China has begun digging a hole in the Takla Makan area, the second largest dune desert in the world. The depth of the hole will be 11.1 km.This will be the largest oil well ever drilled in Chinese history., the first to overcome the 10-kilometer barrier. The project will be carried out with the aim of finding oil in the region, as well as conducting new scientific research.

The well will be located in the Uighur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, in the northwest of the country. According to state news agency Xinhua, the well will pass through 10 geological layers and reach Cretaceous layers between 145 and 66 million years ago. China is a giant in the technology segment and is always looking for innovation and the new project is expected to be completed in 457 days. Despite the very great depth, the 11-kilometer excavation is far from the deepest in the history of mankind. The record still belongs to Russia with the world’s deepest hole in the Kola region, depth 12.2 km.

Oil exploration hole

Liu Xiaogang, a spokesman for China’s National Petroleum Corporation, said the hole in the Takla Makan area has two purposes: scientific research and oil production. “Drilling a well has two goals: scientific research and the discovery of gas and oil.“.

According to the National Petroleum Corporation of China, the project aims to explore new deep oil and gas fields in the northwestern region of the country. Because the desert region is sandy, oil exploration poses new challenges for scientists due to the challenging underground conditions of high pressure and extreme temperatures.

The problems are very different from an oil well in the ocean. For example, in the Taklamakan Desert, temperatures range from -20°C in winter to 40°C in summer. Sandy soil, in addition to temperature fluctuations, is a challenge that must be overcome to ensure the success of the project. However China has experience in this matter; it has already built another 9 km deep well in the region.called Tarim well.

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Source: BBC

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