China starts drilling another 10,000-metre well in search for natural gas reserve
- Exploration of the challenging Shendi Chuanke-1 Well in the Sichuan Basin is part of Deep Earth project
- Since 2021, China has become the world’s fourth largest producer of natural gas
China has begun drilling another hole more than 10,000 metres deep in the southwestern province of Sichuan – arguably the most difficult drilling project in the world – in the hope of finding a large natural gas reserve.
Ultra-deep wells are more than 9,000 metres deep, and these drilling projects are regarded as having the most technical challenges in the oil and gas engineering industry.
01:32
China set to drill Asia's deepest crude-oil well in Xinjiang
This will be the second ultra-deep well drilled in China, after the first project – said to be Asia’s deepest well – was started on May 30 in the petroleum-rich Tarim Basin region in Xinjiang province in the country’s west.
The exploration of Chuanke-1 is part of the Deep Earth drilling project, which is part of wider infrastructure to “provide an important foundation and support for China’s future scientific research and oil and gas resource development”, state news outlet China Electric Power News reported.
Since 2021, China has become the world’s fourth largest producer of natural gas, and its supply of natural gas has now exceeded that of oil.
China’s Xi calls for big power-system reforms, flags ‘prominent problems’
According to its current five-year plan, China is seeking to supply more of its own energy needs by 2025 while advocating for larger domestic oil and gas production and clean energy cooperation with other countries.
The deep and ultra-deep fields have become the main battlefield of oil and gas exploration in China. Sichuan is home to some of China’s largest shale gas reserves.
PetroChina Southwest Oil and Gasfield Company will carry out the Chuanke-1 project. If the drilling is successful, a new ultra-deep natural gas storage area is expected to be discovered.
28:58
China, climate change and El Nino: an emerging food, water and power crisis
Meanwhile, the team aims to gather geological information from 10,000 metres deep to update theories about oil and gas accumulation, and build an international and first-class technical team in China, said deputy manager of the project Ding Wei, according to the report in China Electric Power News.
“The 10,000-metre-deep exploration project is a ‘major national project’ comparable to the lunar exploration project,” Ding was quoted as saying.
The engineers will have to overcome “world-class challenges” during the drilling process because of the complex underground conditions.
China must invest in power grid and energy storage, not coal plants: analysts
Among the challenges are the complicated geological structure and extremely high temperature at 10,000 metres deep.
Below 10,000 metres, the temperature of 224 degrees Celsius (435 Fahrenheit) can make metal drilling tools “as soft as noodles”, and the 138 MegaPascal ultra-high pressure environment was like “diving into the deep sea of 13,800 metres, far exceeding the seawater pressure of the Mariana Trench, the deepest ocean in the world”, chief engineer Yang Yu told China Electric Power News.
