https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/06/climate/oil-rocks-neft-daslari-caspian-sea-city/index.html CNN values your feedback 1. How relevant is this ad to you? ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) 2. Did you encounter any technical issues? [ ] Video player was slow to load content [ ] Video content never loaded [ ] Ad froze or did not finish loading [ ] Video content did not start after ad [ ] Audio on ad was too loud [ ] Other issues [ ] Ad never loaded [ ] Ad prevented/slowed the page from loading [ ] Content moved around while ad loaded [ ] Ad was repetitive to ads I've seen previously [ ] Other issues [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Cancel Submit Thank You! Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much appreciated. Close Ad Feedback Climate Solutions Weather More Solutions Weather Watch Listen Live TV Subscribe Sign in My Account * Settings * Topics You Follow * Sign Out Your CNN account Sign in to your CNN account --------------------------------------------------------------------- [ ] Sign in My Account * Settings * Topics You Follow * Sign Out Your CNN account Sign in to your CNN account --------------------------------------------------------------------- Live TV Listen Watch --------------------------------------------------------------------- Edition US International Arabic Espanol Edition * US * International * Arabic * Espanol --------------------------------------------------------------------- Solutions Weather Follow CNN * * * * * --------------------------------------------------------------------- * 2024 Elections * US + Crime + Justice * World + Africa + Americas + Asia + Australia + China + Europe + India + Middle East + United Kingdom * Politics + SCOTUS + Congress + Facts First + 2024 Elections * Business + Tech + Media + Calculators + Videos * Markets + Pre-markets + After-Hours + Fear & Greed + Investing + Markets Now + Nightcap * Health + Life, But Better + Fitness + Food + Sleep + Mindfulness + Relationships * Entertainment + Movies + Television + Celebrity * Tech + Innovate + Foreseeable Future + Mission: Ahead + Work Transformed + Innovative Cities * Style + Arts + Design + Fashion + Architecture + Luxury + Beauty + Video * Travel + Destinations + Food & Drink + Stay + Videos * Sports + Pro Football + College Football + Basketball + Baseball + Soccer + Olympics + Hockey * Watch + Live TV + CNN Headlines + CNN Shorts + Shows A-Z + CNN10 + CNN Max + CNN TV Schedules + FlashDocs * Listen + CNN 5 Things + Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta + The Assignment with Audie Cornish + One Thing + Tug of War + CNN Political Briefing + The Axe Files + All There Is with Anderson Cooper + All CNN Audio podcasts * CNN Underscored + Electronics + Fashion + Beauty + Health & Fitness + Home + Reviews + Deals + Money + Gifts + Travel + Outdoors + Pets + CNN Store * Science + Space + Life + Unearthed * Climate + Solutions + Weather * Weather + Video + Climate * Ukraine-Russia War * Israel-Hamas War * About CNN + Subscribe + Photos + Investigations + CNN Profiles + CNN Leadership + CNN Newsletters + Work for CNN Ad Feedback There's a mind-bending Soviet-era oil rig city 'floating' on the planet's largest lake By Laura Paddison, CNN 5 minute read Published 6:00 AM EST, Wed November 6, 2024 Link Copied! Neft Daslari, known as Oil Rocks, an industrial settlement in the Caspian Sea off the coast of Baku, Azerbaijan in 1997. Neft Daslari, known as Oil Rocks, an industrial settlement in the Caspian Sea off the coast of Baku, Azerbaijan in 1997. Reza/Getty Images CNN -- When filmmaker Marc Wolfensberger first found out about Neft Daslari, he thought it was a myth. He kept hearing about this secretive city, sprawled like floating, rusting tentacles across the Caspian Sea, far from the nearest shoreline. But very few had ever seen it, he said. "The degree of mystery was enormously high." It wasn't until he saw it with his own eyes, when he managed to travel there on a water delivery ship in the late 1990s, that he knew it was real. It "was beyond anything I had seen before," he told CNN. Guarded by military vessels, it was like "a motorway in the middle of the sea," he said, stretching out "like an octopus." Desperate to document this mind-boggling city, he spent eight years convincing Azerbaijan's government to let him return, which he finally did in 2008, spending two weeks there to make his film, "Oil Rocks: City Above the Sea." Neft Daslari's bridges and drilling platforms in 2011. CNN Neft Daslari, which translates to "Oil Rocks," is a tangle of oil wells and production sites connected by miles of bridges in the vastness of the Caspian Sea, the world's largest lake. It's around 60 miles off the coast of Azerbaijan's capital city of Baku and several hours by boat ride from the mainland. It is the world's oldest offshore oil platform, according to the Guinness Book of records, and at its peak, bustled with more than 5,000 inhabitants. In recent decades, however, its population has dwindled, while sections have fallen into disrepair and been claimed by the sea. Yet it's still operational, a symbol of Azerbaijan's long oil-drenched history in the Caspian, a vast body of water rich in planet-heating fossil fuels that's also dramatically shrinking due to the climate crisis those fossil fuels are driving. The history of Oil Rocks dates to the Soviet era. In the late 1940s, oil workers landed on a tiny island and built a drilling rig and a small house for accommodation. The first exploratory well was drilled in 1949, sending up a fountain of "black gold." The oil field sent its first tanker of oil back to shore in 1951 and construction began in earnest on the city. What came next was an architectural and technical miracle, Wolfensberger said. The city slowly grew outward, held up by metal poles sunk into the seabed and perched several feet above sea level as if floating. It was eventually made up of nearly 2,000 wells and around 320 production sites, connected by more than 100 miles of bridges, and over 60 miles of oil and gas pipelines. Oil production on Neft Daslari in 2011. CNN Seven decommissioned ships were brought out to the area and deliberately sunk. Their carcasses formed an artificial bay to protect the city from wind and waves -- although Neft Daslari has remained vulnerable to storms and rough water. "Some of those ships are visible on the surface of the water where they were buried," said Mirvari Gahramanli, head of the Oil-Workers Rights Protection Organization, which focuses on human rights in Azerbaijan's oil and gas sector. Over the next decades, Neft Daslari gained accommodation blocks for workers, a bakery, a theater able to seat hundreds, shops, medical facilities, a soccer pitch and a heliport. There are even trees and a park planted on the steel structures. Some in Azerbaijan call it "the eighth wonder of the world," Gahramanli said. Others call it "the island of seven ships," after the sunken vessels that surround it. It was a jewel in the crown of Caspian oil production and has produced nearly 180 million tons of oil in its 75-year lifespan, according to Azerbaijan's state-run oil company SOCAR, which owns and operates Neft Daslari. At its height in 1967, it pumped out a record 7.6 million tons. Staff dormitories at Neft Daslari on September 6, 2023. Construction of the settlement began during the Soviet era in 1949. Now the settlement has a system of paths and platforms, and more than 100 miles of streets and bridges connecting the artificial islands. Staff dormitories at Neft Daslari on September 6, 2023. Construction of the settlement began during the Soviet era in 1949. Now the settlement has a system of paths and platforms, and more than 100 miles of streets and bridges connecting the artificial islands. Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock As well as accommodation, the city has a park, a soccer pitch and a large theater. As well as accommodation, the city has a park, a soccer pitch and a large theater. Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock But its importance has dwindled over the past decades as bigger oil fields opened up and oil prices fluctuated. Production levels have shrunk to less than 3,000 tons a day (approximately 1 million tons a year), according to SOCAR figures from January. "The production at Neft Daslari supplies only a minor part of Azerbaijan's oil production, much of which is supplied to the domestic market," said Brenda Shaffer, an energy expert at the US Naval Postgraduate School, who has advised oil and gas companies in the Caspian region. As oil production has decreased, the city's population has shrunk to about 2,000, with workers usually doing 15-day shifts at sea then 15 days at home on the mainland. Vulnerable to the brackish, stormy water of the Caspian, parts of the city are crumbling. Even back in 2008, big chunks of bridges had collapsed, Wolfensberger said. There was "still a lot of life, but with many things falling apart at the same time." There have also been reports of oil spills. Gahramanli's organization has been raising concerns about pollution from Neft Daslari for years, including reports of untreated wastewater being pumped into the Caspian Sea. A SOCAR spokesperson said closed systems are used to circulate, store and dispose of all the fluids from oil production. "A significant work program was also done within the last 20 years to prevent sea pollution from the old wells," they added. Despite the city's decline, SOCAR says Neft Daslari remains "an active asset with a unique role" for Azerbaijan, and says, with its permission, foreigners are able to visit. Gahramanli said the pollution situation has improved in the run-up to COP29, the United Nations-backed climate conference taking place in Baku next week. Global leaders will gather to discuss tackling the climate crisis, driven by humans burning fossil fuels, in conference rooms only a few dozen miles away from Neft Daslari. Neft Daslari oil rig and industrial settlement in the Caspian Sea on September 6, 2023. It was the first operating offshore oil platform in the world. Neft Daslari oil rig and industrial settlement in the Caspian Sea on September 6, 2023. It was the first operating offshore oil platform in the world. Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock An oil derrick at Neft Daslari. Parts of the city are now being reclaimed by the sea but it is still producing oil. An oil derrick at Neft Daslari. Parts of the city are now being reclaimed by the sea but it is still producing oil. Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Questions have long been asked about what will happen to this enormous watery city when its oil runs dry. At the end of his documentary, Wolfensberger sets out the difficult decisions he sees facing authorities: dismantle the city at enormous cost, turn it into a vacation resort or simply abandon it, "paving the way for a major ecological disaster." Some think it will be repurposed. "After its oil supplies run out, Neft Daslari will probably become a tourism magnet," Shaffer said. Wolfensberger believes it could become a museum. "It's really the cradle of offshore oil exploration," he said. "It's part of the heritage." But for now, the city remains, still producing oil, a rusty patchwork symbol of an industry in slow decline. This story has been updated to add SOCAR's response. Ad Feedback Ad Feedback Ad Feedback Ad Feedback Ad Feedback [ ] Sign in My Account * Settings * Topics You Follow * Sign Out Your CNN account Sign in to your CNN account --------------------------------------------------------------------- Live TV Listen Watch --------------------------------------------------------------------- * 2024 Elections * US + Crime + Justice * World + Africa + Americas + Asia + Australia + China + Europe + India + Middle East + United Kingdom * Politics + SCOTUS + Congress + Facts First + 2024 Elections * Business + Tech + Media + Calculators + Videos * Markets + Pre-markets + After-Hours + Fear & Greed + Investing + Markets Now + Nightcap * Health + Life, But Better + Fitness + Food + Sleep + Mindfulness + Relationships * Entertainment + Movies + Television + Celebrity * Tech + Innovate + Foreseeable Future + Mission: Ahead + Work Transformed + Innovative Cities * Style + Arts + Design + Fashion + Architecture + Luxury + Beauty + Video * Travel + Destinations + Food & Drink + Stay + News + Videos * Sports + Pro Football + College Football + Basketball + Baseball + Soccer + Olympics + Hockey * Watch + Live TV + CNN Headlines + CNN Shorts + Shows A-Z + CNN10 + CNN Max + CNN TV Schedules + FlashDocs * Listen + CNN 5 Things + Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta + The Assignment with Audie Cornish + One Thing + Tug of War + CNN Political Briefing + The Axe Files + All There Is with Anderson Cooper + All CNN Audio podcasts * CNN Underscored + Electronics + Fashion + Beauty + Health & Fitness + Home + Reviews + Deals + Money + Gifts + Travel + Outdoors + Pets + CNN Store * Science + Space + Life + Unearthed * Climate + Solutions + Weather * Weather + Video + Climate * Ukraine-Russia War * Israel-Hamas War * About CNN + Subscribe + Photos + Investigations + CNN Profiles + CNN Leadership + CNN Newsletters + Work for CNN --------------------------------------------------------------------- Climate Watch Listen Live TV Follow CNN * * * * * Sign in My Account * Settings * Topics You Follow * Sign Out Your CNN account Sign in to your CNN account --------------------------------------------------------------------- Terms of Use Privacy Policy Ad Choices Accessibility & CC About Subscribe Newsletters Transcripts Help Center (c) 2024 Cable News Network. A Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All Rights Reserved. CNN Sans (tm) & (c) 2016 Cable News Network.