• Chronology of oil production in Azerbaijan (from ancient times to 1920)

    Azerbaijan

Chronology of oil production in Azerbaijan (from ancient times to 1920)

190-75 thousand years ago -
In Lake Binagadi, hydrocarbons rose to the surface from a depth of 900-1500 m and collapsed. Archaeologists have unearthed the bones of ancient animals that sank in the lake's crust in the 20th century.

BC VI millennium -
The oldest oil wells discovered by archaeologists in Azerbaijan

BC VI-IV centuries -
Absheron oil is transported to Media. This oil, which was sold to Asia Minor, was called "mussel oil" by the Greeks. On the properties of oil Eratosthenes, Claudius Ptolemy, Herodotus, Aristotle, Hecate Miletsky, Polybius, Diodorus of Sicily, Strabo, Pomponius Mela, Cursius Ruth, Pliny, Claudius Ptolemy, Ammianus Marcellin.

BC VI century -
the emergence of the first fire-worshiping rites. Acceptance of places of fire as sacred places

BC VI-IV centuries -
oil is used: 1.lights, 2.in the burning arrows, 3 Against skin diseases of animals, 4 Like a ridge rubbed on the roofs of houses, 5 Wood as asphalt rubbed on the submarine parts of ships

BC VI century -
large-scale oil production and sales to various countries

IV century -
The Sassanid treatise "Ain-nameh" and the Byzantine author Vegesi's treatise "On Military Affairs" give a theory of the application of oil in military work. Oil is considered a strategic product of special importance. Oil is part of the "Greek fire", one of the most terrible burning weapons of the Middle Ages. Secret oil depots are being set up in large cities and castles. The first "firearms" fired by oil missiles are invented. The fighters who used the oil shells wore special fire-resistant clothing ("libas en-neffatin").

VII century -
Albanian historian Moisey Kalankaytuklu mentions the existence of oil in Albania in his History of Agvan.

VIII century -
As soon as Azerbaijan joined the Arab Caliphate, oil wells were listed and a special tax was levied on them. In 733, the largest oil depots were built in Derbent by the order of Maslama ibn al-Malik, the Caliph's successor in Azerbaijan. In 755, with the help of oil, the great attack of the Caspians in Derbent was repulsed

IX-X centuries -
In 833, in Arabic sources, Baku is called "the oil coast of Shirvan". In 930, the Arabic author Abu Ishaq al-Istakhri reported the extraction of white and black oil around Baku. In 942, the Arab author Abu Dulaf was the first to give information about the lease of oil wells: “I reached a place called Baku, which belongs to the Shirvan provinces. There I saw an oil well with a daily rent of 1,000 dirhams. ” The Arab author Abu al-Hasan al-Masudi writes: “There is a volcano in Bakux, which is one of the sources of fire. At any time, it ignites and erupts. ” Special oil shooters were organized in the troops of the Azerbaijani Salarian state

XI- XII centuries -
The famous scientist Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni wrote: "Baku produces kerosene." In 1131, the traveler Abu Hamid al-Qarnati wrote: “Bitumen and white and black oil come out of that black soil; This place is located in Baku, Shirvan province. In 1175, the Shirvan navy used incendiary missiles against Russian ships that attacked the Caspian Sea and won.

XIII - XIV centuries -
Venice traveler Marco Polo: "There is a lot of oil here - hundreds of ships can be filled with that oil at once ... They come from far away countries to buy that oil." Iranian geographer Hamdullah Qazvini: “The largest source of oil is in Baku. Wells are being drilled here to extract oil. Mohammad Bekran, Yagut al-Hamawi and Zakaria Qazvini also wrote about Baku oil. French missionary Jurden de Severak: "They dig wells in a place called Baku and extract oil from these wells: that oil is called oil."

XV century -
Azerbaijani traveler Abdurrashid al-Bakuvi: "Daily oil production is equal to 200 harvars." (1 harvar = 25 pounds = 400 kg). Venetian diplomat Iosofat Barbaro: “In this part of the sea there is a city called Baka; next to it is a mountain of black oil. "

16th century -
French merchant C. Duke: “An incredible amount of oil comes out of the ground here ... This oil is black and is called oil. It is transported all over the country by mules and goats, there are 400-500 animals in such a caravan. There is also a white and very valuable type of oil near Baku. In 1594, an oil well was drilled at a depth of 35 m in Balakhani by master Allahyar Mammadali Nur oglu. The stone slab of the well was discovered in the 20th century.

XVII century -
Ottoman traveler Evliya Chalabi: “There are about 500 wells around Baku Fortress; white and black oil are extracted from them. Oil-producing people fall into wells and extract oil day and night and fill it with goat skins. The oil comes in eight colors, but is considered the best yellow oil. Iranian author Ahmad al-Razi: "Black and white oil is extracted from 500 wells around Baku." German traveler Adam Oleary: “Oil is a special oil and is extracted from permanent wells near Baku and Mount Barmak. The boiling of the oil was well audible; The wells have a strong smell. ” Venetian traveler Petro della Vale: "Black oil produced in Baku is very profitable." German traveler E. Kempfer: “Oil wells in Surakhani are located in a valley 500 meters wide and 100 steps long. The wells here were deep. The oil was extracted from them by means of wheels or leather bundles. The wheel was spinning by two people, and the work here was stopped only for one hour at night. The extracted oil was collected in a pool 17 meters long and 7 steps wide. An arch has been built over the pool.

XVIII century -
From a letter from Russian Tsar Peter I in 1723: "Baka is rich in excellent quality oil." In 1728, the Russian official I. Gerber: "Until 1725, the income from oil was more than 50,000 tomans." In 1728, there were 70 useful, 18 useless oil wells, 30 useful and 23 useless oil storages around Baku. They wrote about Baku oil: I. Lerch, I. Hanvey, S. Gmelin, J. Forster, M. von Biberstein. To clean the oil from groundwater, they began to connect the open storages to each other through canals. The oil filtered from the warehouse was cleaned of water. The beginning of oil refining by the "anbig" method purifies the oil and improves its quality. Such oil is added to furniture varnishes, which led to the formation of the first alcohol-like solution. 3 large oil depots were built near Icheri Sheher, 15 in Bibi-Heybat and Bayil. There was a special caravanserai for oil traders in Bayil.

1803 -
For the first time in the world, Baku resident Gasimbey began to extract oil from the sea: two wells were drilled in Bibi-Heybat, 18 and 30 meters from the coast.

1806 -
Russian troops occupying Baku have declared 116 oil wells state property. Commanders of Russian troops in the Caucasus entrust oil wells to people they trust, who did nothing to develop oil production

1825 -
The system of obligations in oil production has been abolished

1833 -
Oil masters Karbalai Yusif Amirbay oglu and Haji Nabi Safi oglu were awarded silver medals "For hard work and effort" for drilling oil wells and discovering oil in Cuba.

1837 -
The first experimental oil refinery was built by N. Voskoboynikov in Absheron

1846 -
For the first time in the world, a mechanically drilled well in Bibi-Heybat produced oil. Wells drilled in this way were called "boreholes"

1850 -
An obligation system was introduced in oil production

-
The first oil refinery was built in Surakhani by V. Kokorev and P. Gubonin. The plant, which produced 250,000 pounds (4,000 tons) of kerosene a year, produced kerosene called photonaphthyl.

1861 -
Witte's oil refinery has opened on Pirallahi Island

1863 -
Javad Malikov's plant has started operating in Baku. The device he invented produced 35-40% of the total volume of crude oil (in conventional plants this figure was 8%).

1864 -
Baku's kerosene was exported to Russian markets. Forced labor of Balakhani villagers in oil fields was prohibited

1871 -
Drilling of an oil well with a depth of 51 m in Balakhani (the depth of wells in the world was 30-35 m)

1872 -
57 oil refineries in Baku processed 1,395,114 pounds (22,321 tons) of kerosene per year. The number of oil wells in Absheron has reached 415 The oil lands of Absheron were put up for sale

1872 -
The first railway cisterns in Russia were introduced in Baku

1873 -
Steam machines began to be used in oil rigs. The beginning of the creation of the Black City, where oil companies are concentrated. First oil transportation in tankers (via Baku-Astrakhan route)

1874
The world's first vertically-integrated joint-stock company, Baku Oil Company, has been established

1873-1883 -
Oil production increased from 4 million pounds to 60 million pounds (from 64,000 tons to 960,000 tons)

1877 -
The world's first oil tanker, the Zoroastrian, was built and operated on the Baku- Astrakhan route. In 1910, the ship-tanker "Zoroastrian" flew on the same route

1878 -
The Balakhani-Black City pipeline (10 km long and 76 mm in diameter), the first oil pipeline of the Russian Empire, was built. For the first time in the world, tall cylindrical oil tanks were built in Balakhani

1880 -
For the first time, the depth of oil wells was increased to 100-120 m

1890 -
Murtuza Mukhtarov's drilling company drilled an incredible 1,100 m deep at that time

1895 - Murtuza Mukh
tarov invented a new, more perfect method of oil extraction called "Baku drilling system" and received a state patent

1897
Oil began to be extracted from the wells by compression

1897-1907 -
Construction of the Baku-Batumi oil pipeline of the Russian Empire. The 883 km long pipeline connects the Caspian Sea with the Black Sea, facilitating the export of Azerbaijani oil to world markets

1899 -
Equipment of Murtuza Mukhtarov's Drilling Equipment Plant (Bibi-Heybat) started to be exported to foreign markets

Late 19th century -
The Nobel Brothers Oil Production Partnership created the first comprehensive oil sales system of the Russian Empire (oil depots, sales centers, etc. with its own trade logo).

1901 -
Baku produces 11.4 million tons of oil a year - 90% of all-Russian oil production and 50% of world production. The first gas well was drilled in Surakhani. The Russian Empire is the world's largest oil producer (11.6 million tons per year). 95% of this oil was extracted in Absheron

1904 -
Oil gushed from a 211-meter-deep well drilled in Surakhani

1905 -
For the first time in the world, a compressor is connected to oil wells in Balakhani

1911
For the first time, a cracking unit and a rotor drill are being used

1912-
The first reinforced concrete tank was built in Baku

1913
I. Gubkin, who conducted oil exploration in Absheron, laid the foundation of a new science - oil geology with his works

1914
For the first time in the world, oil is extracted by gas lift (this method was introduced in the United States in 1924).

1915
For the first time in Absheron, deep pumps were used in oil wells

Chronology of oil production in Azerbaijan (from ancient times to 1920)

© National History Museum of Azerbaijan