China National Petroleum Corporation announced on February 20 that it had completed drilling the 10,910-meter-deep Shenditake 1 well in the Tarim Basin, Xinjiang.
Shenditake 1 is a scientific exploration project. In addition to searching for oil and gas resources, the well is also intended to promote research on Earth evolution and deep geology.
It is the deepest vertical well in Asia and the second deepest in the world. The project also achieved several other technical breakthroughs on a global scale, including the deepest cemented liner, the deepest observational well bore, and the fastest land-drilling distance of 10,000 m.
Shenditake 1 well in the Tarim Basin, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Photo: Xinhua
Drilling began on May 30, 2023, with the first 10,000 m completed in 279 days, and the final 1,000 m taking over 300 days. During this time, the project team observed signs of active oil and gas.
According to Wang Chunsheng, an expert from the China National Petroleum Corporation, each meter at such a depth poses its own challenges. “The team has overcome many obstacles, including heavy loads, unstable wells, worn drill bits, malfunctioning tools, and damaged geological formations,” he said.
Wang also emphasized that they successfully drilled through 12 geological formations in the Tarim Basin, eventually reaching rock formations that produce high-quality oil and gas between 10,851 m and 10,910 m deep. “This is the first time in the world that oil and gas have been discovered deeper than 10,000 m on land, greatly expanding the scope of ultra-deep oil and gas exploration,” he said.
Shenditake 1 is equipped with the world’s first 12,000-meter autonomous drilling rig, developed by China. Using core samples, rock fragments and measurement data, the team has created Asia’s first 10,000-meter geological record, providing important data for deep-Earth exploration and oil and gas research.
“The Shenditake 1 well has overcome a series of challenges, including extreme depth, high temperature, high pressure, and successfully completed both scientific exploration and oil and gas discovery missions. This achievement has helped promote significant advances in engineering technology,” said He Jiangchuan, vice president of PetroChina.