ByTsvetana Paraskova– Feb 14, 2025, 7:30 AM CST
Chinese companies have launched a new ultradeep drilling campaign in the Taklimakan Desert in northwest China, hoping to unlock more oil and gas resources from deep underground.
The drilling campaign, in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, aims to reach oil and gas resources that are about 8,000 meters (26,247 ft) underground.
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One well, the Manshen 72-H6 in Xayar County, is planned to reach a depth of 8,735 meters (28,658 ft).
In recent years, China has intensified ultra-deep drilling, both onshore and offshore, looking to unlock more of domestic oil and gas resources to help meet its demand for hydrocarbons and reduce dependence on imports.
At the end of 2023, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, commonly known as Sinopec, said it achieved the first oil and gas flows from the deepest onshore well in Asia.
Other Chinese companies, including CNOOC and CNPC, are leading major drilling projects, including the Deep Sea #1 offshore field and the Shendi Take 1 well in the Tarim Basin.
China is now building a new rig that should be able to drill much deeper than any other rig—onshore.
Led by the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, the project involves a number of research institutions and companies. Its purpose: to develop a smart drilling rig that could reach depths of 15,000 meters, or about 50,000 feet.
“The Deep Earth National Science and Technology Megaproject is a forward-looking strategy that aligns with global scientific frontiers while ensuring national energy and resource security,” state news outlet Xinhua said, as quoted by the South China Morning Post.
A CNPC project in the Tarim Basin in Northwestern China experimented with drilling depths of up to 11,000 meters. The drilling began in 2023. Last year, after 279 days of drilling, the drill broke the 10,000-meter mark, per Chinese media reports, making the well the deepest ever drilled in the country.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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