Former Soviet state may find new energy reserves a bit of a curse

Iyul 18, 2008 · Kateqoriya: Ordan-burdan · Şərh 

LETTER FROM AZERBAIJAN: Wealth in the form of oil and gas is seeping up from the sea belonging to a once blighted region in the Caucasus, writes Kieran Cooke

AS MANY countries in the West teeter on the brink of recession, this country of 8.5 million people in the south Caucasus finds itself suddenly awash with money. Oil companies have recently started mining vast reserves of oil and gas from deep under Azerbaijan’s section of the Caspian Sea.

The result is billions of dollars in royalties, and export earnings are flowing into the local exchequer. Last year, Azerbaijan’s economy grew by 27 per cent - the highest GDP growth rate in the world.

Oil seeps out of the ground in Azerbaijan, its smell fills the air. In ancient times, fires on the earth lit by oil and gas deposits made the territory a main centre of Zoroastrianism, one of the world’s oldest religions in which fire is a sacred symbol. Near Baku, the capital, a forest of oil derricks stretches for miles along the Caspian shore.

Further inland, you can actually take a bath in pure crude oil. At a crumbling sanatorium, visitors submerge themselves in the local crude: doctors say the treatment - once you’ve spent an hour wiping off the black, tarry substance - beautifies the skin, calms nerves and cures conditions such as psoriasis.
Davamını oxu

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