China started drilling an 11-kilometer-deep hole in Taklamakan, the world’s second-largest dune desert, located in the northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
It was announced that the hole will go through more than 10 continental strata and will reach layers dating back to the cretaceous period of the planet, between 145 and 66 million years ago.
As reported by the state news agency xinhuathe project has an expected duration of 457 days in which the operators will handle more than 2,000 tons of equipment and machinery.
This is the largest excavation project in China, which for the first time will break the 10,000 meter barrier with a well. For example, the Tarim oil well, also in the Taklamakan desert, is more than 9,000 meters deep.
The two objectives of the ambitious project
The state petrochemical corporation Sinopecwhich leads the project, declared its goal to “push the limits of depth” in geological exploration.
Work began two years after the country’s president, Xi Jinpingwill urge the local scientific community to advance in the exploration of the depths of the earth’s crust.
“The drilling of the well has two purposes: scientific research and finding oil and gas,” said Lyu Xiaogang, a representative of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the country’s largest oil and gas company and one of the largest. of the world.
Regarding the second objective, CNPC indicated that it is exploring new ultra-deep oil and gas fields in the northwest of the Asian country.
Hydrocarbon deposits at extreme depths of the subsoil -generally below 5,000 meters- are usually located in marine areas, such as the oceans, where the rock and sediment layers are thicker, although they are also found in certain terrestrial areas, such as basins. deep sedimentary.
This is the case of the Tarim basin, where the Taklamakan desert is located, it can host large reserves of oil and natural gas.
Source: Ambito
