Maersk Drills 12.3 Kilometer Well To Hit 20-Foot Reservoir Target - Gulf Times

[hatrack]

DOHA: Maersk Oil has finished drilling the longest hole in the world with a length of 40,320 feet (12.3km) at Al Shaheen Field, offshore Qatar, beating the 20-year old record of the Russian Kola Peninsula exploratory well.

With a horizontal section of 35,770ft (10.9km) Maersk Oil’s BD-04A well also extended the company’s previously held world record for the longest horizontal well by 9,000ft (3km). The entire horizontal reservoir section was placed within a reservoir target which is only 20ft thick.

Qatar Petroleum and Maersk Oil have a “successful history” of applying horizontal well technology for the development of the Al Shaheen Field with Maersk Oil Qatar as operator.

Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, QP director for oil and gas ventures) said, “When we contracted Maersk Oil for the challenging reservoirs in the Al Shaheen field, where other oil majors had given up, we were not fully aware of Maersk Oil’s capabilities, but we trusted their entrepreneurship. Our decision proved right. All these achievements were due to the vision of HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and the guidance and support of HE the Deputy Premier Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah.”

EDIT

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=219715&version=1&template_id=48&parent_id=28

Note: Absolutely amazing technical feat - but consider the fact that a 20-foot section in this case was worth drilling 7.5 miles for. Must be one hell of a big, flat formation. Consider the expense and consequent implications for wholesale and retail. Consider the increased rate of extraction this kind of efficiency implies.

[phantom power]

1. That kind of precision drilling seems nearly magical to me.

In the Arthur Clarke sense. Does anybody know how they keep track of their 3D position with that level of precision?

[TransitJohn]

4. MWD

Measurement while drilling. A tool is picked up as part of the BHA (bottom hole assembly) with a radioactive source is used to collect data (resistivity, porosity, gamma, etc.). Usually this process (called logging, or e-logging) is done on a wireline after tripping the drillstring out of the hole.

[Zachstar]

2. That is one hell of a feat!!

But underlines what it takes to get to a good source of oil these days. It is only going to get worse from here.

[tanstaafl]

3. They should really be drilling geothermal

They should really be drilling these deep wells to reach far enough to get geothermal heat. Then, they could create almost limitless free electricity. I hope once we truly do hit the end of oil, then all of these drilling companies will use their expertise to do just that.