ASHGABAT, June 19. /TASS/. Specialists from the Turkmengas holding have drafted a plan to extinguish the Darvaza gas crater in the Karakum Desert, which has been on fire for more than fifty years, head of the laboratory of the Natural Gas Research Institute Irina Luryeva told TASS.
It has become a popular tourist spot in Turkmenistan. The crater, known informally to people and tourists as the "Door to Hell," has officially been dubbed the "Shining of Karakum" since 2018.
"We have prepared a plan, whose essence is to limit the gas inflow to this emergency well," Luryeva said. The proposal is "at the approval stage" at relevant authorities, she added.
The field where the incident occurred has a very complex geological structure, characterized by a plenitude of very thin rock layers bedded not far from the surface, down to 1,000 meters, the expert said. "The accident also occurred near the surface; the wellbore collapsed," Luryeva noted. "The gas feed, uncontrolled and between beds, is taking place" on the field, she added.
Researchers from the institute looked at various way of solving the burning crater problem and arrived at the conclusion that the only solution is to drill a well near the field to tap gas. "It is possible to stop uncontrolled flows in such a way, that is, to withdraw more than nature provides," the scholar said.
The gas crater in the Karakum desert, 266 km away from Ashgabat, appeared in 1971 after an exploration well collapsed. Subsequently, the crater, sixty meters in diameter and twenty meters deep, was popularly nicknamed the "Door to Hell." Flame pillars erupting from a cavern below the crater. the result of natural gas burning, can reach a height of 15 meters.