Sinopec sets new vertical well depth record of 5,300 m
Sinopec’s Tiebei 1HF well at its Project Deep Earth Sichuan and Chongqing Natural Gas Base has been tested at a high daily output of 314,500 cu m of industrial gas flow with the vertical depth of the well reaching over 5,300 m with a 1,312-m horizontal section, setting a new record for vertical depth of shale gas wells in China.
Most of the resources in the Puguang Upper Permian are distributed in the ultra-deep field with a burial depth of over 4,500 m, which is regarded as a “forbidden zone” because of the rapid changes in the velocity of the strata. Sinopec tackled the bottleneck to realize a 100% drilling encounter rate of high-quality shale in the horizontal section with drilling precision comparable to “threading a needle in the deep underground” to eventually drill the Tiebei 1HF well successfully.
Sinopec’s self-developed 175 MPa ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) fracturing equipment optimizes the parameters on-site with different strategies for each section and opened up a “man-made gas road” in the high-pressure stratum at the depth of 5,300 m, bringing back all the resources from the deepest and farthest ends of the gas reservoir to maximize the development.
