The forgotten town of black gold

Yiqikelike stands deserted in the Tianshan Mountains. The former oil town once housed 20,000 workers from oil-related industries. [Photo by Cui Meng / China Daily]

In 2011, a few oil workers returned to Yiqikelike. Advances in technology mean pockets of oil and gas that were previously unreachable can now be accessed. However, the city will never recover the swagger of its glory days.

"Our new platforms are situated next to the old site, but the pockets of oil and gas we are exploring now are much deeper and larger than the old ones, which were only about 468 meters deep," said Hu Jianfeng, a geologist with PetroChina Tarim Oilfield Co, based in Kuerle city.

A new drilling platform erected close to the old oil town. [Photo by Cui Meng / China Daily]

The deepest well in the basin is 8,023 meters deep, almost inversely equivalent to the 8,844-meter height of Qomolangma, called Mount Everest in the West, the world's highest mountain.

"Just imagine how difficult it is to dig an Everest in the ground. However, advances in technology mean things that seemed impossible in the old days have become possible," said Hu, who has worked in oil exploration for more than 20 years.

"Nowadays, we inject nitrogen into the well, rather than pumping fluids such as water with sand at high pressure into the rocks in the deeper layers under the earth's surface to extract oil. The practice is much safer and more environmentally friendly because there is very little wastewater," said Hu. One of the wells in which the technology is used produces several hundred thousand cubic meters of natural gas every day.

A truck carrying drill pipes stopped at the Dibei 102 platform, just a few hundred meters from the old town. Workers dressed in oil-stained red overalls were waiting at the entrance. A massive drilling rig sits right in the center of the platform, surrounded by mobile homes that function as offices and temporary accommodation for the workers.

The truck driver was ordered to wait while the technicians lowered a radioactive substance down the well to map the structural details. "The radiation is dangerous," warned one worker.

"The men work 12-hour shifts, but they often don't bother to take time off because there isn't much to do in an isolated place like this," said Li Xuelin, the platform manager. Although Dibei 102, which operates 24 hours a day if not interrupted by the mapping team, is so close to the old town, he rarely has time to venture into Yiqikelike. As the man in charge of operations, Li is required to be at his post almost constantly.

His team consists of roughly 60 workers, mostly drawn from the provinces of Sichuan, Shandong and Henan, and their involvement in the process is limited. "We just drill. Once we hit the required spot, the extraction team takes over and we move on to another spot," said Li, 42, who has worked in oil fields since age 16. Dibei 102, which became operational in May 2012 and is expected to reach a depth of 5,000 meters, has attracted investment of approximately 30 million yuan ($4.8 million).

"People have a mistaken belief that oil company workers are well paid, but that's not the case at all," said Li, donning the white safety helmet that denotes his managerial position.

Drill workers only earn about 3,000 yuan a month and it's very hard and dangerous work. "The luxurious lifestyles of well-paid company executives have given people the wrong impression," he said.