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"Shenditake 1" an ultra-deep borehole that extends to a depth of 10,910 meters, located in the remote Taklimakan Desert in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of Northwest China. Photo: CCTV

China National Petroleum Corp announced on Thursday that it has completed the drilling of the deepest vertical well in Asia, with a borehole reaching a depth of 10,910 meters in one of China's northwestern deserts, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The well, known as "Shenditake 1," is a scientific exploration project. Beyond the search for oil and gas resources, the well is also designed to advance the study of the Earth's evolution and deep-Earth geology, according to Xinhua.

The vertical well, the second across the world, also made other engineering breakthroughs globally, including the deepest liner cementing, deepest wireline imaging logging and fastest onshore drilling to exceed 10,000 meters.

The drilling began on May 30, 2023, with the first 10,000 meters completed in 279 days, and the final 1,000 meters of drilling took more than 300 days, during which active oil and gas indications were observed, according to a China Media Group report.

Wang Chunsheng, chief expert of the Tarim Oilfield of China National Petroleum Co, explained that every meter at such depth posed challenges, the CMG report said. 

"The team overcame numerous obstacles, including heavy loads, wellbore instability, drill fatigue, tool failures and severe formation loss," said Wang, stressing that the drilling successfully passed through 12 geological formations of the Tarim Basin, ultimately reaching high-quality oil- and gas-producing rock formations between 10,851 and 10,910 meters. 

"This marks the first discovery of oil and gas beneath 10,000 meters on land globally, significantly expanding the scope of ultra-deep oil and gas exploration," Wang said, according to the CMG report.

Shenditake 1 was equipped with the world's first 12,000-meter automated drilling rig, developed by China, establishing a controllable system for ultra-deep drilling. The operation set five records, including the deepest tail pipe cementing, deepest cable imaging logging, fastest drilling beyond 10,000 meters on land, and deepest core sampling in Asia. 

Using core samples, rock cuttings and logging data, the researchers created Asia's first 10,000-meter geological profile, providing crucial data for deep Earth exploration and oil and gas research.

"The Shenditake 1 borehole has overcome a series of world-class challenges, including extreme depth, high temperatures and high pressure, successfully fulfilling both scientific exploration and oil and gas discovery tasks. This achievement has driven significant advancements in engineering technology," said He Jiangchuan, vice president of PetroChina, according to CMG. 

He stated that the success of drilling beyond 10,000 meters is another significant breakthrough for China following its advancements in space and deep-sea exploration. 

More than 300 wells deeper than 8,000 meters have been drilled in the Tarim Basin, accounting for more than 80 percent of the country's total. Drilling beyond 10,000 meters will advance geological theories and technologies for ultra-deep oil and gas exploration, leading the way in extraction efforts, according to the CMG report.