Offshore staff

IRVING, Texas -- Exxon Neftegas Ltd. has set a drilling record at its Z-11 well on Sakhalin Island. The well was drilled to a total measured depth of 37,016 ft (11,282 m).

The well was drilled from the Yastreb rig, the world's largest land-based drilling rig, to the offshore Chayvo field some 5 to 7 mi (8 to 11 km) away. Exxon Mobile Corp. says the well was drilled in 61 days, more than two weeks ahead of schedule at below the expected cost.

The project used ExxonMobil proprietary technologies, including Integrated Hole Quality and the Fast Drill Process.

"The physics based modeling and experimental validations of our IHQ technology allowed us to successfully design and drill the Z-11," says Steve Cassiani, president of ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co. "With this technology we were able to take into account a broad range of interdependent design variables including rock strengths, stresses, and wellbore hydraulics to successfully drill this well."

4/24/2007