Underground "sprint" success! my country drilled the first 10,000-meter deep well in the heart of the desert

At 14:48 on the 4th, as a diamond drill bit continued to pierce the underground rock formation, the number on the electronic screen of the China National Petroleum Corporation Tarim Oilfield Front Command Center instantly jumped to "10000.00", and my country's first 10,000-meter deep ground scientific exploration well officially crossed the 10,000-meter mark. This marks that my country has achieved a major breakthrough in the deep earth field after the feat of exploring nature in deep space and deep sea.

Image source: Xinhua News Agency

01 Deep Earth Engineering: Scientific Exploration + Oil and Gas Discovery

The Shendi Tako 1 well is located in Shaya County, Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, in the heart of the Taklimakan Desert. It is a major "deep earth project" implemented by China National Petroleum Corporation in the Tarim Oilfield, shouldering the two major missions of scientific exploration and oil and gas discovery. The well is designed to be 11,100 meters deep and was drilled on May 30, 2023. Since the drilling began, hundreds of oil workers and scientific and technological workers have stayed in the heart of the desert and fought continuously for more than 270 days, experiencing the continuous challenges of high temperature, severe cold, wind and sand, and complex geological conditions.

02 The difficulty is comparable to the "Moon Exploration Project"

The research team has overcome the key technical difficulties of the ultra-high drilling platform large load lifting system, independently developed the world's first 12,000-meter ultra-deep well automatic drilling rig, and innovatively developed 220-degree Celsius ultra-high temperature drilling fluid, high-temperature resistant screw, inclination measurement and other process technologies. A breakthrough has been made in the 10,000-meter coring and cable data acquisition equipment, and the 175 MPa ultra-high pressure fracturing vehicle and fracturing fluid equipment have been completed and successfully tested on site, creating a number of key core technologies such as safe and efficient drilling and completion of 10,000-meter ultra-deep wells.

In the opinion of Sun Jinsheng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the difficulty of deep drilling is comparable to that of the "Moon Exploration Project". After exceeding 10,000 meters, the control difficulty is extremely high, just like a large truck running on two thin steel ropes.

03 China's depth, constantly breaking records

In recent years, my country has continued to advance into the depths of the earth, breaking records for deep earth development many times, providing sufficient basic conditions, technical reserves and experience accumulation for the implementation of 10,000-meter deep well projects, and laying a solid foundation for constantly refreshing the "China depth".

"It is the first time in our country that the vertical well depth has exceeded 10,000 meters underground!" said Wang Chunsheng, chief expert of Tarim Oilfield Enterprise. For decades, oil workers have been drilling in the Tarim Basin, and now they have reached an unprecedented depth. "What we are doing is not only to find oil and gas for the country, but also a bold attempt to explore the unknown areas of the earth and expand the boundaries of human knowledge."

After drilling through 10,000 meters, the Shendi Takko 1 well became the world's second deepest onshore well and the first deepest in Asia, which is a milestone in deep-earth scientific research and ultra-deep oil and gas exploration. This marks that my country has independently overcome the technical bottleneck of 10,000-meter ultra-deep well drilling, and its deep-earth oil and gas drilling capabilities and supporting technologies have reached the international advanced level. After the successful "sprint" of 10,000 meters, the Shendi Takko 1 well shoulders the two major missions of scientific exploration and pre-exploration and discovery, and is still drilling at full speed towards the target depth.

Comprehensive sources: Xinhua News Agency, Science and Technology Daily, etc.