02 jun 2023 om 12:01Update: een uur geleden
China is going to drill a hole of more than 11 kilometers in the hope of finding more fossil energy there. Rarely in history has drilling been deeper and for the Chinese it is even a record.
The project is led by state oil company China National Petroleum Corp. According to the company, the project is a milestone for the country and drilling at such depths should contribute to greater energy security for the Chinese.
The hole will be in the Tarim Basin, in the remote west of the country where a lot of oil can be found. The new shaft must be 11,100 meters deep and will go through different layers of the earth.
Rock that is so deep under the earth’s crust is up to 145 million years old. Drilling is expected to take about fifteen months Bloomberg. The drill went into the ground last Tuesday.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping said a few years ago that he wanted to drill deeper. In addition to oil and gas, he also hopes to find rare raw materials that can be used in electric cars, for example. In addition, science should gain more knowledge about natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
The record for the deepest hole in history is held by Russia. The Russians drilled into the Kola Peninsula, which is next to Finland and Norway, for nineteen years. They came to a depth of 12,262 meters.
