Azerbaijan launched the first offshore oil well in the Caspian Sea at the Neft Daşları field.
Neft Daşları, whose name means “Oil Rocks,” lies on a group of artificial islands in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. Soviet engineers began developing the field in the late 1940s, and production started in 1949. The project became one of the earliest large-scale offshore oil developments in the world.
The site was built around a network of platforms, causeways, housing, utilities, and production equipment. Its unusual setting demonstrated that offshore petroleum operations could extend well beyond the shoreline and could support a permanent industrial community.
A common mix-up is treating the field as a modern deepwater development. Neft Daşları was developed in relatively shallow Caspian waters using mid-20th-century Soviet engineering. Its historical importance lies in pioneering offshore production, not in water depth.