Azerbaijan’s Neft Daşları is the world’s first offshore oil platform, offering a fascinating history, development and challenges as it changes over time.
Neft Daşları, located 100 kilometers from Baku, Azerbaijan, is one of the most fascinating historical sites related to the oil industry.
Known as the world’s first offshore oil platform, Neft Daşları faces the Caspian Sea and has a rich history, from the discovery of oil in the third century to its vital role in the Soviet Union’s oil industry.
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With its uniqueness, this floating city offers insight into the advancement of marine technology, as well as the struggles that have occurred over time. This article examines the history, development, and challenges that Neft Daşları has faced since its inception until today.
How Did Neft Daşları Appear?
The beginnings of Neft Daşları began with the discovery of oil in Azerbaijan in the third and fourth centuries, although significant drilling for oil did not begin until the region was taken over by Russia.
It culminated in 1949 when oil was discovered beneath the Caspian Sea, leading to the construction of Neft Daşları as the first offshore oil platform.
Known as the “Oil Rock”, Neft Daşları has become a symbol of technological prowess and energy exploration, as well as a unique attraction in the oil industry.
Initially, the construction of the Neft Daşları was ordered by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and carried out using sunken ships. The original structure was built on wooden piles driven into the seabed, and was used for drilling and as a dock for oil tankers.
The floating city eventually grew into a vast network, with more than 2,000 platforms connected by 300 kilometers of bridges. During its peak, about 5,000 workers lived here and produced more than 13 million tons of oil annually.
Development of Neft Daşları Under the Soviet Union
After construction began in 1949, Neft Daşları grew rapidly. Starting as oil platforms built on sunken ships, the structure eventually evolved into a fully self-sufficient floating city.
In 1958, facilities were built to support the workers’ lives, such as a power plant, a hospital, a refining plant, and living spaces. During the 1970s, the city even had a shopping mall, a football field, a cinema, and a school.
However, although the presence of this floating city brought many advances to the oil industry, a major challenge arose in terms of transportation.
Workers had to travel by sea for 8 to 9 hours to reach Neft Daşları. This situation caused Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in 1960 to order the construction of a heliport to facilitate transportation access to the city.
In 1981, as oil production increased, a 78-kilometer pipeline was built to connect Neft Daşları with the Absheron Peninsula, replacing tankers as the main carrier of oil. This infrastructure allowed for larger and more efficient extraction volumes.
The Rise and Decline of Neft Daşları
At its peak, Neft Daşları produced about 60% of the Soviet Union’s offshore oil and led experiments in offshore drilling technology.
Neft Daşları also played a pioneering role in exploring offshore facility construction methods, such as drilling wells at different angles from the same platform, which ultimately led to increased efficiency in the extraction process.
However, with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Neft Daşları experienced a significant decline. The infrastructure that requires a lot of money to maintain is starting to be neglected.
The discovery of new oil fields on land with cheaper extraction costs has caused many workers to leave the city. In addition, most of the existing platforms are starting to suffer damage due to bad weather and lack of adequate maintenance.
Despite this, Neft Daşları is still owned by the Azerbaijani government and managed by SOCAR, the state oil company.
Today, about two-thirds of the city’s original infrastructure has been damaged, and only about 45 kilometers of its 300 kilometers of roads remain functional. Despite the derelict facilities, about 2,000 people continue to live and work here extracting oil.
Neft Daşları in Modern Times
Although Neft Daşları declined after the fall of the Soviet Union, the floating city remains an important symbol in the history of the global oil industry. In recent years, the Azerbaijani government has attempted to renovate and rebuild some of the facilities at Neft Daşları.
On the city ’s 60th anniversary, the government is planning a renewal to improve existing infrastructure and construct new buildings to support oil production activities.
However, the renovation process is not easy. Demolishing a city built on the sea requires very high costs, and technical problems in terms of construction and remote locations are also major challenges.
However, new projects related to the development of floating cities are underway in several parts of the world, such as the Maldives and Japan, as a solution to environmental challenges and the need for more efficient space.
Can You Visit Neft Daşları?
Due to the industrial nature of Neft Daşları, access to the city is very limited and tightly controlled by the authorities. Given its history of being very sensitive to security and strategic issues, Neft Daşları used to be a very isolated area.
Today, the city is managed by SOCAR, and access to it is very limited, especially for foreign tourists who want to visit it.
To visit Neft Daşları, foreigners must obtain a special permit from the Azerbaijani government, which can be a very difficult and time-consuming process. Furthermore, the city is not easily found on mapping applications such as Google Maps or Bing Maps.
However, you can learn more about Neft Daşları through several documentaries, one of which is La Cité du Pétrole which was filmed in 2009. The city also appeared in the James Bond film, The World Is Not Enough (1999), where parts of Neft Daşları were used as filming locations.
The Future of Neft Daşları and Floating Cities
Despite the setbacks of Neft Daşları, the floating city it created remains relevant in the context of modern marine technology.
As the global focus on sustainable solutions to climate change increases, similar, more environmentally friendly and efficient projects are being built in various locations.
Neft Daşları provides valuable insight into the challenges and potential of developing floating cities that could be used in the future.
With its long history and achievements in the oil industry, Neft Daşları remains an important part of the global energy map. And despite the many challenges it faces, the floating city holds a special place in the history of world energy technology and exploration.
Azerbaijan’s Neft Daşları is not only a symbol of Soviet-era oil industry innovation, but also a testament to the determination and courage to explore marine technology at the time.
Despite its setbacks, Manshiyat Naser remains relevant and valuable both in historical context and in the future potential of floating cities.
With some renovation and investment, the city could become a historical icon that continues to attract researchers and energy entrepreneurs around the world.
