NA TURE 



[July 9, 1896 



BAKU AND ITS OIL INDUSTRY. 



'VTO city on this side of the Atlantic can show a more mar- 

 ■*■ vellous growth, within a short period of time, than Baku 

 upon the Caspian ; and, even apart from its petroleum industry, 

 its natural advantages are so great, that it seems specially de- 

 signed for a brilliant future as the emporium of the whole trade 

 between Kurojiean Russia, her Central Asian ])rovinces, and 

 Persia. So quick has been its expansion that, but an insig- 

 nificant village of 1400 inhabitants thirty years ago, it can now 

 boast a population considerably over 100,000, which is increasing 

 yearly by leaps and bounds. 



This rapid growth is mainly due to two causes : first, its mag- 

 nificent harbour, well protected from the north by the extended 

 horn of the Apsheron peninsula, and from the east by the 

 Serpent's Island, which forms an efficient and natural break- 

 water ; and in the second place, its immediate proximity to the 

 main area of naphtha supply, which already rivals that of America, 

 and promises in no distant future to become the exclusive market 

 for all Asia, and also for the greater part of Europe. The com- 

 mencement of the modern oil industry of the Caucasus dates 

 from 1S23, when the brothers Doubinin started a small works 

 in the neighbourhood of Mozdak, which, owing to want of 

 capital, they were forced to close in 1S50. These pioneers w-ere 

 followed in 1836 by the engineer \'oskoboinoff, who estab- 

 lished a distillery at the foot of the mud geysers of Bog-Boga ; 

 but this efibrt proved likewise unsuccessful, and no trace of it 

 now exists. Later, in 1859, M. Kokareff founded the Baku 

 Petroleum Company, with the view of extracting the oil from 

 the naphtha-impregnated soil ; but experiment having shown in 

 1871 that the crude oil could be obtained by boring, this first 

 method was abandoned, the artesian boring becoming universal, 

 and a firm foundation was laid for the industry and for those 

 marvellous developments which threaten an economic revolution 

 in the lighting and fuel supply of a considerable portion of the 

 world. 



The year 1865 marks an important advance, a M. Witte 

 having in that year established a manufactory of ozokerite on 

 the Sviatoia Gora (Holy Mountain), and it was his engineer, 

 M. Weisser, who, in that same year, established the first 

 refinery in the town of Baku itself. So rapidly did the industry 

 develop, that by 1873 'he town was in danger of becoming 

 entirely absorbed by the distilleries that rose on every hand, 

 whilst the black, dense, and acrid smoke from the naphtha-fed 

 furnaces poisoned the atmosphere. Baku, however, being under 

 the influence of a despotic government, M. Staroselsky, the 

 then governor, was enabled to effect a revolution, which, how- 

 ever drastic it may appear to our circumscribed democratic con- 

 ceptions, was radical and efficacious. This consisted in issuing 

 an edict that the refineries situated in the town were to be 

 removed outside its limits, and for that purpose the corporation 

 ceded certain town properties situated at a distance of about 

 two versts. This land they divided into a series of blocks of 

 from 2000 to 2500 square sargenes each (sargene is seven 

 square feet English), and suddenly, as if by magic, eighty new 

 w'orks sprang into existence, their erection going forward at 

 fever heat day and night until completed. 



How intolerable the nuisance had become may be inferred from 

 the fact that the sole firing material in use for boilers and distill- 

 ing-tuns being the refuse oil, or .so called astatki.and no smoke- 

 consuming apparatus at that time being employed, not only the 

 buildings, but the whole surface of the giound became coated 

 with a thick layer of soot, whilst the roads were almost im- 

 passable owing to pools and ponds of oil. No wonder, there- 

 fore, that it should have received the name of the Black Town, 

 (Tchornoia (iorod) a name which still clings to it, although 

 through the introduction of an apparatus, by means of which 

 steam under pressure and air are proportionately mixed with the 

 naphtha residue, the smoke is now virtually consumed. As a 

 result of this invention, the factories erected under the new 

 conditions beyond the limits of the corporation land, notably 

 Nobel's Villa Petrolia, and Popoffs Gardens, are perfectly clean, 

 and this district in consequence has received the name of the 

 " White Town." 



Owing to the number of valuable bye-])roducts obtainable, 

 the refining process is complicated in its character, although the 

 appliances used are very simple in their construction. The crude 

 oil, fed through lines of pipes from the main sources of supply 

 at Balachani, is stored in large iron reservoirs, from which 

 it is drawn off to be treated in gasometer-shaped retorts. These 



NO. 139:;, VOL. 54] 



being heated by steam coils to about 140 C, the products, 

 having a low boiling point, such as gasoline and benzine, 

 are separated, and ])assing into separate chambers are con- 

 densed. A further heating to about 150° C. in like manner 

 separates the low-grade petroleums, which have been largely 

 used in adulteration, and are so dangerous to the consumer. 

 The third distillation becomes the petroleum of commerce, after 

 having been washed and cleaned under treatment with sulphuric 

 acid and caustic soda. The residues of heavy oils are generally 

 treated in a sejiarate establishment, and from them are extracted 

 various grades of dyes, vaseline, lubricating oils, &c. ; the 

 demand for the latter constantly increasing, owing to their 

 excellent quality and cheapness. The ultimate refuse astatki 

 is likewise sure to become a keen competitor with coal as a 

 fuel, a ton of this liquid being the equivalent of from two and a 

 half to three tons of coal. To what uses it can be applied is 

 well exemplified in the town itself: until very recently it was 

 used for watering the streets, and not only is its employment 

 universal in every kind of manufacture, but also for all heating 

 and other domestic purposes. Its use is also rapidly extending 

 on the railways in South Russia. All the steamers on the Caspian 

 and A'olga, and the locomotives on the Transcaucasian and Trans- 

 caspian lines, burn no other fuel ; and when we regard its port- 

 ability and cleanliness, it would seem to be but a matter of time 

 for its advantages to be generally recognised. Owing to the 

 abundance of the supply, at times millions of gallons have been 

 allowed to run into the sea, or have been deliberately set on 

 fire, and it is no exaggeration to assert that a full half of these 

 vast supplies from nature's storehouse have been lost and 

 dissipated unproductively. 



Baku is pre-eminently a centre of commerce, and for residential 

 purposes most undesirable, it being subject to heavy dust-storms, 

 rainlessness, intense heat, and almost entire absence of vegetation 

 and fresh water. The only garden is the so-called Alexander II., 

 maintained at great expense, the shrubs and trees being 

 planted in soil brought from Persia. A few fresh-water wells 

 give a very limited supply, the usual sources being brackish ; but 

 the railway company supplement it by cisterns filled from the 

 river Koura, anil almost every steamer imjiorts some from the 

 \'olga. A peculiarity in the distribution of the local supply is, 

 that the few fresh-water wells are in close jiroximity to those 

 impregnated with salt. 



^"aried as are the subjects of study presented by the town 

 itself, the chief centre of interest is undoubtedly the plateau of 

 Balachani-Saliountchi, situated about eight miles to the north- 

 east of Baku, and connected with it by a branch line of the 

 Transcaucasian Railway. When viewed from a distance the tall 

 truncated towers erected over the wells seem in such close 

 proximity to each other, that they present the appearance of a 

 pine forest ; and it is only on a closer approach, that they prove 

 to be the derricks containing the machinery necessary for boring 

 or the pumping of the oil. These pyramids consist of a wooden- 

 boarded framework, and are easily removable when the bore 

 becomes exhausted. How thickly they are grouped, may be 

 inferred from the fact that, within the limited area of three 

 square miles, over 400 of them are crowded. (Fig. I.) 



Not the least puzzling of the many enigmas presented by 

 these wells, is the nature of the source from whence the oil is 

 drawn. Enclosed in its subterranean prison it needs, in 

 many instances, but an insignificant outlet to rise as a roaring 

 fountain of sand and oil to a height sometimes exceeding 200 

 feet, continuing in action for days and even weeks, spouting 

 forth during the time many thousands of gallons per day ; 

 yet this in no way interfering with the supply from closely 

 adjacent wells, which continue to yield their normal quantity. 



It is therefore evident that the sources are independent of 

 each other, and that although the reservoirs may have been 

 originally arranged in regular series, yet, through the strata having 

 become dislocated and faulted, they now form separate and 

 distinct chambers of varying capacity and without direct con- 

 nection between them. 



Small though the evidence, geology throws some light upon 

 the probable structure of the basin, whereas chemistry reveals 

 but little as to the origin of the oil. 



Geologically the town of Baku is situated on beds of Quater- 

 nary age, which have received the name of .\ralo-Cas]iian beds : 

 whereas the main portion of the Apsheron peninsula, on the 

 south side of which Baku is situated, consists almost exclusively 

 of Pliocene and Miocene strata, subdivided locally into the 

 Baku, Apsheron, and Balachani formations. Wherever the 



