China to drill Asia’s deepest oil and gas well

Chinese Petrochemical Corporation Sinopec started drilling well in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in northwestern China on May 1.

The depth of the well, located on the edge of the Taklamakan desert, is expected to be 9,472 meters, which is 623 m higher than the height of Mount Jomolungma (8,849 m above sea level).

Sinopec’s previous drilling record was 8,866 m. On December 30, 2022, the company announced the successful completion of drilling of the Yuanshen-1 exploration well in the Sichuan Basin and called this achievement a major breakthrough within the Deep Earth project. The Yuanshen-1 well has reached the deepest oil and gas bearing reservoir in the Sichuan Depression, confirming the great potential of ancient carbonate rocks in the region.

To date, Sinopec’s deep natural gas resources in the Sichuan Basin in areas with mining rights have reached 15 trillion cubic meters, which is of great importance for the growth of hydrocarbon production in China.

Drilling to a depth of more than 8000 meters creates many difficulties. The ultra-high temperature in the bowels of the earth places high demands on the stability of the drilling mud and protection from contamination, and core sampling at such depths is difficult and time-consuming. To address these challenges, Sinopec has developed five key ultra-deep drilling technologies to support oil and gas exploration in deep and ultra-deep carbonate reservoirs.

Sinopec is constantly expanding the capabilities of deep hydrocarbon exploration in the Sichuan Basin, mainly including traditional gas in deep-sea carbonate rocks and deep-sea shale gas.