BAGHDAD, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- "Iraqi oilfield operations have become smarter and more efficient thanks to China's advanced drilling technologies," said Hussein Mohammed, an Iraqi engineer who has worked alongside Chinese technicians on maintaining high-end drilling equipment independently developed by a Chinese company at the Maysan Oilfield in southeastern Iraq.
At the oilfield's maintenance workshop, where China Oilfield Services Limited (COSL) Iraq branch serves as the main service provider, the high-end drilling system "Xuanji" was disassembled into three sections on instrument racks, with testing data continuously scrolling on nearby computer screens.
Developed independently by COSL in 2014, the "Xuanji" system broke a technological monopoly long held by a few European and U.S. companies in high-end drilling. It was introduced into Iraq's oilfield development operations in 2020.
According to An Haiyang, general manager of COSL Iraq branch, the system integrates two cutting-edge technologies: rotary steerable drilling and logging-while-drilling. "Rotary steerable drilling provides stronger power for equipment while significantly improving operational safety," An said. "Logging-while-drilling acts like an eye at the bottom-hole assembly, enabling precise drill-bit control as it navigates rock layers thousands of meters underground to locate oil-bearing formations accurately."
To date, the "Xuanji" system has drilled a cumulative 85,000 meters in Iraq, with total downhole operation time exceeding 21,000 hours.
COSL has also deployed the independently developed "Xuanyue" system, which lowers precision instruments into wells via cables and uses acoustic, electrical, and nuclear magnetic resonance technologies to map the distribution, reserves, and quality of oil and gas reservoirs, making resources deep underground "visible." The system has completed more than 5,000 logging operations in Iraq, contributing to increased reserves and production, An said.
"A series of advanced Chinese technologies, represented by the 'Xuanji' and 'Xuanyue' systems, have been successively applied in Iraq, injecting new momentum into China-Iraq energy cooperation, promoting the optimization and upgrading of Iraq's energy industry, and enhancing oilfield exploration and development capabilities," Mohammed said.
