Questions about Petroleum industry in Azerbaijan
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is the history of the petroleum industry in Azerbaijan?
Azerbaijan is one of the birthplaces of the oil industry, with evidence of petroleum being traded in the region as early as the 3rd and 4th centuries. By 1901, the Apsheron peninsula produced more than half of the world's oil supply, roughly 11 million tons or 212,000 barrels per day. The industry spans a continuous history from hand-dug wells through Soviet state production to modern offshore development under international production-sharing agreements.
When did Marco Polo describe oil in Azerbaijan?
Marco Polo's account in "il Milione" describes a spring near the Georgian border gushing oil so abundantly that a hundred ships could load there at once. His account is widely believed to reference Baku's oil fields. He noted the oil burned well and served as a salve for men and camels, and that people traveled long distances specifically to collect it.
What was the Contract of the Century in Azerbaijan?
The Contract of the Century was signed on the 20th of September 1994, when President Heydar Aliyev and eleven international companies agreed to develop the Azeri, Chirag, and deep-water Gunashli fields with a projected investment of $13 billion. Parliament ratified the deal on the 2nd of December 1994. In September 2017, the contract was extended until 2050 with a new agreement signed with the BP-led Azerbaijan International Operating Company.
How did World War II affect Azerbaijan's oil industry?
During the first year after Germany's June 1941 invasion, Azerbaijan produced 25.4 million tons of oil for the Soviet war effort. By summer 1942, more than 25,000 women made up 33% of the oil industry workforce, working 18-hour shifts as male workers left for the front. Nazi Germany's 1942 Edelweiss offensive aimed to capture Baku by the 25th of September 1942, but Axis forces were defeated at Stalingrad before reaching the city.
What is Oil Rocks (Neft Dashlari) in Azerbaijan?
Neft Dashlari, known in English as Oil Rocks, is an offshore oil field in the Caspian Sea where the first exploration well was spudded on the 24th of August 1949. The field's popular name, "The Island of Seven Ships," refers to the disused vessels sunk during construction to provide a solid base for its causeways. After more than 50 years of exploitation, the field was still delivering about 15,000 barrels per day.
How much oil and gas does Azerbaijan produce?
In 2022, Azerbaijan's petroleum industry produced about 33 million tons of oil and 35 billion cubic meters of gas. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which officially opened on the 13th of July 2006, carries crude oil 1,760 kilometers from the Caspian to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in Turkey and is the second-longest oil pipeline in the world.