SAKHALIN-1 CONSORTIUM ANNOUNCES DRILLING OF WORLD'S LONGEST EXTENDED-REACH WELL - SAKHALIN-1 PROJECT BREAKS ITS 2007 WORLD DRILLING RECORD
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia, February 7, 2008 -- The Sakhalin-1 Consortium, operated by Exxon Neftegas Limited (ENL), a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, announced today that the project has set a new world record for extended-reach drilling (ERD). The Z-12 well at the Sakhalin-1 project achieved a measured depth of 38,322 feet (11,680 meters), or over seven miles. This exceeds by 1,306 feet (398 meters) the prior world record set in 2007 by the project’s Z-11 well.The world's most powerful land-based rig drilled vertically and horizontally beneath the sea floor to the Chayvo field, located 5 to 7 miles (8 to 11 kilometers) offshore northeast Sakhalin Island in eastern Russia. This field contains 17 of the world’s 30 longest ERD wells.
Sakhalin-1 has applied a number of advanced technologies to meet the challenges of producing energy supplies in arctic offshore conditions. The use by ExxonMobil of state-of-the-art extended reach drilling technology has reduced the capital and operating costs of the offshore structures and minimized the near-shore environmental impact.
"We are pleased that the Sakhalin-1 project continues to achieve record-setting milestones,” said Steve Terni, president, Exxon Neftegas Limited. “This drilling success has contributed to other Sakhalin-1 project achievements, including the commencement of production five years after the project was declared commercial and 100 marine tanker shipments in the first year of export operations".
The Sakhalin-1 project team used ExxonMobil leading-edge technologies to drill Chayvo wells in half the time needed by conventional technology. This includes ExxonMobil Integrated Hole Quality (IHQ) technology to manage a broad range of well variables including rock strength and stresses and well-bore hydraulics. Rig personnel and engineers maximized drilling performance with ExxonMobil's Fast Drill Process.
The ERD technology enables onshore drilling beneath the seafloor to offshore oil and gas targets and eliminates the need for additional offshore structures, pipelines and associated activities in a location with ice floes and seismic activity.
Over the life of the project, Sakhalin-1 is expected to contribute over US$50 billion to Russia's economy in taxes, royalty payments and the state's share of oil production. The project currently has awarded over US$4.4 billion in contracts to Russian companies. The proportion of Russian nationals working in project operations will approach 90 percent of the workforce as they are trained and gain experience.
Exxon Neftegas Limited (30 percent interest) is operator for the Sakhalin-1 Project, which includes the Japanese company Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development Co. Ltd., (30 percent); affiliates of Rosneft, the Russian state-owned oil company, RN-Astra (8.5 percent), Sakhalinmorneftegas-Shelf (11.5 percent); and the Indian state-owned oil company ONGC Videsh Ltd. (20 percent).
More information about the Sakhalin-1 Project is available at http://www.sakhalin1.com.
The Yastreb, the world’s most powerful land rig, anchors the Chayvo well site on Sakhalin’s northeast coast. Standing 22 stories high, it was custom designed to drill extra-long extended-reach wells to develop Chayvo field reservoirs nearly 11 kilometers offshore. With the rig enclosed and heated to handle temperatures down to -40 C, Yastreb crews can work in relative comfort, even when the offshore horizon is covered with thick ice.
Depicted is a schematic representation of the extended-reach wells drilled from the Yastreb rig onshore to the Chayvo reservoirs up to 11 kilometers offshore and some 2600 meters below the Sea of Okhotsk. The subsurface cutaways depicted are for ease of visualization only.