Volkswacht Bodensee - Turkmenistan's 'Gateway to Hell' lit gas pit faces closure

The 20-metre-deep Darvaza crater in a remote stretch of the Karakum desert has been burning for decades, continuously fed by methane gas seeping from the ground since a Soviet drilling accident in 1971.

The site has since become a tourist attraction, but authorities in the Central Asian country have expressed concerns about the long-term health and environmental impacts of what is essentially a roaring gas leak.

"We are actively drilling a well (to capture the gas) at Darvaza. This is being done purposefully to reduce emissions," said Maksat Babayev, chairman of state gas firm Turkmengas at an energy forum in the capital Ashgabat.

Turkmenistan has announced plans to close the pit before, including in 2022 when then-President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov warned the man-made crater was negatively affecting "both the environment and the health of the people living nearby".

The ex-Soviet state has the fourth largest gas reserves in the world, but has suffered multiple methane leaks due to ageing and poorly maintained infrastructure.

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas responsible for 30 percent of global warming since the Industrial Revolution.

The announcement comes ahead of the COP29 climate change summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, where world leaders will meet to discuss their policies and progress on tackling climate change.

P.Keller--VB