Sinopec Starts Drilling Asia’s Deepest Oil & Gas Well
The Yuejin 3-3 (1-3-3XC) well will be drilled in the Shendi-1 section of the Shunbei oil and gas field in the Tarim Basin. The well is being built in the difficult conditions of the Takla Makan desert in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China. According to Sinopec, the target depth of the Yuejin 3-3 well is 9472 m. The well is planned to be drilled in 170 days. It is noted that the drilling of this oil and gas well once again indicates that China occupies a leading position in the world in the field of drilling technology for ultra-deep wells.
The Yuejin 3-3 well is part of the Deep Earth ultra-deep drilling project, which currently has 120 wells drilled in the Tarim Basin with a depth of more than 8,000 m. .
Sinopec estimates that China’s deep and ultra-deep oil and gas reserves are equivalent to 67.1 billion toe, accounting for 34% of the country’s total oil and gas reserves. In the Tarim Basin, oil reserves account for 83.2% of their total volume, the corresponding figure for natural gas reaches 63.9%. However, it is also one of the most difficult locations to drill in China due to both hydrocarbon depth and geological conditions. Oil and gas reserves in the Tarim Basin lie at a depth of 6000-10000 m, drilling is complicated by high temperatures and abnormally high reservoir pressure (AHRP).
To overcome these problems, Sinopec has improved its drilling technology, making China one of the few countries in the world capable of drilling 10,000 m deep wells. The company has developed advanced technologies for drilling system design, operation and support in deep and difficult conditions. In addition, it was possible to significantly reduce the time and improve the accuracy of drilling. If 3 years ago the drilling time for ultra-deep wells was 280 days, now it has been reduced to 97 days. At the same time, the drilling accuracy increased from 60% to more than 90%.
