On March 9, the drilling of Well Guole 3C, located at the Fuman Oilfield in the Tarim Basin, was completed at a depth of 9,396 meters, making it the deepest horizontal well in Asia.

Well Guole 3C is located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert, where the geological structure is extraordinarily complex, and oil reserves are buried at depths generally exceeding 8,000 meters. With extreme depths, heat and pressures rarely seen in the world, geological characterization and reservoir identification proved extremely difficult. Unlike traditional wells that pierce through the oil layers vertically, this well employs a horizontal drilling technique that directs the drill bit in parallel to the oil layers after reaching a depth of about 8,000 meters, to precisely penetrate the underground oil and gas reservoir.

In order to overcome the challenges in the exploration and development of ultra-deep complex reservoirs, Tarim Oilfield Company has improved relevant geological theories, and applied the home-developed 9000-meter drilling rig, as well as other home-produced supporting equipment and technology. Working closely with many partners, the company has solved many technical problems, which enabled hydrocarbon exploration and development at extreme depths.

In recent years, great breakthroughs have been made in the drilling of ultra-deep reservoirs in Tarim Oilfield, which account for 75% of the total discoveries nationwide. Currently, Tarim Oilfield has seen the successful drilling of 72 wells at depths over 8,000 meters (Well Luntan 1 and Well Dabei 4), and 1,600 wells over 6,000 meters, accounting for more than 80% of the country's ultra-deep wells.