DOHA: Maersk Oil has finished drilling the longest hole in the world with a length of 40,320 feet (12.3km) at Al Shaheen Field, offshore Qatar, beating the 20-year old record of the Russian Kola Peninsula exploratory well.
With a horizontal section of 35,770ft (10.9km) Maersk Oil’s BD-04A well also extended the company’s previously held world record for the longest horizontal well by 9,000ft (3km). The entire horizontal reservoir section was placed within a reservoir target which is only 20ft thick.
Qatar Petroleum and Maersk Oil have a “successful history” of applying horizontal well technology for the development of the Al Shaheen Field with Maersk Oil Qatar as operator.
Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, QP director for oil and gas ventures) said, “When we contracted Maersk Oil for the challenging reservoirs in the Al Shaheen field, where other oil majors had given up, we were not fully aware of Maersk Oil’s capabilities, but we trusted their entrepreneurship. Our decision proved right. All these achievements were due to the vision of HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and the guidance and support of HE the Deputy Premier Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah.”
Maersk Oil Qatar managing director, Jakob Thomasen said, “It is not our goal to break drilling records, but rather to be an efficient and prudent operator and add value to our stakeholders. We have found Maersk Oil’s horizontal well technology adds indispensable value to the Al Shaheen field development. Not only do we gather information at highly competitive costs, but with our technology we minimise the number of wells, platforms and infrastructure required for oil and gas field development. QP has acknowledged Maersk Oil’s potential at a very early stage. We hope to expand our global business with our efficient technology. The fact that we break records does not matter to us. Efficiency is the key, and of course we strive to be second to none.”
Maersk Oil Qatar has been active with exploration and production in Qatar since 1992 under a production sharing agreement (PSA) with QP.
Maersk Oil Qatar operates the Al Shaheen Field in Block 5, some 80km off the coast and is currently executing a $6bn field development to bring the oil production from the current level of 330,000 bpd to a plateau of 525,000 bpd by end-2009.
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