Sinopec Group Completes Asia's Deepest Onshore Directional Drilling

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group)'s branch in Northwest China completed drilling of the 55X well in the Shunbei oil and gas field in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on June 30.

With a depth of 8,725 meters, the well is the deepest of onshore directional wells in Asia. Its completion was proof of China's leading technology in ultra-deep well drilling.

So far, nearly 40 wells more than 8,000 meters in depth in the Shunbei field have been drilled by the ultra-deep horizontal well technology.

Relying on the technology, the company successfully developed the deepest oil and gas field in Asia.

By June 30, the Shunbei oil and gas field had produced about 2.07 million tons of crude and 625 million cubic meters of natural gas.

The daily output of the field now is 2,773.8 tons of crude and 964,300 cubic meters of natural gas.

Located in a structurally low area, Shunbei is an ultra-deep oil and gas field with ultra-high temperature and pressure. The geological features led to difficulties in well track control and lack of suitable drilling tools.

After years of research, the company developed and improved appropriate drilling tools and technologies.

For example, it developed tools to lower fractions, reduce resistance and improve wireless inclinometer performance. The ultra-deep horizontal drilling technology is capable of controlling well tracks precisely and assessing safe extensions of the well, which is like installing a navigation system onto the drill.

It's worth mentioning that the innovative diversified coordinated technology used to stabilize the borehole was firstly applied in drilling of the 55X well as a response to strong formation stress and the broken rocks resulting from extensive fracturing of the field.

Thanks to the advanced technology, there was no dropping or collapse during the drilling.

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)