Just in case you thought oil was only being used for energy, the Azerbaijanis have to go and rub it…well, all over.
NY TImes reports on a growing health craze in the former Soviet state: bathing in crude oil. So, while our western doctors here say it can cause cancer, their doctors and health officials say it “beatifies the skin, cures psoriasis, and heals aching joints.”
For a country that has need an economic upturn Azerbaijan is growing wealthier everyday thanks to one of the largest stocks of oil reserves in the Middle East. Bordered by Iran, the Caspian Sea, Armenia and Russia it is one of the many former Soviet republics that is slowly rebounding after years in the communist trenches. Now, they’re swimming in crude. Literally.
Each bath uses about a barrel of crude, which is recycled into a communal tank for future bathers, given the cost of oil these days. Mr. Mirzeyev also uses paper towels to wipe bathers clean, a long, hard process that involves several showers.
He says he likes his job. Until Azerbaijan’s economy ticked up in the last two years, Mr. Mirzeyev, 40 and a father of three, was a seasonal laborer in Ukraine, where wages were higher.
“If we have visitors, then we have work,” he said.
Unlike the oil from Azerbaijan’s offshore deposits, sold internationally under the brand Azeri Light crude, Naftalan’s oil is too heavy to have much commercial value. Luckily, because most of the bath attendants and patients seemed to smoke, it is not particularly flammable, either.
I wonder how our folks at Peak Oil feel about all this?
Twitter Updates
Written by Japhet
Topics: Oil