Situation in Oil Industry on Eve of World War II: Achievements and Miscalculations

Abstract

The question of the reasons for the failure to fulfill the oil production plans on the eve of the Great Patriotic War is considered. The relevance of study is determined by the topicality of discussions concerning various aspects of the country’s history in the pre-war years, the importance of learning lessons from historical experience in developing a further strategy for the country’s socioeconomic development. Particular attention is paid to identifying the factors that determined the slow development of the Ural-Volga oil region in the 1930s, and the circumstances that led to the change in the government course. It was concluded that the recommendations of I. M. Gubkin and his supporters were considered, but by the beginning of the war, the second oil base had not been created. It has been proven that invaluable experience in production and oil refining in the climatic conditions of the Volga region led to the discovery of new deposits during the war years, an increase in the importance of the region in providing fuel to the front. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that, on the basis of a significant array of previously unpublished archival documents, other reasons for the very difficult situation that developed in the oil industry in the pre-war years are more accurately identified. It has been proven that among them: insufficiently effective management of the industry, poorly organized geological exploration, weak material and technical base, shortage of personnel, repression of prominent oil workers.