Turkmenistan, the Gates of Hell will be closed. Environmental disaster and attraction: its history

Deep in the sands of the Karakum Mountains in Turkmenistan, timid tongues of flame lick the walls of the "gates of hell." After half a century of fire, the Darvaza crater, which emits methane, a gas that accelerates global warming, must finally be extinguished. "My husband and I decided to come here after seeing the shocking photos of the Darvaza flames online," a tourist from Ashgabat, the capital of this isolated country, told Agence France Presse. But after a five-hour drive on a bumpy desert road to reach the crater, halfway between the capital and Turkmenistan's third-largest city, Dashoguz, the sight is quite different. "I'm a little disappointed," admits the thirty-year-old.

Tourists and disappointed expectations

Before her, instead of the hoped-for immense brazier, flames blazed from a crater 70 meters in diameter and 20 meters deep. According to rare scientific reports, Darvaza's contribution to Turkmenistan's massive methane emissions remains marginal, but the crater is a symbol of environmental catastrophe. While Turkmen authorities are keeping all information secret, satellites have revealed that Turkmenistan holds the world record for the number of super-methane releases (or massive leaks) in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

According to researchers, methane, which contributes to global warming far more than CO2, is responsible for approximately 30% of global warming since the Industrial Revolution, while the United States and China remain the largest emitters in terms of volume. Turkmenistan promises: these "gates of hell," nicknamed the "Karakum glow," will soon disappear.

The shutdown order is for 2022

In 2022, the all-powerful leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov ordered the crater to be shut down, as these "enormous quantities of gas are negatively impacting the environment and the health of the surrounding populations." In this country, whose economy is supported by its immense gas reserves, this decision is also a budgetary issue. "Valuable raw materials are being lost. Their export could generate significant profits and contribute to the well-being of our population," declared the head of state, known for his personality cult.

In Turkmenistan, one of the world's most closed countries, where Berdymukhamedov's wishes coincide with his own orders, scientists had to find a way around the problem. "The intensity of the disorderly combustion in the crater has been reduced more than threefold," Turkmengaz, a state-owned company, said in June, claiming it had "managed to control the gas supply, significantly increasing gas extraction and reducing the intensity" of the fire.

The technical difficulties

But the work is complicated by the desert's geological peculiarities, a Turkmengaz specialist, who wished to remain anonymous, told AFP. "The Karakum hydrocarbon deposits are characterized by the presence of a large number of thin layers, interspersed with dense layers containing water," he summarized. Rather than having a large gas pocket destined to deplete, "the crater's prolonged combustion is explained by the interaction of these multiple layers," he explained.

"As soon as the intensity of the gas flow into the crater decreases, it will be possible to seal off the crater surface, thus completely eliminating uncontrolled gas emissions into the atmosphere," the Turkmengaz expert believes. However, visiting Turkmengaz facilities is impossible without multiple permits, which AFP has not received.

As for the rare data provided by authorities, they are generally unverifiable. The "gates of hell" opened in 1971, when Soviet geologists studying the rich subsoil of the Karakum Desert, a desert the size of Germany, accidentally drilled into a gas pocket.

How it was born and why

"The drilling platform collapsed underground. The uncontrolled release of gas threatened to poison the population and animals," Anatoly Bushmakin, a 90-year-old Turkmen scientist, told AFP. "Geologists decided to set fire to it, hoping it would quickly go out. But the crater is still burning," Bushmakin continued, believing that this incident has at least "allowed scientists to assess the prospects for gas extraction in this area with extreme precision."

But closing Darvaza risks damaging the nascent local tourism industry. This sand-covered town has almost no tourist attractions and is struggling compared to its neighbors. And for the handful of foreigners who have managed to obtain visas to visit this closed and heavily guarded country, this place is at the top of the list. "It's no secret that most foreign tourists come to Turkmenistan to admire this miracle," Ovez Muradov, a local travel agency employee, told AFP. "If Darvaza stopped burning completely, many travel agencies would lose profits."