Record breakers know the drill

China's oil and gas producer China National Petroleum Corp has dug 9,026 meters below the Earth's surface to create the deepest Asian land-based oil well. The previous record was 9,017 meters, also set by another Chinese oil major Sinopec.

The drilling of the Pengshen-6 well in Southwest China's Sichuan province was completed on Feb 13, according to PetroChina Southwest Oil and Gasfield, a CNPC subsidiary. The new well is a key pre-exploration site, aiming to explore energy resources at a depth of 8,000 meters.

Comparing it to the height above sea level of the highest peak in the world, Qomolangma, also known as Mount Everest, standing over 8,848 meters, industry experts say the oil well in Sichuan is an "underground Qomolangma".

"The depth is a record for the deepest vertical well in Asia, which provides a strong engineering and technical guarantee for ultra-deep oil and gas exploration in China," says Ma Yong, deputy director of engineering technology at PetroChina Southwest Oil and Gasfield.

Due to the complicated geological conditions and challenges, such as high temperatures, pressure and sulfur content, it took the team from CNPC Chuanqing Drilling Engineering more than one and a half years to finish exploration work at the site.

Ma says, the project will provide engineering support for the ultra-deep oil and gas exploration work and lay the foundation for the 10,000-meter-deep scientific exploration well program to be launched next year.

The Sichuan Basin is rich in shale oil and gas resources. Since 2011, CNPC has drilled eight wells of depths of 8,000 meters and two wells of 9,000 meters.

Ma says the potential in ultra-deep energy exploration has been proved in recent years and technological advances have made drilling deeper possible.