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49-728: Notable Anglo-Russian families were built around the trading houses and businesses of the Cazalet family; this includes the Cazalet-Miller business empire including the Ebsworth family, and Whishaw family. One of the first Anglo-Russian families was established by Noah Cazalet (1757–1800), a silk weaver, settled in St Petersburg and expanded into the burgeoning business of rope manufacture for sailing ships. In 1860, Edward Cazalet married an Elizabeth Marshall, and became connected to

98-422: A Tiflis pharmacist, built the second paraffin -producing factory on Pirallahi Island . Until the 1870s, Russia had a state oil monopoly for petroleum production and reserves around Baku, based on 3-4 year contracts. Production was limited to bailing seepage from shallow wells dug manually. The oil was then transported by arbos (horse carriages carrying 2 barrels) to the shore of Baku bay. There, kerosene

147-661: A Czech father and English mother in Moscow, who moved to Britain in 1921 when the sisters were 15 and 13 years old. A fictional account of Anglo-Russians is found in Penelope Fitzgerald 's The Beginning of Spring (London, 1988). Petroleum industry in Azerbaijan The petroleum industry in Azerbaijan produced about 33 million tonnes of oil and 35 billion cubic meters of gas in 2022. Azerbaijan

196-485: A decade later, on August 27, 1859, "Colonel" Edwin L. Drake struck oil on American soil for the first time. A small petrochemical industry sprung up around Baku, as demand for kerosene soared locally. Vasily Kokorev , Peter Gubonin and German baron N.E. Tornow built the first kerosene factory in Surakhany . The factory was used to produce kerosene out of "kir", an asphalt-like substance. In 1859, N.I. Vitte,

245-557: A device for the automatic movement of a chisel, which became known as the "automatic driller". By 1930, electrical logging tools were used in the wellbore by Schlumberger in the Surakhany oil field. A new technology in drilling was introduced in Baku: electrical aggregates with exact control of the number of rotations came into widespread use. By the early 1930s, about a third of well stock was operated with pumps using gas lift . In 1933,

294-475: A famous architect (who was responsible for the building of The State Historical Museum on Red Square, Moscow) was five years old. William's descendants include great-grandsons Vladimir Vladimirovich Sherwood , also an architect, and Leonid Sherwood , a sculptor, and great-great-grandson, the artist Vladimir Favorsky . John Sherwood (Ivan Shervud) was responsible for unmasking the Decemberist plot in 1825 and

343-523: A manually dug well, 35 m deep. The Turkish scientist and traveller Evliya Çelebi (1611–1683) reported that "the Baku fortress was surrounded by 500 wells, from which white and black acid refined oil was produced". In 1636 German diplomat and traveller Adam Olearius (1603–1671, " Ölschläger ", often transcribed as "Adam Oleary Elshleger") gave a description of 30 Baku oil wells and remarked that some of them were gushers. The first detailed description of

392-566: Is one of the birthplaces of the oil industry . The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan ( SOCAR ), a fully state-owned national oil and gas company headquartered in Baku , is a major source of income for the Azerbaijani government. The company is run in an opaque manner, as it has complex webs of contracts and middlemen that non-government watchdog organizations say have led to

441-666: Is presented to the Russian government on the Caucasus (Baku region) by Vasily Semyonov (1801–1863). In 1845 Grand Duke Mikhail Vorontsov (1782–1856), Governor of the Caucasus authorizes funds for oil drilling considering the ideas of N.I. Voskoboynikov. In 1846, under the supervision of state advisor V.N. Semyonov an engineer Nikolay Matveyevich Alekseev drilled a 21 m deep well using a primitive percussion drilling mechanism, in Bibiheybət to explore for oil, with positive results. More than

490-513: The Romany and the Balakhany regions. Most oil production came from oil gushers in the early days, although this was a very uneconomical and environmentally-harmful process. However, the share of blowout production in the total decreased as the equipment improved. In 1887, blowouts had accounted for 42% of recovered oil, but by 1890 their prevalence decreased to 10.5%. Foreign capital dominated

539-579: The "Soviet Rockefeller", was named head of Azneft. In 1920, only 1800 qualified specialists worked in the Russian oil industry of which 1232 worked in Azerbaijan . The industry urgently needed technology, education and specialists. The scientific exchange started with the US, where visitors from Baku were seconded to oil-fields in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, California, Texas, learned new methods of well deepening and exploitation. The Azerbaijan State Oil Academy

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588-469: The 19th century remained unchanged at 250–300 poods (4–5 thousand tons). In 1813, the number of producing wells was 116, then 125 in 1825, 120 in 1850, and only 218 in 1860. Otkupschina system meant that oil production was monopolized by a set of individuals who saw no incentive to increase production or improve drilling methods. In 1844 – a report detailing ideas developed by Nikolay Voskoboynikov (1801–1860) on drilling for oil rather than digging pits by hand

637-674: The Baku khanate were requisitioned and declared state assets of Russia; and also, by the time of the joining of the Baku khanate to Russia, about 120 wells were placed in the Baku area; the annual extraction from these wells made up about 200 thousand poods of oil. In 1837, the Russians (N.I. Voskoboynikov) built an oil-distilling factory in Balaxani . Oil extraction methods in those times were very primitive —mainly hand-dug wells, drilled to very shallow depths. The production volume of those years can be judged from data provided in 1842 by

686-561: The Baku oil industry was made by Engelbert Kaempfer , Secretary of the Swedish Embassy to Persia ( Iran ) in 1683. In his notes he confirms the existence of places where natural gas discharges to the surface. Kaempfer describes "flaming steppe" as follows: it "... constitutes a peculiar and wonderful sight, for some of the fissures were blazing with big, others with quite flame and was allowing everybody to come up; thirds emitted smoke or at any case minimum perceptible evaporation that

735-537: The Caspian Chamber of the Department of State Property Ministry. It refers to 136 wells around Absheron , which produced 3,760 cubic metres (23,600 bbl) per year, and this oil was exported to Persia , where it was used for lighting as well as in ointments and other traditional remedies. As a result of otkupschina monopoly and the absence of growing demand, annual oil production in the first half of

784-530: The Caspian Sea. For instance, Mazut Trading Co, created by Rothschild Frères in 1898, possessed 13 tankers in the Caspian Sea alone. During these years, native Azerbaijani shipowners appeared, of which the largest fleet belonged to Shamsi Asadullayev . In 1877, construction of the first-ever oil pipeline linking Surakhany oil field and the refinery in Baku was completed. By 1890, there were more than 25 pipelines totaling 286 km. The Nobel Brothers were

833-630: The Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in February 1942, the commitment of more than 500 workers and employees of the oil industry of Azerbaijan was recognized by the giving of orders and medals of the USSR. By the end of the year, so many engineers and oil workers had left for the war front that positions had to be filled by women. By the summer of 1942, more than 25,000 women, or 33% of all

882-473: The Georgian border there is a spring from which gushes a stream of oil, in such abundance that a hundred ships may load there at once. This oil is not good to eat; but it is good for burning and as a salve for men and camels affected with itch or scab. Men come from a long distance to fetch this oil, and in all the neighborhood no other oil is burnt but this ." A 1593 inscription in Balaxani commemorates

931-623: The Wehrmacht was to be supplied with the fuel it desperately needed from these territories, provided by "Technische Brigade Mineralöl" experts. According to the Edelweiss plan, aimed at the exclusively strategic goals of the Germans, Baku was to be occupied on September 25, 1942. The German military command planned a sudden landing of troops in Baku so that the Soviet authorities could not destroy

980-531: The company of William Miller & Co, of Leith in Scotland. The Whishaw family, of Hills and Whishaw Ltd, included James Whishaw, and influential intermediary in development of the Baku oilfields and Stella Zoe Whishaw , later Baroness Meyendorff, an Anglo-Russian actress who wrote a memoir Through terror to freedom - the dramatic story of an Englishwoman's life and adventures in Russia before, during & after

1029-478: The enrichment of the country's ruling elites. There is evidence of petroleum being used in trade as early as the 3rd and 4th centuries. Information on the production of oil on the Apsheron peninsula can be found in the manuscripts of many Arabic and Persian authors. The following paragraph from the accounts of the famous traveler Marco Polo " il Milione " is believed to be a reference to Baku oil: "Near

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1078-575: The exportation of crude oil. Instead, a large kerosene pipeline was constructed between 1897 and 1907, connecting Baku to Batum . The oil barons in Baku established their own organization, the Oil Extractors Congress Council for the discussion of the oil business. They created their own magazine, Neftyanoe Delo (Oil Business), a library, school, hospital, and pharmacy. For six years, the Council of Oil Extractors Congress

1127-459: The first oil tanker , the Zoroaster . In 1881, they introduced continuous multi-still distillation, and hired Hjalmar Sjögren as the company geologist in 1885. The Nobels built Villa Petrolea as a company town that included apartments, houses, schools, and libraries, while employees were given profit-sharing and free education. The Baku Petroleum Association was formed in 1884, to prevent

1176-525: The first deviated well was drilled in the Bibi-Heybat field. Other firsts were: Between 1939 and 1940, when the Soviet Union was supplying oil to Nazi Germany, Britain and France planned a major strategic bombing offensive called Operation Pike to destroy the oil production facilities in Baku. During that first year of the war, Azerbaijan produced 25.4 million tons of oil – a record. By

1225-590: The first to introduce railway tanks (cisterns) for oil transportation, when the railway link between Baku and Tiflis was built in 1883. The situation with limited exporting options was solved by the construction of the Baku–Batum pipeline . After 1936 Batum renamed to Batumi. Construction began in 1897 and was completed 10 years later under the supervision of Professor N. L. Szhukin. Several oil crises jolted Russia around 1903, when constant strikes, violence and ethnic strife during Russian Revolution of 1905 led to fall in

1274-458: The ground pits, vessels and lakes where great quantities of oil evaporated or simply penetrated back into the ground, the company started to use iron reservoirs for oil storage. The first successful oil tanker in the world – a refurbished metal ship called Zoroastr – was built in 1877 in Sweden by Nobels. By 1890 345 tankers, including 133 steam vessels and 212 sailing vessels, were sailing on

1323-403: The hands of Russian-registered businesses, and only in 1898 foreign companies were granted rights to explore and develop oil fields as well as to participate in the annual bidding process. Between 1898 and 1903, British oil firms invested 60 million rubles in Baku oil fields. Ethnic Armenians also contributed to the oil production and drilling around Baku. They reportedly ran almost one-third of

1372-463: The improvement of well designs. By early 1913, the following changes occurred in some of the largest producers, such as Branobel . In 1858, one of the major shipping companies on the Caspian Sea – joint-stock company "Kavkaz and Merkuriy" was established and served as the first oil shipping outlet. Great changes were introduced in the area of oil storage by Nobels . To counteract the waste of

1421-460: The late 1890s, large companies started to employ geologists to describe and map prospective structures. Geologist and oil specialist Dmitry Golubyatnikov began a systematic investigation of Absheron and predicted the availability of oil deposits in Surakhany field. In 1901, the Pirallahi oil field was discovered and put on production. Scientists like Ivan Gubkin , Golubyatnikov and Uskin described

1470-633: The next year. Drilling was conducted primitively with a balance arm, whim and manual pump. Robert Nobel arrived in Baku in March 1873, where he purchased an oil refinery, and in 1875, purchased a large portion of the Balakhani Oil Field, where he built a new refinery. Nobel Brothers Petroleum Production Company was founded in 1877, followed by Branobel in 1879. They added infrastructure, including Russia's first pipeline system in 1877, pumping stations, storage depots, railway tank cars , and

1519-455: The oil fields in a large-scale advance into the area, hampered by a split of forces to also attack Soviet supply lines along the river Wolga. On July 23, 1942, Hitler signed Directive No. 45 on conducting a strategic operation in the Caucasus, codenamed "Edelweiss". According to the Edelweiss plan , the main oil regions of the Caucasus (Baku, Maikop, Grozny oil field ) were to be occupied, and

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1568-630: The oil fields. But the Axis forces were surrounded and eventually defeated at Stalingrad , forcing a retreat from the Caucasus region. Control of oil supply from Baku and the Middle East played a large role in the events of the war and the ultimate victory of the Allies. Oil production from the existing fields started to decline after World War II, as a result of catastrophic over-production and under-investment. However, real potential for new discoveries

1617-457: The oil industry of pre-revolutionary Russia. On the eve of the World War I three companies ("Russian General Oil Company", " Royal Dutch Shell " and "Partnership of Nobel Brothers "). held 86% of all share capital and controlled 60% of oil production . In 1903, 12 English companies with capital of 60 million rubles were functioning in Baku region. In 1912, Anglo-Dutch Shell obtained 80% of

1666-482: The oil production from the peak of 212,000 bbl/d (33,700 m /d). The relative calm of the early 1910s was disrupted by World War I, when production of oil steadily decreased to reach the lowest level of just 65,000 bbl/d (10,300 m /d) by 1918 and then dropped even more catastrophically by 1920. As a result of civil unrest, no oil export was possible, oil storage facilities were damaged and wells were idle. The government of Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan

1715-428: The productive series deposits of Azerbaijan and the process generation for the first time in 1916. By the early 20th century, innovation started to improve hitherto backward well drilling practices. Most of the wells up to that time were drilled by cable-tool drilling method, which limited the exploitation to shallow depth. Qualified engineers (of which Fatulla Rustambeyov is the first Azeri national) contributed to

1764-566: The region's oil industry by 1900. Between 1898 and 1901, Baku produced more oil than the United States. By 1901, half of the world's oil was produced from 1900 wells, located within 6 square miles. The main oil-producing regions were located near Baku at Sabunchy , Surakhany and Bibi-Heybat . Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Sabunchi region produced 35% of Baku's oil, and the Bibi-Heybat region produced 28%, followed by

1813-714: The revolution in 1929, and then became a film diva in the 1930s. Nothing is recorded of the children of Joseph Billings (c.1758-1806) an English navigator who joined the Tsar's navy and settled in Russia. More notable are the descendants of William Sherwood, an English cotton machine engineer who came to Russia in 1800. (1798 at the invitation of Tsar Paul I according to family papers (Marcus Sherwood-Jenkins). His sons were John Sherwood, (Ivan Shervud in Russian) an influential lieutenant to Alexander I and Joseph Sherwood, who died in 1832 when his son Vladimir Osipovich Sherwood , later

1862-554: The shares of the Caspian-Black Sea Society "Mazut", which had belonged to De Rothschild Frères . Other British firms purchased oil operations from Hajji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev . In 1898, the Russian oil industry produced more than the U.S. oil production level. At that time, approximately 8 million tons were being produced (160,000 barrels (25,000 m ) of oil per day). By 1901, Baku produced more than half of

1911-441: The workers, were working 18-hour shifts in the oil industries. At refineries and chemical plants, the percentage of women was even higher, estimated at 38%. By 1944, women's participation had grown to 60%. Veterans and retirees also returned to the oil fields to help. It was not uncommon for the workforce of small towns (i.e. Kıncıvo ) to completely and rapidly convert toward dependence on the oil industry during this period. Hitler

1960-623: The world's oil (11 million tons or 212,000 barrels (33,700 m ) of oil per day), and 55% of all Russian oil. Approximately 1.2 million tons of Baku kerosene were also sold abroad. There were other entrepreneurs with lower rank who also made contributions to industrial development of Azerbaijan, such as Haji Baba Alekperov, Agasibek Ashurbeyov, Ali Bala Zarbaliyev, Kerbalay Zarbaliyev, Huseyin Melikov, G. Bagirov, G. Aliyev, S. Zminov, Amir-Aslanov brothers and others were owners of oil-field areas in Sabunchi, Balakhani, Romani, Shubani, Bibi-Heybat. By

2009-611: The world, began sea oil extraction in Bibi-Heybat bay from two wells in 18m and 30m away from coastline. First offshore oil extraction was abandoned when a strong storm in 1825 destroyed the wells. In 1806, the Russian Empire occupied Baku Khanate and took monopolistic control of oil production. Later, exclusive rights to produce oil were given to individuals, thereby creating the Persian otkupchina lease system. That year all oil sources of Absheron, Guba and Salyan belonging to

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2058-427: Was distilled in open stills , and then transported to Russian markets, especially St. Petersburg , via ship over the Caspian Sea and Volga River . In 1873, a new law replaced the contract-monopoly with a long-term lease system, and removed the kerosene excise tax in 1877. In 1871, Ivan Mirzoev , an ethnic Armenian who was then an otkupchina monopolist, built the first wooden oil derrick followed by another

2107-508: Was determined to capture the oil fields of the Caucasus, in particular Baku, as it would provide much-needed oil supplies for the German military, which was suffering from blockades and had to rely on oil from Romania , plus domestic coal liquefaction . In addition, the Soviets would lose most of their oil supply. The 1942 German offensive codenamed Case Blue saw a determined attempt to seize

2156-476: Was directed by Ludvig Nobel . The oil industry greatly influenced the architectural appearance of Baku as a modern city. Administrative, social and municipal institutions were established which, in turn, made decisions about the city's illumination, roads, streets, buildings, telephone stations, and horse-drawn trolleys. Gardens and parks were laid out and hotels, casinos and beautiful stores were built. First, exclusive rights to develop Baku oil fields were in

2205-473: Was ennobled by the Tsar for his services and given the honorific Shervud Vernyi (Sherwood the loyal). In addition, there were the expatriate-born children of British businessmen in Russia, such as conductor Albert Coates , whose father was general manager for a British company in St Petersburg. He was raised from the age of 12 in England. Chess playing sisters Vera Menchik and Olga Menchik were daughters of

2254-426: Was established in 1920 to train oil specialists. By the late 1920s, production stabilized. In 1928–29, oil production in the USSR equaled to 13.5 mln t including Azerbaijan's 8.7 mln t. By 1940, the total production of Azerbaijan – 23.5 mln. t (475,000 bbl/d (75,500 m /d)) – was a historical record not broken until 2005. For the first time in Russia in 1925, Baku engineer M.M. Skvortsov constructed

2303-527: Was felt to be present offshore. As far back as 1864, a German mineralogist and geologist Otto von Abich surveyed and reported structures present on the seabed of the Caspian. Balaxani Balaxanı or Balakhani ( Tat : Balxuni ) is a settlement and municipality near Baku , Azerbaijan , on the Absheron Peninsula . Taking advantage of the area's oil pools, a 35 m deep well

2352-516: Was sending off heavy and stinking taste of oil. It was occupying the territory of 88 steps in length and 26 in width." (improved translation needed) Many 18th and 19th century European accounts of the Caucasus refer to the Fire Temple of Baku at Suraxanı raion , where the fire was fed by natural gas from a cavern beneath the site. Haji Kasimbey Mansurbekov, in 1803, for the first time in

2401-468: Was unable to restore the damage done to the oil industry during its time in office between 1918 and 1920. Since 1918, more 5 mln ton of oil accumulated in Azerbaijan. After the occupation of Azerbaijan by Bolsheviks , all oil supplies were directed to Russia. All oil assets in the country were nationalized and Azneft State company was formed. In 1920, Alexander P. Serebrovsky , soon to be known as

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