Maersk Drillship Spuds World’s Deepest Well

Maersk Venturer drillship. Photo: Maersk Drilling

A Maersk drillship has broken the world record for the deepest water depth for an offshore oil rig after spudding a well located more than two miles below the surface of the ocean.

The well, known as the Raya-1 prospect, is being drilled offshore Uruguay in a water depth of 3,400 meters (11,156 feet).

The well is being drilled by the Maersk Venturer drillship for a consortium involving Total SA and ExxonMobil.

The country’s Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining announced that drilling began March 30 in Block 14 located ultra-deep waters approximately 250 km (155 miles) from the Uruguayan coast. Drilling operations are expected to take approximately 100 days.

Raya-1 is the first exploration well offshore Uruguay since 1976.

Maersk Venturer was delivered in 2014 to Maersk Drilling, a subsidiary of Copenhagen-headquartered A.P. Moller – Maersk Group. The drillship can drill in water depths of up to 3,600 meters (12,000 feet).

The previous record for world’s deepest well by water depth was held by Transocean’s ultra-deepwater drillship Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1. The well was drilled in 2013 off the east coast of India in water depths of 3,174 m (10,411 feet).

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