The dream to penetrate into the bowels of our planet, along with the plans to send a man into space, seemed absolutely unrealizable for many centuries. In the 13th century, the Chinese already dug wells up to 1200 meters deep, and with the advent of drilling rigs in the 1930s, the Europeans managed to penetrate to a depth of three kilometers, but these were only scratches on the planet's body.
As a global project, the idea to drill the Earth's upper shell came about in the 1960s. Hypotheses about the structure of the mantle were based on indirect data, such as seismic activity. And the only way to literally look into the bowels of the earth was to drill super-deep wells. Hundreds of wells on the surface and in the depths of the ocean have provided answers to some of the scientists' questions, but the days when they were used to test a variety of hypotheses are long gone.
Siljan Ring (Sweden, 6800 m)
In the late 1980s, a well of the same name was drilled in the Silyan Ring crater in Sweden. According to the hypothesis of scientists, it was in that place that it was supposed to find deposits of natural gas of non-biological origin. The drilling result has disappointed both investors and scientists. No commercial hydrocarbons have been found.
Zistersdorf UT2A (Austria, 8553 m)
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In 1977, the Zistersdorf UT1A well was drilled in the area of the Vienna oil and gas basin, where several small oil fields were hidden. When unrecoverable gas reserves were discovered at a depth of 7,544 m, the first well suddenly collapsed and OMV had to drill a second. However, this time the tunnellers did not find deep hydrocarbon resources.
Hauptbohrung (Germany, 9101 m)
The famous Kola Well made an indelible impression on the European public. Many countries have begun to prepare their projects for ultra-deep wells, but the Hauptborung well, developed from 1990 to 1994 in Germany, is worth mentioning separately. Reaching only 9 km, it has become one of the most famous ultra-deep wells due to the openness of drilling and scientific data.
Baden Unit (USA, 9159 m)
A well drilled by Lone Star near the city of Anadarko. Its development began in 1970 and lasted for 545 days. A total of 1,700 tons of cement and 150 diamond bits were used for this well. And its full cost cost the company $ 6 million.
Bertha Rogers (USA, 9583 m)
Another superdeep well created in the Anadarko oil and gas basin in Oklahoma in 1974. The entire drilling process took Lone Star workers 502 days. The work had to be halted when the drifters stumbled upon a molten sulfur deposit at a depth of 9.5 kilometers.
Kola superdeep (Russia, 12,262 m)
Listed in the Guinness Book of Records as "the deepest human invasion of the earth's crust." When drilling began in May 1970 at the lake with the difficult to pronounce name Vilgiskoddeoaivinjärvi, it was assumed that the well would reach a depth of 15 kilometers. But due to the high (up to 230 ° C) temperatures, the work had to be curtailed. At the moment, the Kola well has been mothballed.
BD-04A (Qatar, 12,289 m)
Exploration well BD-04A was drilled 7 years ago in the Al-Shaheen oil field in Qatar. It is noteworthy that the Maersk drilling platform was able to reach the 12 kilometers mark in a record 36 days!
OP-11 (Russia, 12 345 m)
January 2011 saw the announcement from Exxon Neftegas that drilling of the longest ERD well was nearing completion. OR-11, located in the Odoptu field, also set a record for the longest horizontal wellbore - 11,475 meters. The tunnellers were able to complete the job in just 60 days.