The Well Control Systems Subcommittee of IOGP’s Wells Expert Committee (WEC), in response to recent reported well control incidents, initiated a study into the mud gas separator (MGS). Though the industry has been evolving technologically in recent years, the MGS has remained largely unchanged since its introduction more than a century ago. Few standards exist for its operation, and industry well control training materials do not focus on its operation in detail. Recently, the MGS has become relied upon to perform tasks outside of managing kicks on conventional well control circulations. This paper studies the use cases, configurations, functionality, upkeep, and training associated with the MGS, and makes recommendations regarding possible opportunities. The Subcommittee hopes that these recommendations will aid standards committees in updating current documents as needed.