[Voiceover] A massive borehole from PetroChina in the Taklimakan Desert has just reached 10,910 meters for a project that will explore for oil and gas resources and gather information about the Earth’s evolution. The Shenditake 1 is a scientific exploratory borehole. Using a domestically developed automated drilling rig, the project began in May of 2023 and after 279 days it had reached 10,000 meters below surface. But the next 900 meters or so took exponentially longer due to major challenges. [Soundbite] Wang Chunsheng, Chief technical expert, Tarim oilfield branch of PetroChina: "Every meter drilled at depths exceeding 10,000 meters poses a challenge. We have overcome difficulties such as ultra-heavy loads, wellbore instability, drill bit fatigue, tool failure, and well leakage within the formation. The drill has continuously penetrated 12 continental strata in the Tarim Basin and finally reached high-quality oil-and gas-bearing rocks in the well section from 10,851 meters to 10,910 meters. This is the first discovery of oil and gas at a depth of over 10,000 meters worldwide, greatly expanding the new field of deep oil and gas exploration beyond 10,000 meters underground." [Voiceover] Besides oil and gas exploration, the project is providing researchers with a 10,000-meter-deep geological profile for future scientific deep earth exploration. So far nearly 20 million tons of ultra-deep oil and gas has been extracted from more than 300 wells on the Tarim Oilfield that are each at least 8,000 meters deep. [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]