On August 11, 2023, Well 18h-01, the first horizontal well in the Tenge Oilfield, was drilled by ZPEC Team 7 and was successfully completed 6 days ahead of the designed construction period. While filling the void of horizontal well construction in this oilfield, it also laid a solid foundation for the next round of sped-up construction of horizontal wells.

Well 18h-01 has a designed depth of 2,796 meters with a maximum well deviation of 90.40° and a horizontal displacement of 1,020.34 meters. July and August are the hottest two months in the Tenge Oilfield with a maximum temperature of 45℃. Before drilling, the employees of China and Kazakhstan held a meeting on how to complete the drilling and completion tasks of this well successfully, safely, and quickly. The employees, as well as those of various cooperative units, all clarified their responsibilities and expressed that they would complete the drilling and completion tasks of this well in a safe, high-quality, and efficient manner.   

During the drilling operation, they overcame the difficulties of colloidal mudstones, quicksand layers, leaky layers, heterogeneity, and poor drill ability. They used downhole power drilling tools and high-efficiency drill bit technology to greatly increase the drilling speed, ensure the quality of the wellbore, shorten the drilling time, and minimize the risk of accidents and complications, which greatly reduced the drilling comprehensive cost. In the third opening section, faced with complex situations such as decompression, pump holding, and insufficient slope increase, ZPEC’s front and rear technical teams quickly re-formulated technical measures to deal with the complex situation in combination with the downhole situation, and eliminated the problems immediately. Due to the complex situation downhole, the wellbore was repaired to meet the requirements of horizontal well drilling.

(Wang Zhongqiao, Kazakhstan Petro Company)