Manifa drilling sets new Saudi well length record

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 23 -- Saudi Aramco reported that a recent well in Manifa oil field, drilled to 32,136 ft TD, set a new length record for wells drilled in Saudi Arabia. This length surpassed the previous 30,850 ft in an earlier Manifa well.

A Precision Drilling Corp. land rig drilled both wells.

Discovered in 1957, Manifa field is in shallow waters southeast of Tanajib, about 200 km northwest of Dhahran.

Aramco is developing the field from 27 drilling islands connected by a 47-km long causeway, in addition to 16 onshore drill sites and 13 offshore platforms.

During the May 2010 Offshore Technology Conference, Zuhair Al-Hussain, Aramco vice-president, drilling and workovers, said production from Manifa will start in mid-2013 but will not ramp up quickly to the original target of 900,000 b/d of Arab heavy oil (OGJ, May 10, 2010, p. 19).