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Boaqua at 20:11, 11 April 2017

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{{redirect-distinguish|Oil Rocks|rock oil (disambiguation){{!}}rock oil|shale oil}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name =
| native_name = Neft Daşları
| image_skyline =
| imagesize =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| pushpin_map = Caspian Sea
| pushpin_mapsize = 300
| pushpin_label_position = left
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|Azerbaijan}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[Administrative divisions of Azerbaijan|City]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Baku]]
| subdivision_type2 = Raion
| subdivision_name2 = [[Khazar raion|Khazar]]
| subdivision_type3 = Municipality
| subdivision_name3 = [[Çilov-Neft Daşları]]
| leader_title =
| leader_name =
| established_title =
| established_date =
| area_total_km2 =
| area_footnotes =
| population_as_of =2008
| population_total = 2000
| population_footnotes = <ref>[http://world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gcis&lng=en&des=wg&geo=-26&srt=npan&col=abcdefghinoq&msz=1500&pt=c&va=x World Gazetteer: Azerbaijan] – World-Gazetteer.com</ref>
| population_density_km2 =
| timezone =[[Azerbaijan Time|AZT]]
| utc_offset = +4
| timezone_DST =
| utc_offset_DST =
| coordinates = {{coord|40|12|N|50|48|E|region:AZ|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_m =
| area_code =
| website =
}}
'''Neft Daşları''' ({{lang-az|Neft Daşları}}, {{lang-ru|Нефтяные Камни}}, also known as the '''Oil Rocks''') is an industrial settlement in [[Baku]], [[Azerbaijan]]. The settlement forms part of the municipality of [[Çilov-Neft Daşları]] in the [[Khazar raion]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.belediyye.org/index.php?con=qanun&bkod=3637 |title=Belediyye Informasiya Sistemi |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924083213/http://www.belediyye.org/index.php?con=qanun&bkod=3637 |archivedate=September 24, 2008 |language=Azerbaijani}}</ref> It lies {{convert|100|km|abbr=on}} away from the Azerbaijani capital [[Baku]], and {{convert|55|km|abbr=on}} from the nearest shore in the [[Caspian Sea]]. A full town on the sea, it was the first [[oil platform]] in [[Azerbaijan]], and the first operating offshore oil platform in the world, incorporating numerous [[drilling platform]]s. It is featured in the [[Guinness World Records|Guinness Book]] as the world's first offshore oil platform.<ref>{{cite web|title=Oldest offshore oil platform|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/oldest-offshore-oil-platform-/|publisher=Guinness World Records|accessdate=29 July 2016}}</ref>

The settlement began with a single path out over the water and grew into a system of paths and platforms built on the back of ships sunk to serve as the Neft Daşları's foundation.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gale|first=Timothy|title=OIL ROCKS: AN INFRASTRUCTURED SOVIET CITY|url=http://liquidinfrastructure.info/archives/725|accessdate=26 December 2010}}</ref> The most distinctive feature of Neft Daşları is that it is actually a functional city with a population of about 2,000 and over {{convert|300|km|abbr=on}} of streets built on piles of dirt and [[landfill]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Theroux|first=Marcel|title=The Rock of Ages|url=http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/the-rock-of-ages/1|accessdate=26 December 2010}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The settlement was originally named as ''Chernie Kamni'' ("Black Stones"), but was later renamed to ''Neft Daşları'' ("Oily Rocks"), replacing the allusion to the black colour of oil with a reference to the substance itself.<ref>{{cite web|last=Abbasov|first=Mehti|title=НЕФТЯНЫЕ КАМНИ — 60|url=http://br.az/index.php?newsid=2963|publisher=Bakinskiy Rabochiy Newspaper|accessdate=26 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Ibrahimov|first=Seyyad|title=THE EARLY DAYS|url=http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/52_folder/52_articles/52_oily.html|publisher=Azerbaijan International Magazine|accessdate=26 December 2010}}</ref>

==History==

===Construction of the settlement===
[[File:The Soviet Union 1971 CPA 4086 stamp (Oil Platforms on Causeway in Caspian Sea).jpg|thumb|125px|left|Soviet 1971 stamp, featuring Oil Rocks.]]
The first large-scale geological study of the area was conducted in 1945-1948.<ref name="Oilrocks">{{cite web|title=Baku and Oil. The Soviet Period|url=http://www.window2baku.com/eng/9oil3.htm|publisher=window2baku.com|accessdate=25 December 2010}}</ref> The settlement of Neft Daşları was built in 1949 after oil was discovered there at 1,100 meters beneath the [[Caspian Sea]] and it became the world's first offshore [[oil platform]].<ref>{{cite web|title=OIL PLATFORMS|url=http://www.solarnavigator.net/oil_rigs.htm|accessdate=25 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Blair|first=Betty|title=Oil Rocks in the Caspian|url=http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai142_folder/142_articles/142_salahov_oil_rocks.html|publisher=azer.com|accessdate=25 December 2010}}</ref>

By 1951, the Neft Daşları was ready for production, equipped with all of the infrastructure needed at the time. Drilling platforms were erected, oil tanks installed, and docks with enclosures for ships were built. The first oil from the Neft Daşları was loaded into a tanker in same year.<ref name="Igors">{{cite web|last=Igorev|first=Vladimir|title=A MAN-MADE ISLAND OF OIL TREASURES|url=http://www.oilru.com/or/44/925/|publisher=www.oilru.com|accessdate=25 December 2010}}</ref>

In 1952, the systematic construction of [[trestle bridge]]s connecting the artificial islands was begun. A number of Soviet factories constructed crane assemblies especially for use on the Neft Daşları, along with a crane barge that could carry up to 100 tons of oil. The assemblies were equipped with diesel hammers used to drive piles into the sea floor.<ref name="Igors" />

Large-scale construction started on the settlement in 1958, which included nine-story hostels, hotels, cultural palaces, bakery factories and lemonade workshops.<ref name="Oilrocks" /> The mass development of Neft Daşları continued during 1976-1978 with the building of a five-story dormitory and two oil-gas compressor stations, the installation of a drinking water facility, and the construction of two underwater pipelines to the [[Dubendi]] terminal, each with a diameter of {{convert|350|mm|in}}.<ref name="Oilrocks" /> In addition, a flyover for vehicular traffic was created.<ref name="Oilrocks" /> As a result, the area of the settlement grew to around 7 ha in the 1960s, with the length of the steel trestle bridges joining the man-made islands exceeding {{convert|200|km|mi}}.<ref name="Igors" />

===Post-independence===
In November 2009, the settlement celebrated its 60th anniversary.<ref>{{cite web|title=Городу в Каспийском море уже 60 лет|url=http://www.lifenews.ru/news/11508|publisher=[[LifeNews|Lifenews.ru]]|accessdate=25 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Oil Rocks is essential value for Azerbaijani people: president - UPDATE |url=http://today.az/news/society/57230.html|publisher=today.az|accessdate=25 December 2010}}</ref> Over the last 60 years, the oilfields of Neft Daşları have produced more than 170 million tons of oil and 15 billion m³ of associated natural gas.<ref name="Igors" /> According to present-day estimates by geologists, the volume of recoverable reserves is as high as 30 million tons.<ref name="Igors" />

== Demography ==
The population varies from time to time in the settlement. As of 2008 the platforms have a combined population of about 2,000 men and women, who work in week-long offshore shifts. At one point 5000 worked there.<ref>{{cite news|last=Frank|first=Arno|title=Forbidden City of Oil Platforms: The Rise and Fall of Stalin's Atlantis|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/exploring-the-crumbling-soviet-oil-platform-city-of-neft-dashlari-a-867055.html|accessdate=27 February 2014|newspaper=[[Der Spiegel]]|date=14 November 2012}}</ref>

==Oil extraction==
The [[oil extraction]] is carried out from the shallow water portion of the [[Absheron geological trend]].

==Accidents==
On 4 December 2015, three workers of [[SOCAR]] were reported missing after part of the living quarters fell into the sea due to a heavy storm.<ref name=upstream041215>
{{cite news
| url = http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/1418610/oil-workers-missing-at-socar-platform
| title = Oil workers 'missing' at Socar platform
| newspaper = [[Upstream (newspaper)|Upstream Online]]
| publisher = [[NHST Media Group]]
| date=2015-12-04
| accessdate=2015-12-05}}
</ref>

==In popular culture==
* In 2008, a Swiss documentary crew led by film director Marc Wolfensberger filmed "La Cité du Pétrole / Oil Rocks - City above the Sea" in the settlement, which was released in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=Oil Rocks: City Above the Sea|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1528788/|publisher=[[IMDB]]}}</ref>
* Neft Daşları is featured in a scene in the [[James Bond]] film ''[[The World Is Not Enough]]'' (1999).<ref name=turnb>{{cite web|last=Turnbull|first=James|title=Oil Rocks|url=http://googlesightseeing.com/2008/08/oil-rocks/|accessdate=26 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Patterson|first=Jean|title=Agent 007 Movie Scenes Shot in Baku|url=http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/73_folder/73_articles/73_bond.html|publisher=Azerbaijan International Magazine|accessdate=26 December 2010}}</ref>
* Neft Daşları is on the list in the [[Guinness World Records|Guinness Book]] as the oldest offshore oil platforms.<ref>{{cite web|title=Oldest offshore oil platform|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/oldest-offshore-oil-platform-/|publisher=Guinness World Records|accessdate=29 July 2016}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Azerbaijan|Energy}}
{{commons category|Neft Daşları}}
* [http://mapk39.narod.ru/map1/ik39138.html Map of the area]
* [http://www.panoramio.com/user/472658/tags/%D0%9D%D0%B5%D1%84%D1%82%D1%8F%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B5%20%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%BD%D0%B8 Photos of Oil Rocks taken in 2013]
* [http://www.travel-images.com/az-oilrocks.html Travel guide for Oil Rocks]
* [http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2010/02/02/oil-stones-a-soviet-city-in-the-middle-of-the-sea/ English Russia: Oil Stones, A Soviet City in the Middle of the Sea]
* [http://thin-line.net/thinline/Documentaries.html Link to the film trailer Oil Rocks - City above the Sea]
*{{GEOnet2|32FA881500853774E0440003BA962ED3}}

==Further reading==
* Mir-Babayev M.F. The role of Azerbaijan in the World’s oil industry – “Oil-Industry History” (USA), 2011, v. 12, no. 1, p. 109-123.
* Mir-Babayev M.F. Oil Rocks: the first city on the Caspian Sea – “Reservoir”, Canada, 2012, Volume 39, Issue 4, April, p.33-36.

{{Baku}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neft Daslari}}
[[Category:Oil platforms]]
[[Category:Coastal construction]]
[[Category:Geography of Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:Energy in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Populated places in Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:Baku]]
[[Category:Populated places on the Caspian Sea]]
[[Category:Seasteading]]
[[Category:Energy infrastructure in Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:Petroleum industry in Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:Azerbaijani inventions]]

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Boaqua at 20:11, 11 April 2017