Turkmenistan said on Thursday that it had considerably reduced a gas fire that had been raging for half a century on a site that called the “gateway to hell”.
The fire has been burning in the Karakum desert since 1971, when Soviet scientists accidentally drilled in an underground bag of gas and then decided to ignite it.
The fire spits out massive amounts of methane, a gas that has since contributed to climate change.
Civil servants said the fire-that has reduced the best tourist attraction of the withdrawn country, without specifying the time frame.
“While for a huge glow of the fire was visible from a few kilometers away, hence the name 'Gateway to Hell', today is only a vague source of burning,” said Irina Luryeva, a director of the energy company Turkmengaz.
Countless wells were drilled around the fire to catch methane, she said at an environmental conference in the capital Ashgabat.
Turkmenistan – one of the world's most closed countries – is an estimated world's fourth largest gas reserves.
It is the world's largest emitter of methane due to gas leaks, according to the International Energy Agency – a claim that is rejected by the authorities.
Al-BK/JC/OC/JXB
