What Is the Record Depth For Drilling?

With the oil gushing out in the Gulf of Mexico, I've been wondering about just how deep are they going when looking for oil these days. A little research indicates that the deepest hole on record was done in the Kola Peninsula in norther Russia which hit 40,229.66 ft. Drilling started in 1970 and ended in 1994. This was not to find oil, but was an exploration of the make-up of Earth's crust. It was estimated that the temperature at that depth was about 572 deg F and was just too much to drill any further.

In U.S.A, the record depth on the was 31,441 ft in the Bertha Rogers gas well in Oklahoma in 1974. They had to stop due to hitting molten sulfur.

In 2005 U.S. based Chevron drilled a well in the Gulf of Mexico to 34,189 ft below sea level making it the deepest offshore oil and gas well in history. I found no information on what the sea depth was for this well. The pipes and drill get smaller the deeper they go into the ocean floor. At over 30,000 ft the drill bits are only about 8 inches wide, which makes them fairly delicate and subject to breakage.

The deepest onshore oil and gas well came in at 37,016 ft on Sakhalin Island, off the Russian coast. Those Russians have chutzpah don't they?

So, that all being said, I find it very interesting that BP had drilled to what was reported to be about 30,000 ft. Click here to check this article out that is from May 2005.