The destruction of Baicoi oil field in 1916.

BAICOI OILFIELD,1916 - An oilfield of considerable importance situated on the Ploesti-Predeal railway.Oil has been produced from this field for over 20 years and newsources were discovered in 1914 bringing about new activities.The oil sand, from which the present production is obtained, is met with at a depthof 4-500 metres in the Dacian series.There were 36 producing and 32 drilling wells at the date of destruction, belonging to 26 companies.The average daily production was 180 tons, but it is characteristic of the field that gushers are struck from time to time yielding between 600 and 1,200 tons per day.The drilling of a new well requires on an average a period of about 5 months, providing complete equipment and installation is available. It should be generally added that the " drilling in " of a well does not mean that the well is ready to produce. From the time that a well is drilled in to the time it is prepared and connected up for production a period of 2 or 3 weeks usually elapses, according to the productivity of the area.The wells were plugged and fired in conjunction with the Roumanian authorities.The quantity of oil destroyed here was 6,000 tons.
AURORA - This refinery at Baicoi was originally owned by a Dutch company, but since the year 1907 has been controlled by the German Steaua Romana who from time to time worked the refinery.Its working capacity has 600 tons per day, but all the machinery were old and in bad condition for want of repairs. The machinery was wrecked and 21,500 tons of oil destroyed.
ASTRA DEPOSIT - Situated near the railway line and close to the Baicoi station, coutained 22,000 tons of oil.The whole of this benzine was lost to the enemy, by its percolation into the gravel beds.It is not certain whether it was afterwards fired.
STATE RESERVOIRS - These were also in t he immediate neighbourhood of the station and railway at Baicoi,and for the same reasons as described above,the 9,000 tons of oil contained in the three tanks were run off and allowed to percolate into the gravel.