How Long Does It Take To Drill An 8,000-meter-deep Well- The Fastest Is Only 118 Days

Oil and gas exploration and development in the Tarim Basin continues to advance deep into the earth. A well over 8,000 meters deep was drilled in the Kuqa Mountains frontier with extremely complex geological conditions and in the Taklimakan Desert, known as the "Sea of Death."

But do you know how long it takes to drill a well over 8,000 meters deep? The answer given by Tarim Oilfield is: it took more than 700 days in 2007, more than 400 days in 2015, more than 300 days in 2018, and now the average time is 220 days. At present, the fastest drilling completion time in Fuman Oilfield has been 118 days.

The oil and gas resources over 6,000 meters in the Tarim Basin account for 83.2% and 63.9% of the total ultra-deep oil and gas resources in the country respectively, and approximately 19% of the total ultra-deep oil and gas resources in the world. The exploration and development prospects are very broad. However, exploration and development here is a world-class problem. Among the 13 industry-recognized drilling and completion difficulty indicators, the Tarim Basin ranks first in the world in five.

Through continuous scientific and technological research, the Tarim Oilfield has made major breakthroughs in key technologies for speeding up drilling of high-strength, complex and difficult-to-drill formations represented by high, steep, and thick gravel layers, promoting deep oil and gas drilling to be drilled quickly, accurately, and well. , thereby further accelerating the development of ultra-deep enriched oil and gas.

So far, 72 deep wells exceeding 8,000 meters have been drilled. Among them, Well Keshen 1 was the first well exceeding 8,000 meters in the Kuqa Mountain Piedmont. It was drilled in 266 days, setting a new drilling and completion cycle record; Well Dabei 13 took only 140 The well was drilled to a depth of 5,330 meters, 53 days ahead of schedule; Well Manshen 71 was drilled to 8,492 meters and completed in 140.8 days; Well Fuyuan 3-H3 was drilled to 8,136 meters in 118 days, setting the fastest record in the block.

"Complex and difficult-to-drill formations are a major problem in oil and gas exploration and development. Before scientific and technological breakthroughs, drilling tools were mainly cones and conventional PDC (a type of drill bit) drill bits. During the drilling process, drill bits use a large amount and have a short life. The average drill bit The well drilling cycle exceeds 500 days, which seriously restricts the exploration and development process." said Li Ning, an enterprise technical expert at the Tarim Oilfield Oil and Gas Engineering Research Institute.

Drill bit performance directly affects drilling speed and efficiency. Tarim Oilfield continues to research and test new high-efficiency drill bits and supporting tools, innovatively proposes a new concept of "local high stress compression-tension-shear" composite rock breaking, breaks through the "cannot drill" exploration problem, develops and tests new "polygonal teeth" + Tapered teeth + Arrow polygonal teeth" high-impact mixed tooth drill bit, giving full play to the advantages of various cutting teeth, changing the situation where the middle and upper gravel layers are dominated by cone bits, and truly realizing "what kind of foot wears what" "Such shoes" provide key technical tools for safe and efficient deep drilling in my country.

In complex and difficult-to-drill formations, Tarim Oilfield has developed a combination of "vibration absorber/screw + vertical drilling + high-efficiency PDC bit" as the core, and the number of application wells accounts for more than 90%. Compared with adjacent wells that do not use this technology, the footage and ROP of a single drill bit are increased by more than 50%.

Bravely climbing the "Mount Everest" of ultra-deep oil and gas exploration and development technology, Tarim Oilfield has formed a speed-increasing tool equipment and technology system with independent intellectual property rights, and has won the first prize of the Autonomous Region's Science and Technology Progress Award and the first prize of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation's Technology Invention Award. . At present, Tarim Oilfield has comprehensively promoted the application of key technologies for speed-up in complex and difficult-to-drill formations, and has incorporated 100% of them into the integrated geological engineering plan.

According to statistics, the annual average drilling depth of Tarim Oilfield in 2022 will reach 7,098 meters, breaking the 7,000-meter mark for the first time. The drilling and completion cycle will be shortened by 12.2 days year-on-year, and the drilling speed will increase by 5.57%.