, and state infrastructure programs, suggesting significant scope drift between the code's nominal name and actual procurement activity.

State and local water districts, departments of environmental quality, municipalities, and county utilities departments dominate recent solicitation volume. Michigan's Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) appears repeatedly with prequalification contracts and direct solicitations for orphan well plugging funded under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; Hillsborough County (Florida) issued water well and wastewater pump station maintenance contracts; Seminole County (Florida) sought pump station repair vendors; and the City of Albany (Georgia), City of Wrens (Georgia), and other municipalities solicited well rehabilitation and new well construction. Representative recent opportunities include the Michigan EGLE prequalification RFP for oil and gas well plugging services (September 2026, five awarded contractors totaling $800,000), the Mississippi Oil and Gas Board's IFB for plugging and remediation of nine orphaned wells in Jasper and Jones Counties (bids due December 18, 2026, funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act), the Hillsborough County ITB for water well maintenance and repair across 67 county wells (estimated at $688,073 over two years, June 12, 2026 deadline), and Seminole County's rebid for wastewater pump station R&R under a master service agreement (June 17, 2026). Geographic activity is concentrated in Michigan, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, and Texas, with Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding driving much of the recent orphan well work in the Southeast and Midwest.