Beijing: China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) announced Thursday that it has successfully completed the drilling of the deepest vertical well in Asia, reaching a remarkable depth of 10,910 meters in China’s northwestern desert.

According to Namibia Press Agency, the well, named “Shenditake 1,” is situated in the heart of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It serves as a scientific exploration project, aiming not only to discover new oil and gas resources but also to advance the study of the Earth’s evolution and deep-Earth geology.

The vertical well stands as the second of its kind globally and marks several engineering breakthroughs. These include the deepest liner cementing, deepest wireline imaging logging, and the fastest onshore drilling to exceed 10,000 meters worldwide.

CNPC reported that the drilling commenced on May 30, 2023, taking over 580 days to achieve the 10,910-meter depth. More than half of this duration, approximately 300 days, was dedicated to completing the final 910 meters. The well has successfully penetrated 12 geological formations, reaching rock layers that date back over 500 million years.

To facilitate this ambitious project, CNPC developed the world’s first 12,000-meter automated drilling rig along with a suite of advanced ultra-deep well logging tools. Furthermore, Chinese scientists have compiled the country’s first comprehensive ultra-deep stratigraphic profile. This was achieved through systematic analysis of the 10,000-meter core samples and data, providing critical insights into the Earth’s subsurface composition and tectonic history.