A Milestone in Ultra-Deep Drilling and Subsurface Exploration
On February 20, 2025, CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) announced the successful completion of Shenditake 1, China’s first ultra-deep scientific exploration well, at a depth of 10,910 meters in the Tarim Basin, Xinjiang. The well now stands as the deepest vertical well in Asia and the second deepest in the world, marking a historic milestone in China’s deep-earth scientific exploration and hydrocarbon resource development.
Pushing Beyond 10,000 Meters
Located in Shaya County, Aksu Prefecture, within the heart of the Taklamakan Desert, Shenditake 1 was spudded on May 30, 2023. The first 5,500 meters were drilled in just over 50 days, but from that point onward, every additional meter came at exponentially increasing difficulty. As drilling supervisor Min Peng noted: “With every meter deeper into the earth, the drilling difficulty increases multiple times.”
The well broke through the 10,000-meter barrier on March 4, 2024, and reached its final depth of 10,910 meters on February 20, 2025. Over nearly two years of operations, the project set multiple records, including the world’s deepest liner running and the deepest onshore well drilled in Asia.
Overcoming World-Class Engineering Challenges
The drilling environment at Shenditake 1 was extraordinarily demanding, earning it the nickname “the underground Everest”:
- Ultra-high temperature: Bottom-hole temperatures exceeded 200°C, far beyond the limits of conventional drilling equipment and materials
- Ultra-high pressure: Formation pressures at 10,000+ meters placed extreme demands on drilling fluid systems and wellbore integrity
- Hard rock formations: Multiple complex lithologies encountered, resulting in accelerated PDC bit wear
- Long open-hole sections: Wellbore stability and lost circulation management posed significant challenges
Through independent R&D and integrated innovation, Tarim Oilfield overcame critical technical bottlenecks including 10,000-meter-class rig systems, high-temperature high-pressure (HTHP) drilling fluids, and high-temperature-resistant downhole tools—providing a valuable “China Solution” for ultra-deep drilling worldwide.
Hydrocarbons Discovered Below 10,000 Meters
Beyond its scientific objectives, Shenditake 1 made a groundbreaking discovery: hydrocarbon shows were detected below 10,000 meters—the first such finding anywhere in the world. The well also successfully retrieved China’s first core samples from below 10,000 meters, providing invaluable firsthand data for studying deep-earth geological structures and hydrocarbon accumulation patterns.
This discovery carries significant strategic implications, demonstrating that ultra-deep formations below 10,000 meters still possess hydrocarbon generation potential, substantially expanding the vertical scope for oil and gas exploration in China.
Accelerating the Deep Earth Initiative
The successful completion of Shenditake 1 is a landmark achievement in China’s Deep Earth Initiative. In recent years, Tarim Oilfield has continuously pushed deeper, with a series of breakthroughs in ultra-deep plays:
- Fuman Oilfield: China’s largest ultra-deep 1-billion-ton marine carbonate reservoir, with annual oil and gas production exceeding 4 million tons in 2023
- Manshen 807 Well: Completed at 8,500 meters in just 99.85 days, setting a new domestic speed record for vertical wells
- Multiple 8,000-meter wells: Batch drilling acceleration with continuously reducing cycle times
Under current planning, the Tarim Basin ultra-deep oilfields are projected to reach an annual production capacity of 5 million tons by the end of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan period. The drilling experience and technological achievements from Shenditake 1 will provide robust engineering support for even deeper hydrocarbon exploration and development, reinforcing China’s energy security with new “deep-earth strength.”
