The Cellar Image of the Day

xoxoxoBruce Tuesday Apr 6 02:00 AM

April 6, 2010: Oil Rocks

What could possibly go wrong?

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There are a number of massive artificial peninsulas extending offshore from the Azerbaijani city of Baku. The most famous of these is known as Oil Rocks, and it is an offshore metropolis of semi-abandoned oil extraction platforms in the Caspian Sea.

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As Wikipedia informs us:
The facility is poorly maintained, with miles of roads now submerged beneath the sea. Around some workers' dormitories, the waterline now stands at the second-floor windows. Although a full one-third of the Oil Rocks complex's 600 wells are inoperative or inaccessible, operations have continued without a significant increase in investment. The site, despite its imperfections, still produces over half of the total crude oil output of Azerbaijan. The government has striven to attract foreign investment into Oil Rocks, resulting in several new additions being grafted onto the existing structure.
These "new additions... grafted onto the existing structure" are at least partially responsible for the epic nature of the place, as it seems to push ever further outward into the tides and weather.

Funded with private money, and created entirely for the purpose of extracting oil from the Caspian's shallow seabed, these and other peninsular extensions of Baku are functional urbanism at its most giddy: uni-purpose structures like something dreamt up by Guy Maunsell, by way of the obligatory reference to Constant's New Babylon.

Do you think the others on the Caspian, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran, are worried about possible environmental damage?

link

SPUCK Tuesday Apr 6 06:37 AM

Excuse me kind sir but I can't seem to find the highway. Can you direct me?

spudcon Tuesday Apr 6 07:59 AM

Oil rocks, but KY slides.

limey Tuesday Apr 6 09:08 AM

Been there, seen it. Oil just oozes from the ground at the roadside around there.

Spexxvet Tuesday Apr 6 09:16 AM

Game of Twixt, anyone?

Diaphone Jim Tuesday Apr 6 03:22 PM

It is interesting that the Caspian Sea rises and falls and is now at the second story windows of 40-50 year old structures while 400 miles away the Aral Sea has nearly disappeared, leaving boats miles from any water.
There is not much reason to stop smoking or make other healthy changes at either place.

Cloud Tuesday Apr 6 03:27 PM

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uni-purpose structures like something dreamt up by Guy Maunsell, by way of the obligatory reference to Constant's New Babylon.

um, what?

xoxoxoBruce Tuesday Apr 6 03:28 PM

I wonder if the land has been subsiding?

@ Cloud, Guy Maunsell, Constant's New Babalon.

Cloud Tuesday Apr 6 03:54 PM

I was just thinking shale . . .

ferret88 Tuesday Apr 6 07:31 PM

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Originally Posted by Spexxvet

Game of Twixt, anyone?

Whoa! Childhood flashback!

jpc Wednesday Apr 7 07:54 PM

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Originally Posted by Spexxvet

Game of Twixt, anyone?

I bet I can beat you.
I bought one of these 10 years ago.
Beat my son till he would not play anymore.

Spexxvet Wednesday Apr 7 08:08 PM

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Originally Posted by jpc

I bet I can beat you.
...

I'll bet you can.

Your reply here?

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