Neft Daşları: The Mysterious Oil City Above the Caspian Sea
Neft Daşları, also known as “Oil Rocks,” is an extraordinary industrial marvel located on the Caspian Sea, roughly 60 miles off the coast of Baku, Azerbaijan. This floating city, built atop oil rigs and connected by miles of steel bridges, is one of the most unique and enigmatic places on Earth. Often described as an octopus sprawling across the sea, Neft Daşları has captured the imagination of explorers, historians, and filmmakers alike due to its mysterious nature and remarkable history.
For many years, the existence of Neft Daşları was shrouded in mystery. Filmmaker Marc Wolfensberger first heard about the city in the late 1990s and was initially skeptical. He had heard numerous tales of the secretive city that lay far from the nearest shoreline, stretching across the Caspian like the limbs of a giant creature. Wolfensberger was convinced it was merely a myth, until he made the journey to see it for himself. After traveling by water delivery ship, he was astonished by what he saw: a vast network of oil rigs and production sites, all connected by long steel bridges, surrounded by military vessels guarding the oil-rich area.
The city’s extraordinary and isolated location intrigued Wolfensberger, and he dedicated years of effort to gain access. In 2008, after eight years of persistence, he was allowed to document the city for his film Oil Rocks: City Above the Sea. This film reveals the extraordinary story of Neft Daşları, shedding light on one of the most remarkable industrial sites in the world.
Neft Daşları was established in 1949 during the Soviet era. It was the world’s first offshore oil platform and became a critical site for petroleum extraction in the Caspian Sea. The project marked a turning point in offshore oil drilling, showcasing Soviet engineering prowess. The city grew over the years, expanding its network of oil rigs, worker dormitories, and industrial facilities. At its peak, Neft Daşları was home to thousands of workers who lived on the oil platforms for weeks at a time, enduring the harsh conditions of life at sea.
Despite its harsh environment, Neft Daşları became a thriving, self-sustaining community. Over the years, the city included amenities like a bakery, a cinema, and even a soccer field—facilities that helped make life more bearable for the workers. However, the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s led to a decline in the city’s fortunes. Many of its structures became abandoned, and the once-vibrant community began to wither.
Yet, even as parts of the city fell into disrepair, Neft Daşları continued its function as a vital oil production site for Azerbaijan. Today, it still stands as an active industrial hub, though its once-thriving population is much smaller.
Neft Daşları’s remote location and guarded status made it an object of fascination and speculation for decades. It wasn’t just the city’s physical structure that intrigued people, but also the aura of mystery surrounding it. Azerbaijan’s government tightly controlled access to the site, and few outside the industrial community had ever seen the city up close.
The secrecy surrounding Neft Daşları made it an intriguing subject for filmmakers and adventurers alike. Wolfensberger’s documentary Oil Rocks: City Above the Sea was one of the few to bring the secrets of this city to light. The film reveals the scale and ambition of Neft Daşları, as well as the indomitable human spirit that helped build and maintain it.
Neft Daşları holds a significant place in the history of oil exploration. It represents not just an engineering feat, but a symbol of human perseverance and innovation. As one of the first offshore oil production cities, it set the stage for modern drilling operations around the world. The city’s impact on the oil industry, particularly in Azerbaijan, continues to be felt today.
As the world shifts toward more sustainable energy sources, the future of Neft Daşları is uncertain. Some view it as a relic of a bygone era, while others see it as a potential heritage site that should be preserved. Neft Daşları is, after all, more than just a city—it is a living monument to the age of oil.
Despite its decline, Neft Daşları still attracts interest from those seeking to explore the remains of this industrial wonder. Its steel bridges, rusting structures, and eerie isolation make it a fascinating destination for those intrigued by the industrial past. Visitors to the city can experience a world where human engineering meets the unforgiving sea, and where the legacy of oil exploration is written in the very steel that holds the city together.
While the city remains a guarded site, the mystery of Neft Daşları continues to capture the public’s imagination. As the world continues to grapple with the environmental impacts of oil production, the story of Neft Daşları serves as a reminder of the price we’ve paid for fossil fuels—and the ingenuity that went into extracting them.
Neft Daşları stands as a symbol of an era driven by oil, a place where human creativity and industrial ambition converged to create a city above the sea. Though its future remains uncertain, its place in history is secure. As a first-of-its-kind offshore oil production site, Neft Daşları transformed the way the world approached oil extraction. Today, it continues to inspire curiosity and admiration, standing as a testament to the limits of human innovation and the relentless pursuit of energy.
Wolfensberger’s Oil Rocks: City Above the Sea ensures that the story of Neft Daşları will not be forgotten, offering a rare glimpse into a place that few have seen and even fewer have understood. Whether as an industrial relic or a symbol of the future, Neft Daşları’s legacy will remain a key chapter in the story of oil exploration.
Neft Daşları, also known as Oil Rocks, is not only one of the most extraordinary engineering feats in the world but also holds the title of the world’s oldest offshore oil platform, according to the Guinness Book of Records. Located in the vast Caspian Sea, this remote industrial city was once a bustling hub with more than 5,000 inhabitants at its peak. Today, its population has dwindled significantly, and many of its structures have fallen into disrepair, with some sections now submerged by the sea.
Despite its decline, Neft Daşları remains operational, continuing to serve as a powerful symbol of Azerbaijan’s rich and oil-drenched history. As the Caspian Sea rapidly shrinks due to the climate crisis exacerbated by the very fossil fuels that Neft Daşları produces, the city’s fate remains intertwined with both the past and the future of oil.
In the aftermath of World War II, the Soviet Union was keen on expanding its oil exploration efforts, and the Caspian Sea, with its rich reserves of oil, provided the perfect opportunity. Oil workers first set foot on a small island in the Caspian in the late 1940s. With no roads or infrastructure, they began to build the most basic of facilities—a drilling rig and a small house to house the workers. It wasn’t long before they discovered the rich oil reserves beneath the seabed.
In 1949, the first exploratory well was drilled, and it unleashed a fountain of “black gold,” heralding the beginning of an oil extraction revolution. This moment marked the birth of Neft Daşları as the world’s first offshore oil platform. The initial success was followed by rapid expansion, with the first tanker of oil being sent back to shore in 1951. Construction efforts were ramped up as the area was transformed from a modest drilling site to a vast city floating on the Caspian Sea.
By the 1950s, the Neft Daşları oil field had become an engineering marvel. What was once a small, isolated drilling operation became a self-sustaining city, complete with dormitories, oil production facilities, and worker amenities. The city was built upon a network of oil rigs and platforms, connected by miles of bridges that spanned the open sea. In its heyday, Neft Daşları was home to thousands of workers who lived and worked in harsh, often treacherous conditions. Many of them spent weeks at a time on the platforms, separated from their families and homes, but the city itself became a vital part of their daily lives.
Neft Daşları became known for its incredible self-sufficiency. Despite its isolated location, it housed bakeries, cinemas, and even a soccer field. These facilities helped sustain the workers during their long shifts and allowed them to cope with the monotony of life on the sea. The platforms and rigs that made up Neft Daşları were not just functional but had a distinct architectural flair, designed to endure the harsh environment of the Caspian and the challenging conditions of offshore drilling.
During the Soviet era, Neft Daşları played a crucial role in Azerbaijan’s oil production. The Caspian Sea had long been a rich source of petroleum, and the development of offshore oil extraction helped solidify the region’s importance in the global oil industry. Neft Daşları was one of the first of its kind, and its success inspired similar projects around the world.
At its peak, Neft Daşları became one of the most important oil production sites for the Soviet Union, contributing significantly to Azerbaijan’s status as a major player in the oil industry. The city produced not only oil but also a sense of national pride, symbolizing Soviet industrial achievements and the ambition of the USSR to expand its reach into every corner of the globe. Azerbaijan’s strategic role in the global oil market was cemented through Neft Daşları, and the legacy of the city is still deeply embedded in the country’s modern identity.
In the decades that followed, however, Neft Daşları’s fortunes began to change. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent challenges faced by Azerbaijan in the post-Soviet era took a toll on the once-thriving city. As the country transitioned to a market economy, the oil industry was privatized, and many of the oil fields, including Neft Daşları, faced a decrease in investment and maintenance.
Over time, the city began to shrink. Many of the workers who once called Neft Daşları home moved away, leaving behind a sparse population. Sections of the city began to deteriorate, with platforms and rigs falling into disrepair. The sea, which had long been both a lifeline and a threat, began to reclaim parts of the city. As global oil prices fluctuated and the region faced environmental challenges, Neft Daşları’s future seemed uncertain.
Yet despite these setbacks, Neft Daşları remains operational today. While it no longer houses the thousands of workers it once did, it continues to be an active oil production site for Azerbaijan. The city stands as a reminder of the country’s oil-rich past and its ongoing role in the global energy market. Despite its declining population, the city still represents a critical component of Azerbaijan’s economy.
The Caspian Sea, where Neft Daşları resides, is a region of both immense wealth and profound environmental challenges. The sea is the world’s largest inland body of water, and it has long been known for its rich deposits of oil and natural gas. However, the exploitation of these resources has had a significant environmental impact. Over the decades, oil spills, deforestation, and pollution have contributed to the degradation of the Caspian’s delicate ecosystem.
The shrinking of the Caspian Sea itself has added another layer of complexity to the region’s environmental challenges. Climate change is a major factor in the shrinking of the Caspian, with rising temperatures and shifting weather patterns causing the water level to drop dramatically in recent decades. This environmental change poses a serious threat not only to the infrastructure of Neft Daşları but also to the long-term viability of oil production in the region.
Azerbaijan, like many other countries with significant oil reserves, faces the difficult task of balancing economic growth with environmental sustainability. As global attention shifts toward renewable energy sources, the reliance on oil fields like Neft Daşları becomes increasingly unsustainable. The future of the Caspian’s oil production, and of Neft Daşları itself, remains uncertain as Azerbaijan grapples with the pressures of the climate crisis.
Despite the environmental challenges and declining population, Neft Daşları continues to hold an important place in both the history and future of Azerbaijan’s oil industry. It remains a symbol of human ingenuity and ambition, showcasing the ability to build a city on the open sea in one of the world’s most difficult environments. The legacy of Neft Daşları is deeply intertwined with the story of Azerbaijan’s oil industry and its pivotal role in global energy production.
The city also holds a special place in the world’s collective memory, not just for its industrial significance but for the unique way it represents the intersection of human ambition and the natural world. As the world shifts toward more sustainable energy practices, the lessons learned from Neft Daşları’s history will be invaluable in understanding the complex relationship between oil extraction, industrial development, and environmental responsibility.
Today, Neft Daşları stands as a haunting yet fascinating relic of an industrial age that continues to influence global energy markets. Though much of the city’s once-vibrant infrastructure is abandoned or in disrepair, it remains an active oil production site, albeit with a much smaller workforce than in its heyday.
Visiting Neft Daşları is like stepping into a different world. The rusty steel structures, the long, winding bridges, and the vast emptiness of the sea create a sense of isolation and desolation, but also awe. The city’s continued operation, despite its challenges, serves as a reminder of the determination and innovation that went into creating it.
For those interested in industrial history, Neft Daşları is a must-see destination. The city’s legacy as the world’s oldest offshore oil platform continues to captivate the imagination of explorers, engineers, and environmentalists alike. As the world moves toward a future less reliant on fossil fuels, Neft Daşları will remain a symbol of a bygone era, where the pursuit of oil reshaped the world and left a lasting imprint on the environment.
Neft Daşları’s future remains uncertain. As Azerbaijan continues to extract oil from the Caspian Sea, the environmental and economic challenges of maintaining such an ambitious project grow more pronounced. Climate change, declining oil reserves, and the global shift toward renewable energy sources will all play a role in determining the future of Neft Daşları.
Yet, for all its challenges, Neft Daşları’s place in history is assured. It remains a testament to human ingenuity and the ambition to conquer the most difficult of environments. Its story is far from over, and the lessons learned from this extraordinary oil city will continue to resonate as the world navigates the complex realities of energy production in the 21st century.
Neft Daşları, also known as Oil Rocks, stands as one of the most remarkable and ambitious industrial projects ever undertaken. Built in the vast, unpredictable expanse of the Caspian Sea, this city on the water was once a thriving hub of oil production, housing thousands of workers and producing millions of tons of oil for Azerbaijan. However, as time has passed, its importance has diminished, and much of its once-vibrant infrastructure has begun to crumble, leaving behind a stark reminder of both the peak and the decline of offshore oil exploration. Today, despite facing numerous environmental and financial challenges, Neft Daşları remains a unique symbol of Azerbaijan’s oil history and the energy industry’s shift toward more sustainable practices.
By the early 1950s, Neft Daşları had grown from a simple drilling operation into a sprawling offshore city. Held up by metal poles anchored into the seabed, the city seemed to float above the sea, built several feet above sea level. It was constructed to withstand the challenges posed by the harsh marine environment and to support the growing need for oil production in the region. Over time, the city expanded to encompass nearly 2,000 oil wells and around 320 production sites, all connected by over 100 miles of bridges and 60 miles of pipelines.
At its peak, Neft Daşları was one of the most important and innovative oil production sites in the world. It became a symbol of Soviet engineering prowess and Azerbaijan’s growing role in global oil production. The city was equipped with an array of facilities to support the workers who lived there, including accommodation blocks, medical facilities, a bakery, shops, and even a theater that could seat hundreds. A soccer pitch, a heliport, and even trees and a park were planted on the steel structures, creating an almost surreal living environment in the middle of the sea.
One of the most striking features of Neft Daşları is the “island of seven ships” — seven decommissioned ships that were deliberately sunk around the city to create an artificial bay, protecting it from the harsh winds and waves of the Caspian. These ships, which are still visible on the surface of the water where they were buried, form a unique and vital part of the city’s defensive infrastructure.
By the mid-1960s, Neft Daşları had reached its zenith. At its height, the city produced a staggering 7.6 million tons of oil in a single year, cementing its status as a key player in Azerbaijan’s oil industry. Over the next few decades, the oil field produced nearly 180 million tons of oil, contributing significantly to the economic growth of the Soviet Union and later, independent Azerbaijan.
Despite its early success, the importance of Neft Daşları began to decline over time. As oil production expanded in other regions of the Caspian Sea and new technologies allowed for the extraction of oil from deeper offshore reserves, Neft Daşları’s production levels started to shrink. By the 1990s, the city’s once-thriving oil output had been significantly reduced, and by the early 2000s, production levels had fallen to less than 3,000 tons of oil per day — a sharp contrast to its peak of millions of tons per year.
According to SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic), which owns and operates Neft Daşları, the city now contributes only a small portion of Azerbaijan’s total oil production, much of which is supplied to the domestic market. The reasons for this decline are multifaceted, including the natural depletion of the oil reserves in the region and the increasing difficulty of operating in the harsh environment of the Caspian Sea.
As the production waned, so too did the population of Neft Daşları. Once home to thousands of workers, the city now houses just around 3,000 people. Workers typically do 15-day shifts at sea, followed by 15 days at home on the mainland. The once-bustling city has become a shadow of its former self, with much of its infrastructure deteriorating due to the harsh conditions of the sea and the lack of investment in maintenance.
As the oil production at Neft Daşları has slowed, concerns about its environmental impact have grown. The Caspian Sea, already vulnerable to pollution from years of oil extraction, has continued to suffer from the activities around the city. Reports of oil spills have been a consistent issue, and environmental groups, such as the Oil-Workers Rights Protection Organization, have raised alarms about the pollution caused by untreated wastewater being discharged into the sea.
In 2019, SOCAR acknowledged that some workers had discharged oil into the Caspian, promising to take appropriate measures against those responsible. However, environmentalists like Mirvari Gahramanli, head of the Oil-Workers Rights Protection Organization, continue to advocate for more robust efforts to address the environmental damage caused by offshore oil operations. Gahramanli has called for greater accountability and transparency from SOCAR in the management of oil waste and pollution from Neft Daşları.
The physical deterioration of the city is also evident. In 2008, filmmaker Marc Wolfensberger, who made a documentary about Neft Daşları, reported that large sections of bridges had collapsed, and many structures were in disrepair. The combination of oil spills, untreated wastewater, and the constant wear and tear of the infrastructure has left Neft Daşları vulnerable to further environmental degradation.
The future of Neft Daşları is uncertain, and as the world moves toward renewable energy sources, questions remain about what will become of this unique city when its oil reserves are exhausted. In his documentary, Wolfensberger speculates on several possible futures for Neft Daşları. He suggests that dismantling the city would be an expensive and complex process, while repurposing it as a vacation resort or even as a museum could provide a second life for the city. Some energy experts, like Brenda Shaffer from the US Naval Postgraduate School, also believe that the city could become a tourism magnet after its oil supplies run dry.
Yet, for now, Neft Daşları continues to operate, albeit at a fraction of its former capacity. Despite its decline, the city remains an important symbol of Azerbaijan’s oil heritage and the ingenuity of the engineers who built it. It also serves as a cautionary tale of the environmental and financial costs associated with the exploitation of natural resources, and a reminder of the challenges the world faces in transitioning from fossil fuels to more sustainable energy sources.
Neft Daşları stands today as a rusty patchwork of steel structures, once a thriving city of oil workers and now a decaying relic of an industry in slow decline. It remains a testament to human ambition and the pursuit of energy, but also to the limitations and environmental costs of such endeavors. As the global community gathers to discuss the climate crisis and the future of energy at events like COP29, just miles away from the site of Neft Daşları, the questions surrounding the city’s future are becoming more urgent.
As oil production dwindles and environmental concerns grow, the fate of Neft Daşları remains uncertain. Whether it is repurposed for tourism, preserved as a museum, or left to deteriorate further, the city will continue to captivate the imagination of those who recognize it as both a marvel of engineering and a symbol of the challenges posed by the fossil fuel industry.
In the end, Neft Daşları’s legacy will likely live on as a powerful reminder of the era of offshore oil exploration, a chapter in history that is gradually coming to a close as the world shifts toward cleaner, more sustainable energy solutions.
