486 
crude oil producer in 1974. The continuing decline of U.S. production 
moved it to third place behind Saudi Arabia which still has the greatest 
developed production capability, but did not produce at capacity 
because of a surplus of oil in the West at the higher price levels. 
In 1974, the Soviet Union reported an average production of 9.08 
million barrels per day of crude oil, 150,000 barrels per day of con- 
densate, and 25.242 billion cubic feet per day of gas.!® Crude oil 
and condensate production was 7 percent above the 1973 level and 
gas production last year was 10.4 percent above that of 1973. Oil 
production matched the revised planned goal while the gas yield ex- 
ceeded the planned target by about 1.5 percent.'® 
In the first half of 1975, Soviet oil output reached a record 9.74 
million barrels per day with natural gas production reported at 27.3 
billion cubic feet per day. The 1975 goal is an average of 9.93 
million barrels per day of crude oil and 27.6 billion cubic feet per 
day of gas.° 
The Soviet Union has announced that the next 5 Year Plan (starting 
January 1, 1976) would include a major effort to increase oil produc- 
tion and to economize on fuel use.”? 
THE CASPIAN SEA 
Baku, on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, is the site of 
the first oil production in the Soviet Union. Development was started 
there in the 19th Century and is still continuing. The first subsea 
Caspian oil was found in 1923 by shallow wells drilled in a filled- 
in bay off Baku. About two-thirds of the oil currently produced comes 
from offshore wells, the majority of which are located in a reef area 
known as Neftianye Kamni, a giant field located off the Apsheron 
Peninsula about 95 kilometers east of Baku. An entire town has been 
built over this area on more than 100 interconnecting platforms, linked 
with the mainland and to drilling rigs by a system of causeways some 
250 kilometers long. Caspian Sea production reached a peak in 1970 
of 258,000 barrels per day and declined to 236,000 barrels per day 
in 1972. In 1973 average production rose to 240,000 barrels per 
day of oil and gas condensate from 2,287 wells. The largest production 
increases were in the Baku Archipelago where 17 new oil and gas 
wells were added during the first half of 1973.7? ea 
The U.S.S.R. produced only about 231,000 barrels per day of Cas- 
pian crude oil and condensate during 1974, however, and little change 
is expected this year. The Soviets plan to more than double offshore 
Caspian Sea oil output during the next 10 years. The target for 1980 
is 360,000 barrels per day climbing to from 500,000 to 560,000 
barrels per day by the end of 1985.4 
8 Rigassi, Danilo A. U.S.S.R. Becomes the World's Leading Oil Producer. World Oil, August 15, 
1L9F7S spy 12: 
'9 Ibid. 
20 Newsletter, The Oil and Gas Journal, August 4, 1975. me 
1 Soviets to Push Oil Production. Journal of Commerce, June 12, 1975. 
22 King, Robert E., Petroleum Exploration and Production in Europe in 1973. American Associa- 
tion of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 58, No. 10, October 1974, p. 1991. ' 
23 Russia to Double Caspian Oil Flow by 1985. The Oil and Gas Journal, May 26, 1975, p. 140. 
