The scientists from a research institute associated with Turkmenistan's national gas company Turkmengaz have come up with a plan to put out the so-called "Gates of Hell" - a burning natural gas crater in the country's Darvaza province.
The director of the research institute, Bayrammyrat Pirniyazov, said that there is an idea to drill a well at the Chaldzhulba field - the territory that hosts the burning crater.
The plan stipulates the drilling of a new well to extract the excess gas from the gas source that feeds the crater flame. After that, the scientists believe it will be possible to put out the flames on the surface.
The scientists believe that such action plan might allow to completely get rid of uncontrollable gas emissions into the atmosphere.
The thing about the "Gates of Hell" crater is that it has been burning for well over five decades. In January 2022, the Turkmen government addressed the problem, ordering energy companies in the country to finally put the crater out.
The "Gates of Hell" emerged back in 1963, when a well was drilled at the Chaldzhulba field, only for a pit to be discovered there, filled with gas and upper layers of the ground. The crater was set on fire in order to prevent people and animals getting intoxicated by gas, with experts expecting the fire to die down itself in several days.
Things did not go according to plan. Due to a large number of thin layers being interbedded with aquifers and dense layers within the crater, the fire has continued to feed the flames for more than 50 years.