World's fastest 10 000‐m breakthrough: The XY‐22 well redefines deep‐earth access in the Tarim Basin

Abstract Ultra‐deep drilling beyond 10 000 m has traditionally been slow, high‐risk, and prohibitively expensive, restricting it to rare scientific or strategic projects. This paradigm has been challenged by China's XY‐22 well in the Tarim Basin, which reached above 10 000 m true vertical depth in just 210 days and subsequently advanced to approximately 11 116 m true vertical depth in the Ordovician Penglaiba Formation. The achievement is more than a speed record: it demonstrates that industrial access to 10 000‐m‐class deep Earth systems can be made faster, safer, and more repeatable. Drilled in the geologically complex Manjiaer Depression, the well penetrated a multi‐layered cratonic basin fill that includes evaporite‐bearing intervals, abrasive volcaniclastic rocks, and fractured deep carbonates under high temperature, high pressure, and high in situ stress. Its success reflects the integration of high‐capacity drilling systems, high‐temperature measurement‐while‐drilling technology, robust liner‐cementing solutions, high‐temperature drilling‐fluid design, and real‐time wellbore‐stability control. More importantly, samples from below 10 000 m contain bioclastic components and residual bitumen, providing direct evidence for the preservation of biogenic organic matter and hydrocarbon‐system information at extreme depth. The XY‐22 well, therefore, links ultra‐deep drilling engineering with deep geoscience and provides an important basis for future exploration and development of 10 000‐m‐class oil and gas resources in the Tarim Basin.