Another Very Long Horizontal Well

Apparently this is well in the North Sea holds the previous record for the longest well drilled. It is impressive by any standards. I wonder who and how the interpretation of where
Peter

Gulltopp is world record well
By Billy Youngson Filed from Aberdeen 4/14/2008 5:02:05 PM GMT (source)

NORWAY: StatoilHydro has successfully completed the most complicated well in the company's history, and has set a record for the longest producing well in the world drilled from an offshore platform.

At almost 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) long and almost completely horizontal, the Gulltopp well on the Gullfaks field has seen hydrocarbons flowing up through the well at 9,910 metres (32,513 ft).

StatoilHydro Head of Operations West Arne Sigve Nylund said, "This is a day of rejoicing both for Gullfaks and StatoilHydro. We were aware of the risk that Gulltopp drilling from the platform might fail. This makes it extra great that we today have successfully completed the company's most demanding drilling operation."

The experience gained by StatoilHydro is very valuable to the further development of both remote prospects at Gullfaks and on other fields in the company's portfolio.
"The increased range that we now envisage for platform drilling opens up new perspectives for effective exploitation of existing infrastructure, and thus increased producing life," Nylund says.
Gulltopp will, together with other prospects in the area, secure continued Gullfaks operations towards 2030. An extensive plan for how to extend the life of the field, which came on stream back in 1986, has been developed.

The 10 kilometre (6.2 mile) drill pipe was controlled from the drilling rig at the sea surface. It was run 150 metres (492 ft) down to the seabed, and then kilometre after kilometre through various types of rock strata.

The longer the drill pipe is, the more difficult it is to control the forces that are transferred to the drill bit down in the deep, thousands of metres away. This requires great attention and skills by personnel in charge of drilling.
"The Gulltopp well has been a great technological challenge, and was possible thanks to high professional skills among our own drilling and well personnel, in addition to crucial contribution by the involved suppliers," said Geir Slora, head of drilling and wells in StatoilHydro.