Kola Superdeep Borehole - Longest Borehole Record

Longest Borehole Record

The deep core-drilled Kola borehole cannot be directly compared with any other borehole in the world. In a deep core borehole, a section of the rock drilled through is recovered from within the hole. It is this recovered drill core, and the information it represents about the rock that it was retrieved from, that is the most important feature of the borehole.

The Kola Superdeep Borehole was the deepest and longest borehole in the world for nearly 20 years. However, in May 2008, a new record for borehole length was established by the extended-reach drilling (ERD) well BD-04A, which was drilled by Transocean for Maersk Oil in the Al Shaheen oil field in Qatar. It was drilled to 12,289 m (40,318 ft), with a record horizontal reach of 10,902 m (35,768 ft), in only 36 days.

On 28 January 2011, Exxon Neftegas Ltd., operator of the Sakhalin-I project, drilled the world’s longest extended-reach well offshore on the Russian island of Sakhalin. It has surpassed the length of both the Al Shaheen well and the Kola borehole. The Odoptu OP-11 well reached a measured total depth of 12,345 m (40,502 ft) and a horizontal displacement of 11,475 m (37,648 ft). Exxon Neftegas completed the well in 60 days.

However, in terms of depth below the surface, the Kola Superdeep Borehole still retains the world record as of 2012.