China has seen another technological breakthrough at an ultra-deep well on the edge of the Taklamakan Desert in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region by setting a new daily drilling record of 2,006 meters in a single day, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) said on Wednesday.
The announcement came as drilling work was completed at the "Ha 13-H9" well in the Tarim Oilfield, located in Shaya County of Aksu Prefecture, reaching a final depth of 7,341 meters, with the daily record being achieved earlier during the drilling process at this site.
More than 120 cities in 15 provincial-level regions across China have been benefited by the natural gas supplied by the CNPC's Tarim Oilfield and staff say the increased drilling speed helps vastly improve overall efficiency of operations.
"Two years of technological research have reduced the drilling time for this block from 138.76 days in 2022 to 120.4 days in 2023. This means we can save 18 days when drilling an 8,000-meter well," said Zou Bo, a CNPC staff member.
The record is attributed to the considerable developments made in key technical equipment, including high-strength drill pipes, high-temperature-proof drilling fluid that can withstand heat of up to 220 degrees Celsius, and state-of-art logging tools capable of operating thousands of meters below the surface level.
These advancements have provided essential technical support for developing deep-earth oil and gas exploration in China.
"We have developed a domestic 175 Mpa gas wellhead equipment with a casing head, allowing us to address the challenges of exploring and developing ultra-deep gas. This significantly reduces our dependence on foreign equipment and lowers production costs," said Zhang Bao, director of the Oil and Gas Extraction Department at the CNPC Tarim Oilfield branch.
Chinese drilling technology digs record-breaking 2,000 meters in single day
Chinese drilling technology digs record-breaking 2,000 meters in single day
An official with the World Economic Forum (WEF) has stressed the importance of establishing an adaptable mechanism for dialogue and cooperation that allows the global economy to fully benefit from the development potential of new technologies while managing the associated risks.
Mirek Dusek, one of WEF's managing directors, was speaking on the sidelines of the 2025 WEF Annual Meeting, which commenced in Davos, Switzerland on Monday.
The five-day event has gathered around 3,000 participants from various regions and industries around the world under the theme "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age," highlighting the need for greater collaboration against a backdrop of rapid technological advancements and global divisions.
In an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Tuesday, Dusek said WEF is monitoring "two big forces" they believe are changing the world economy.
"On one hand, we are living through quite a unique time in terms of technological advancement and innovation. But on the other hand, of course, we are also tracking forces of fragmentation. We are seeing a more competitive geopolitical landscape, shifting value chains and supply chains, and of course, also social polarization in certain societies around the world," he said.
With the current uncertainties in the world, Dusek stressed the importance of building a suitable platform for dialogue, and ensuring that such a mechanisms is adaptable to respond to the various challenges.
"Given the trends that we are seeing in the global economy, in international relations, that function of bridging and dialogue could not be more important. It's very important that we have mechanisms where we can have dialogue and cooperation, and of course, we also need to be on the front foot of thinking, 'Okay, how do we make sure that the collaborative mechanisms are fit for the 21st century?'" he said, adding that this will be one of the focuses of the current Davos meeting.
Dusek also emphasized China's vital role in promoting global economic growth and technological development, describing the country as a "key actor" in helping the world transition to a new era of tech-driven development.
"Everyone understands that we need to be on our front foot, really thinking creatively around how do we relaunch growth that is inclusive, sustainable. But how do we relaunch growth in this new situation for the world economy? And China plays a very important role in that endeavor, on development, on trade, of course, as well. On technology, I mentioned the theme, 'The Intelligent Age'. What we are trying to communicate with that is that there is a huge opportunity around some of these technologies. What is quite special is that it's not only one technology, but we are seeing, at this moment, whole sets of technologies that are going to market and exponentially changing industry and economy. If we have this huge opportunity around these technologies, how do we design [not only] our dialogue mechanisms, but also our collaborative mechanisms to be able to harness these technologies for the benefit of the world economy while taking care of the risks," he said.
WEF official calls for mechanisms to foster dialogue in new tech era, boost world economy