The well was drilled offshore Qatar in 36 days and incident-free. The new record of 7.6 miles is also the first well in the history of offshore drilling that exceeds 40,000 feet (12,191 meters). The well surpasses by approximately 2,000 feet the prior extended-reach record of 38,322 feet (11,680 meters) MD set by another drilling contractor with a land rig drilling at Sakhalin Island earlier this year.

The rig’s crewmembers, working with the client, Maersk Oil Qatar AS, overcame many constraints, including high drilling torque throughout certain parts of the horizontal section. The Well BD-04A is in the Al-Shaheen field offshore Qatar. In addition to staying focused on safe operations, crews used extensive deck-management planning and a supply boat to hold additional drill pipe so that the rig could stay within its variable deck load rating.

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