World’s first mechanically drilled oil well restored in Baku

The world’s first-ever mechanically drilled oil well, located in the Bibi-Heybat settlement 10 kilometers west of Baku, has been restored.

The well produced the first gush of oil in 1846 and was just 21 meters deep at that time.

On 26 April 2017, the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) completed the reconstruction of this first oil well. The Azerbaijani president, Ilham Alyev and SOCAR president, Rovnaq Abdullayev, attended the launching ceremony.

There are plans to open an Azerbaijani oil museum in this area in the future.

• At the end of the 19^th century, the oil well fell into the ownership of the Nobel Brothers’ company.
• Until 1900, Baku accounted for 50% of the worlds’ oil extraction.
• The Bibi-Heybat oil well was featured in a James Bond film entitled ‘The World Is Not Enough’.