Waiting for Godot ...
2003: Two Iranians, a British and a Japanese national and me (in the middle)
at Hamid Railway Station in Azadegan in Iran, waiting in the midday heat of 45°C for a train that will never arrive ...
We were in Azadegan to assess the opportunities and potential environmental, social, socio-economic
and public and community health aspects of developing the Azedegan oil field.
The National Iranian Oil Company was carrying out a seismic survey here.
During the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s this area was mined and therefore demining was required in order to execute seismic operations safely.
The picture above showns a mine flaile that was being used for that purpose.
We visited a number of production wells that had been drilled.
This is the standard well cellar, which conforms to international standards.
However, the burn pit at the wellsite, which is used to burn off oil and gas during well testing, is a sight for sore eyes.
And so is the waste pit, featured below.
We used the opportunity to visit the first oil well drilled in Iran (in 1908) at Mashad Suleiman.
This is my Japanese friend Takada San at this historic wellsite.
Last updated on 18 July 2009
