Baku Oil Research Articles

Ekim 1917 Devriminden Sonra Bolşevik Rusya’nın Azerbaycan Siyaseti ve Bakü Sorunu

The main aim of this study is to investigate the general policy of Russia under the Bolsheviks after the Revolution of October 1917. Additionally, it is studied the problem of Baku and its economical and political importance for Russian foreign policy. The other subjects such as the carrying of Baku oil to Russia, the Baku incidents of Mart 1918, and the russian-armenian allaince in Baku are discussed.

Biodegradation of Baku oil and hydrocarbons by micromycetes

Degradation of Baku oil, refinery products (diesel fuel, kerosene, and gasoline), and some individual aromatic hydrocarbons (toluene, p-xylene, and ethylbenzene) by micromycete cultures isolated from Caspian Sea water and coastal soil near the Apsheron peninsula was studied. The intensity of biodegradation of crude oil and petroleum products with micromycetes was determined by measuring carbon dioxide evolution and biomass formation. The conditions for chromatographic analyses of biodegradation products were determined. The dynamics of structure and composition of the test petrochemicals during oxidation with micromycetes was studied by means of gas-liquid and gas-solid chromatography and IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. It was found that, under cooxidizing conditions, microorganisms convert toluene and p-xylene into the corresponding monocarboxylic acids and acetophenone (35–40%) and phenylacetic acid (60–65%) are formed in the case of ethylbenzene.

Russia and the United States: No Longer Rivals, Not Yet Partners

At the start of the twentieth century, consumer oil supplies were almost entirely controlled by Russia and the United States. Today, the market is much less monopolistic: there are major oil export centers in the Middle East, North and West Africa, South America, and the North Sea. But Russia remains a leading oil supplier to the global market. In 2006, it became the world leader in deliveries, surpassing Saudi Arabia. The United States, on the other hand, has, over the past century, become the world's largest oil importer. Half of the oil used in the United States is brought in from other countries.Despite the changes that have taken place, the former rivals have not become strategic partners. In looking for alternatives to Persian Gulf oil supplies, the United States is inclined to West Africa. Seeking to reduce its dependence on the European market, Russia is increasing its cooperation with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region.Although they need each other, Russia and the United States are nonetheless moving in opposite directions. This is regrettable, particularly if you consider that the world is on the threshold of creating a global natural gas market.Beginning of the Twentieth Century: The Rise and Fall of Baku OilFor Russia, the beginning of the twentieth century was marked by the active development of the Baku oil industry. In 1901 the area produced 220,000 barrels per day (bpd), more than half of the world's output. As in the United States, the main role in the development of the Russian oil production sector was played by private capital.However, in the United States this capital came from within the country. The founder of the famous Standard Oil Trust was John Davison Rockefeller, the son of a doctor from New York. Investors in Russian oil production were not only domestic companies (the Nobel Brothers Petroleum Company and the Russian General Oil Corporation) but also French (the Rothschilds) and later Anglo-Dutch (Royal Dutch/Shell).The 1917 revolution and subsequent nationalization changed the direction of development of the Russian oil industry.For American and European companies, the 1920s and 1930s were a period of active international expansion. In 1928 the managers of Royal Dutch/Shell, Standard Oil of New Jersey (the future Exxon), and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (the future BP) reached an agreement on joint measures to explore and develop deposits in the world's main oil-producing regions. They were later joined by Standard Oil of California (the future Chevron), Standard Oil of New York (the future Mobil), Texas Company (the future Texaco), and Gulf Oil. The informal association came to be called the Sisters. The consortium's coordinated actions allowed it to monopolize oil production and supply on the world markets for several decades.At the same time, the Soviet Union was making efforts to restore production-which had decreased considerably because of the civil war and the nationalization of the oil industry-in the Baku region. This was achieved only on the eve of World War II. However, the successes were undermined by the striving of Hitler's Germany to obtain control over the Baku oil fields. Production capacity had to be evacuated to the central regions of the country, and as a result, Baku's oil production once again fell to 1901 levels.The 1950s and 1960s: The USSR as the New Player on the World MarketThe postwar years were marked by the increasing influence of the oil-producing states on the development of the global oil industry. The understanding that Enrico Mattei, head of the Italian concern ENI, reached with the Iranian authorities played an important role in this development. Attempting to break the monopoly of the Seven Sisters, offered new, more profitable cooperation terms to the host side. For the first time, in 1957, income was split between the investor (ENI) and the host country (Iran) in a 25:75 ratio (the Mattei Formula). …

THE BATTLE FOR BAKU (May-September 1918): A PECULIAR EPISODE IN THE HISTORY OF THE CAUCASUS

The city of Baku and surrounding area is one of the best-known oil regions in the world. Exploitation by collection from springs and shallow pits was well noticed in the earliest historical records. A considerable commerce was carried on in the area, supplying oil for cooking and medicinal purposes. During the nineteenth century, the Tsarist government envisioned the modem petroleum industry when it drilled a well for oil at what is now the giant BibiEibat field. It was the end of the nineteenth century before the area had its first contact with the Western capital. The rich oil potential in the region attracted influential foreign companies. By the late nineteenth century, two competing families came to control Baku's oil industry. The Swedish Nobel brothers arrived on the scene first to be followed by the French branch of the Rothschild family. In 1898 Russia became the largest oil-producing country, and held this position until 1902. At the beginning of the twentieth century, more than 50 per cent of the world's oil was produced in the Baku region. Baku, a town with a population of 2,500 at the beginning of the nineteenth century, emerged as an industrial and commercial centre with a thriving population rising to 200,000 at the end of the century. The rush to Baku was driven by the discovery of rich oil resources. Railways soon followed to transport the material wealth to and fro. The Batum-Baku railway construction opened the way for a big harbour and, consequently, Baku was by 1918 at the centre of an ever important transit route between Russia, Iran and Central Asia via the Caspian Sea. When the Bolshevik Revolution started in Russia in November 1917' the First World War was already approaching its fourth year. Although the Russian armies had controlled the regions of Transcaucasia and part of eastern Anatolia since 1916, on the European borders of Russia control was in the hands of the Central Powers. The armies of Germany and AustroHungary had invaded Russian Poland and had reached the borders of the

The battle for Baku (May‐September 1918): a peculiar episode in the history of the caucasus

The city of Baku and surrounding area is one of the best-known oil regions in the world. Exploitation by collection from springs and shallow pits was well noticed in the earliest historical records. A considerable commerce was carried on in the area, supplying oil for cooking and medicinal purposes. During the nineteenth century, the Tsarist government envisioned the modem petroleum industry when it drilled a well for oil at what is now the giant BibiEibat field. It was the end of the nineteenth century before the area had its first contact with the Western capital. The rich oil potential in the region attracted influential foreign companies. By the late nineteenth century, two competing families came to control Baku's oil industry. The Swedish Nobel brothers arrived on the scene first to be followed by the French branch of the Rothschild family. In 1898 Russia became the largest oil-producing country, and held this position until 1902. At the beginning of the twentieth century, more than 50 per cent of the world's oil was produced in the Baku region. Baku, a town with a population of 2,500 at the beginning of the nineteenth century, emerged as an industrial and commercial centre with a thriving population rising to 200,000 at the end of the century. The rush to Baku was driven by the discovery of rich oil resources. Railways soon followed to transport the material wealth to and fro. The Batum-Baku railway construction opened the way for a big harbour and, consequently, Baku was by 1918 at the centre of an ever important transit route between Russia, Iran and Central Asia via the Caspian Sea. When the Bolshevik Revolution started in Russia in November 1917' the First World War was already approaching its fourth year. Although the Russian armies had controlled the regions of Transcaucasia and part of eastern Anatolia since 1916, on the European borders of Russia control was in the hands of the Central Powers. The armies of Germany and AustroHungary had invaded Russian Poland and had reached the borders of the

Baku Oil and Transcaucasian Pipelines, 1883–1891: A Study in Tsarist Economic Policy

The leading role of the state in nineteenth-century Russian industrialization is one of the most widely accepted notions in economic history. Thus state-sponsored industrialization, deeply rooted in the strength of the despotic state and the subservience of an undifferentiated peasantry and an insignificant middle class, began in earnest in the era of the Great Reforms, after the Crimean War had shocked the government out of its economic lethargy under Nicholas I and Finance Minister Kankrin. It continued unevenly thereafter until it crested in the burst of state-led growth in the 1890s. The “statist interpretation” of prerevolutionary Russian industrial development has been most notably expounded by Alexander Gerschenkron in a series of influential essays and by Theodore Von Laue in his biography of Sergei Witte. It thoroughly dominates non-Soviet scholarship and serves as the point of departure for almost all general investigations.

Stalinism and the History of the Workers' Movement: It Was Not a Simple Deviation

The occasion for this discussion of our relationship with Stalin is the hun dredth anniversary of his birth (1879), and that fact refers to Stalin as an individ ual, rather than to the theory or to the practice to which he allegedly gave rise. Aside from the irony of discussing this question in terms of the role of an individ ual, it is necessary from the outset to exclude the psychological or biographical problem posed by Stalin: nothing in the problem of Stalinism is less interesting than Stalin himself. Most of his recent biographers have underscored to excess his mediocrity. And I must add, I am equally perplexed by the attempts made follow ing Trotsky and under his influence, to transform the party's General Secretary into some kind of cruel and philistine monster?thus turning the cult of personali ty's rhetoric upside down without escaping it. No, his biography offers us nothing for reasons that are both theoretical and practical. The theoretical problem was explained years ago by Freud: a true biog raphy is virtually an impossible project, because it assumes psychological continu ities which simply do not exist in the majority of cases. The practical problem is that most of the deeds and misdeeds ascribed to Stalin were actually the responsi bility of a group of people, for whom the General Secretary provided not so much an organizing principle as simply the name of the firm. To put the two points dif ferently: I do not believe that the Stalin of 1910 was the same person as the Stalin of 1951. To presume an authoritarian and sanguinary tendency in Stalin before the events of his ascendancy is as ridiculous as was the attempt of the old Soviet ency clopedia to treat the Baku oil fields strike as the only struggle worthy of mention in the revolution of 1905. The most one can safely say is that the experiences of his early years of militancy imposed upon Stalin certain ways of thinking, which

French Engineers Report on Petroleum Technology In the U.S.S.R.

SEVE, BERNARD J. BUREAU DE RECHERCHES DE PETROLE; MEMBER AIME PARIS, FRANCE Editor's Note: This article is the first in a series to be published in JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY dealing with Russian achievements in petroleum research, drilling and production operations. The original paper, first published in the Jan., 1962 issue of REVUE DE L'INSTITUT FRANCAIS DU PETROLE, stemmed from a series of visits to Russia made by three teams of French engineers in late 1960 and early 1961. It has been translated from the French for publication in JPT by T. V. Moore, petroleum consultant in Houston, Tex.The original French document required approximately 100 magazine pages for publication. While translating, therefore, Moore has worked with the JPT editors in an effort to logically divide the French paper into a series of shorter, self-contained articles suitable for publication in JPT.This first article in the series was written by Bernard J. Seve, head of the Production, Drilling and Equipment Dept. for the Bureau de Recherches de Petrole, Paris. He summarizes activities in the Russian producing industry and reviews the oil exploitation methods being employed in the Soviet Union at the beginning of 1961. In the April JPT, Seve describes his team's visit to three of the largest oil-producing fields in the U.S.S.R.Subsequent articles in the series will describe visits to three of the most important Russian scientific institutes - the Ufa Oil Scientific Research Institute, the Moscow Institute for Oil Production and the Moscow Scientific Institute of Petroleum Geology. At these last two, various research studies being carried out on oil reservoir exploitation and oil recovery are described, and laboratory data are presented to give an idea of the types of models being used, a field in which the Russian engineers have made interesting contributions.Finally, the Soviet drilling industry is examined in detail. The different drilling sites visited are described followed by an illustration of studies in applied research being conducted, particularly on drillability and electro-drilling. If the "systemization of methods" were not the essential feature of Russian oil operations, it would be rash to discuss petroleum production in the U.S.S.R. after a stay of only 15 days. Because the various institutes of technology (principally the Moscow Institutes) plan all of the projects throughout the country, we were able to quickly get a picture of the types of field operations taking place in the Bashkir, Tatar, Stalingrad and Baku oil fields. Once the philosophies followed by these institutes are understood, one can quickly comprehend the field operations because these institutes plan all development projects and follow them during the course of exploitation. The role of the local trusts is reduced to the practical execution of these projects and to cost reduction. Development of Reservoirs When a positive test has been obtained on an exploration well, it appears that an estimate of probable reserves is made by the Geological Institute of Moscow; unfortunately, however, we have no details of the methods employed.The area is then surveyed with an extension drilling program, the make-up of which, though loose enough. appears to be the same for all fields. On the basis of the results of this campaign, the institute responsible undertakes the reservoir study, judges the producibility and establishes a definite plan for development, fixing the number of wells, the annual rate of production and the general method of exploitation (usually, water injection).Systematic development of the reservoir is then carried out; it is put on production, often bit by bit (as in the Romashkino field, Tatar Republic), according to the plan determined by the institute and approved by superior authorities. This excellent study of the Russian petroleum Industry merits the reading of every conscientious petroleum engineer. The French engineers who wrote the material did a very fine job of analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of petroleum engineering in Russia. Journal of Petroleum Technology and Mr. T. V. Moore are to he congratulated for their efforts in translating and publishing this series of articles. P. 255^

The Recent Trend of Demand-Supply Relations of Petroleum in the Eastern Europe and the Significance of the Construction of the, “DRUZHBA” Pipeline

The most remarkable characteristic in the East Europe's energy economy is that they are highly dependent upon coal production. This is in marked contrast with ‘mixed fuel’ economy in the Western Europe, which is under the same natural conditions as the Eastern Europe. In 1960, the petroleum rate in the structure of energy consumption was about 4% in almost all the countries except Romania (28.4%) and Bulgaria (13.9%), but in the former countries too, the rate shows a gradual increase as compared with the rate in 1957. The output of crude oil rose from 5.92 million tons (in 1950) to 14.12 million tons (in 1961), but the increase tempo became slower from the year 1955 and this is chiefly due to the stagnation of production in Romania (Fig 1). Romania is the largest supplying country in the Eastern Europe (the net export was 5.71 million tons in 1960), and 60% was exported to the SEV countries, but the main market is the Soviet Union (2.82 million tons).The ratio of dependence upon petroleum in the oil importing countries is very high. For example (in 1960), the rate was 99.9% in East Germany, 94.4% in Czechoslovakia, 77.1% in Poland and 53.8% in Hungary, and import in these countries is mostly from the Soviet Union. Czechoslovakia, East Germany and Poland occupied about 80% of the above Soviet export (Fig. 2). Due to the lack of official data cocerning the product consumption, I can not say for certain, but it can be assumed that more than two-thirds of it is for the fuel of automobiles and other engines and that its use in petrochemical industry is very rare.By 1965, crude oil output is planned to increase to about 16.82 million tons (Bulgaria excluded), in which is included 12.20 million tons (in Romania) and 1.0 million tons (supposed volume in East Germany). And in Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Poland, Hungary, too, the petroleum import is planned to increase to about 18.0 million tons. This increase in import is solely due to the supply by means of the pipeline “Druzhba” and it is planned that by 1965, crude oil (15.00 million tons) will be exported through the pipeline from the 2nd Baku oil field.The construction of this pipeline has resulted from the combined efforts of several countries. And this has brought about an immediate effect upon the reduction of the cost of oil transport (about 72% cheaper than that of railway transportation), the release from the chains of railway transportation, and the development of the new oil refinery plants and petrochemical industry based on the plants. The capacity of crude oil refining in the Eastern Europe will increase from 17.81 million tons (1961) to 37.40 million tons (in 1964∼5, Fig. 3), and the new refinery plants will occupy about half of the whole capacity. Particularly, the locations of Schwedt and Slovnaft are worth noticing. The former is located on the border between Poland and East Germany, as is the case with Eisenhüttestadt, showing a political character of East Germany's dependence upon the Eastern world. The latter is along the Donau river and it will become all the more significant in exporting Soviet petroleum to the Western Europe, as it is situated in a strategically important place.But each country is under the different economic influence of the pipeline. In Poland, the export of coal occupies about 17% of the total export amount, and it is important for her to check the constant excess of import as much as possible. It is presumed that, because of the increase of energy consumption in her own country, the export of coal will stop and that Poland will change into an oil importing country. Therefore, what must be exported to replace it has become one of her important subjects. Romania has a problem to compete with the Soviet Union for oil market, as a similar oil exporting country. As it is presumed that, in near future, the export of oil will be reduced inside and outside the ‘block’

Centenary of Alfred Nobel, 1833–1896

ON October 21 occurs the centenary of the birth of Alfred Bernhard Nobel, the eminent Swedish engineer, inventor and industrialist, who left the greater part of his fortune to found the Nobel prizes. He was the third of the four sons of Emmanuel Nobel (1801-72) who for many years had works in St. Petersburg, where contracts were carried out for the Russian government, and like his brothers, Alfred was trained in his father's shops. At an early age, his attention was attracted to the subject of explosives, which had entered upon a new phase of development through the invention in 1846 of gun-cotton by Schonbein and of nitro-glycerine by Sobrero in the following year. Experimenting with these new substances, Nobel discovered that nitro-glycerine can be detonated by a small charge of fulminate of mercury, and next found that by mixing nitroglycerine with the porous earth kieselguhr, he could produce an explosive in a form which could be handled easily and safely. To this substance, which he patented in Sweden on September 19, 1867, he gave the name ‘dynamite’. In later years he produced blasting gelatine, ballistite and other explosives, for the manufacture of which works were erected in many parts of the world. Some of Nobel's wealth was derived from his association with his elder brothers, Hjalmar Nobel (1829-1896) and Ludwig Nobel (1831-1888) in their remarkable exploitation of the Baku oil fields and their methods of transporting oil by pipe lines, tank cars and tank steamers. Nobel's death took place at San Remo on December 10, 1896, and by a will which was signed in 1895, about £1,400,000 became available for the foundation of the famous prizes awarded annually for notable work done in physics, chemistry, medicine or physiology, and literature and in the cause of peace. The first awards were made on December 10, 1901, five years after Nobel's death.

Drilling and Production Technique in the Baku Oil Fields

No oil territory in the world has been so rich in large producing wells, ina comparatively small area, as the Baku field. Particularly is this true of theBibi Eibat field, which formerly produced millions of ?poods? of ?gusher,? oras it is called in Russia, ?fountain? oil. The Bibi Eibat and Balachany fieldshave been exhausted of gas and ruined by water, but, the Surachany andBenegadi fields are still fountain territories and many outlying districts thathave only been prospected produce rich fountains. The method of controlling fountains, or gushers, is the result of growth, alongwith the Russian system of drilling, where large diameters and riveted casinghave been in vogue. The screw casing is seldom used except to exclude water.Formerly the method of finishing wells and the condition of the casing at thetop of the well would not permit the use of gates, manifolds, and connectionsas is standard elsewhere. The life of the flowing wells is very short, particularly those 10 in. (25 cm.)or more in diameter, which produce large quantities of sand and often flow forbut a few days and are then a complete loss. More than 1,000,000 poods in 24hr. have been claimed in several instances, but in no case was the flow formore than a few days. The oil sands of this district are free uncemented sands and vary in thicknessfrom paper thin to a maximum of 10 ft. (3 m.). The sands are interlaid withstrata of soft clay. In spite of this, the practice has been to drill into suchsands and produce from the open hole without screen or liners. Sometimes thecasing is set below the oil sand but in this case holes from 2? to 3 in. indiameter are drilled opposite the oil sand, which would not have the effect ofa screen. Fig. 1 is an outline of the fountain shield ready for the control of afountain. It is composed of an inner and an outer covering made from roughboards. The framework is made of rough round poles. When a light flow isexpected, only the inner lining is built; and when the fountain comes inunexpectedly, it is often possible to build only the outer cover. The bridge isfor the purpose of renewing the blocks as they become worn by the flow. Thelower block, as here shown, is made of hardwood and is bolted to the crossbeamswith brass bolts. The grain end is toward the flow. The upper block, as shownhere, is made of cast steel and is also bolted to the cross beam with brassbolts. AIME 065–42

Drilling and Production Technique in the Baku Oil Fields

Drilling and Production Technique in the Baku Oil Fields

The Baku oil fields; discussion of paper by A. Adiassevich

The Baku oil fields; discussion of paper by A. Adiassevich

A sketch of the geology of the Baku and European oil fields

A sketch of the geology of the Baku and European oil fields