The China National Petroleum Corporation's Chuanke-1 well, located in Jiange County, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province, has reached a drilling depth of over 10,000 meters. This deep underground "super project" with extremely complex geological conditions and high drilling difficulty has penetrated 23 strata and reached the Sinian stratum dating back 540 million years, marking the first time that the deep "unexplored territory" of the Sichuan Basin has been accessed. This achievement represents a crucial step forward for China in the exploration of deep earth energy resources.
The area where the Shendiguanke 1 well is located enters unknown strata at a depth of 7,000 meters, and drilling is like opening a blind box. The temperature in the well exceeds 200 degrees Celsius, making the metal drilling tools as soft as noodles. The formation pressure exceeds 130 megapascals, equivalent to the weight of more than ten elephants on an area the size of a fingernail. Traditional views hold that the strata below 8,000 meters are too hot and high-pressure to form reservoirs, and are considered a forbidden zone for oil and gas exploration. However, after analyzing the Proterozoic rock core taken from a depth of over 9,500 meters underground, the conclusion was reached that "there are holes, cavities and fractures, and the reservoirs are well developed", confirming that the Sichuan Basin still has excellent reservoir conditions at depths approaching 10,000 meters, revealing broad exploration prospects in this area.
The natural gas resources and production in the Sichuan Basin rank first in the country, but its geological structure is extremely complex. Facing challenges such as ultra-deep, ultra-large wellbore dimensions, ultra-high temperatures, and ultra-high pressures, China National Petroleum Corporation has iteratively upgraded the special deep well drilling technology, overcoming world-class problems such as efficient rock breaking, drill rig safety, well control safety, deviation prevention and straightening, wellbore cleanliness, and wellbore stability. It has also set up multiple major scientific and technological projects to tackle the entire chain of deep drilling and completion technology in the deep underground, and successfully developed over 10 technological achievements such as 15,000-meter intelligent drilling rigs, on-the-fly measurement instruments, and anti-high-temperature oil-based drilling fluids.
The Shengdichuanke 1 well was officially drilled in July 2023. It is the first 10,000-meter scientific exploration well in the Sichuan Basin, undertaking significant tasks such as exploring the blind areas of Earth science knowledge, forging major deep-earth equipment, and creating a source area for original technologies in oil and gas exploration and development.