Petroblog: May 2009

The beginning of a new well .

Road flooded with oil in Bustenari region .

Oil extraction with "hecna cu cal" .

"Put cu tambre"

Digging an oil well. Moinesti, 1875.

Prospecting hand-dug gas well in Transilvania .

Oil extraction at Moreni,Romania middle 19th century.

''Puț de țambre & hecna cu cal''

Well no.2 Gura Draganesei in 1885.

1861 - The first well drilled in Romania, to a depth of 150m, using wooden rods and auger type bits

The hand-dug wells in Moreni,Roumania are highly interesting relics of a period which is now relegated to the past, though so long as the Roumanian petroleum industry exists, so long will the old hand-dug wells be associated with it. These wells are about 5 feet in diameter, and are sunk through alternate layers of clay, schisty clay, sandy clay, sandstone, and petroliferous sand to the more shallow oil horizons. They are dug by workmen who descend dressed with the minimum of clothing, usually saturated with oil, and wearing a tin hat to protect the head from falling stones, etc. The sides of the wells are lined with impermeable clay, which is protected by wicker-work. The man is lowered by a rope, air being supplied to him by means of bellows. At some places the rotary fan was employed more recently, but somehow it frequently happened that it was operated in the wrong direction, and the unfortunate digger was asphyxiated. These old wells have a depth of about 450 feet, and though their yield of oil is not considerable, it has for many years been a paying proposition to those engaged in this primitive method of petroleum production. The excavated earth, when digging these wells, was brought to the surface in buckets, lowered and raised by means of either manual labour or horse traction. When the first oil source, was reached and the extraction of the crude oil com- menced, this was accomplished by means of the use of wooden buckets or leather skins, one being lowered empty while the other was raised full. By this means it was possible to raise as much as 20 tons of the oil per day quite a considerable amount, considering the primitive means adopted.First use in 1850 at Pacureti,Prahova-with this installation it was possible to extract 2 tones of fuel oil every day.

Hand-dug oil well at Bustenari.

Lighting and aeration in an hand-dug oil well.

Compagnie des Pétroles de Moreni Share of 100F - 1932.

Compagnie des petroles de Moreni-action de 100 francs au porteur.

Moreni-Tuicani-action de cent francs au porteur.

During the two wars, the Romanian capital is encouraged and regaining ground, up 26.3% in 1936 in terms of production growth in the country who had the 4 th largest in the world (8.7 million tons). The origin of foreign capital has changed too, the Austrian and German capital making up the Anglo-Dutch capital (40.2% on the same date). This interest was clearly located in the Prahova Subcarpates, other petroleum stores, known for a long time, are often neglected. Before 1944, only 2 departments (Prahova and Dâmboviţa) accumulated 98.6% of oil production. The interest of major foreign oil has been shown at the time by buying companies so that indigenous production to 1940 was controlled by the Royal Dutch-Shell Oil (through its subsidiary Steaua Română) and Standard Oil (for its two subsidiaries' Astra Română and Societatea Romano-Americana).The participation of foreign capital may explain the increase in production during the economic crisis of 1929-1932 and the important weight in the global oil exports (12% of the total in 1935, the 3rd in the world) . This demonstrates the vital importance of this industry for Romania at the time, oil being its main asset. One can even say that the myth of Romania between the two wars, a sort of paradise lost, still invoked today is at the origin after an illusion of prosperity created by the economic success which the oil was the recipient emerging bourgeoisie of the country.

Romania Generala Petrolifera 500 lei share

Antwerp Petroleum Co. of Rumania 1910.The company owned concessions in the Bustenari district, northwest of Ploiesti.

Russo-Roumanian Oil Company Ltd. Société Russe-Roumano de Petrole 1913.

Sté des Pétroles Mercédès et de Vulcanesti -1908.

Sté Française des Pétroles de Prédéal-Téléajen-1909.

Sté Anonyme de Pétrole Sospiro-1923

Sospiro Provisory Cert. for 10 shares-1921.

Nationala-Petrolifera Certificate - Bucarest 1924.

La Franco-Romana Share of 100F - 1908.

Apostolake Sté Roumaine pour l'Industrie du Pétrole 1908 share 250 lei.

Les Sociétés nationales de méthane - 1937.

Policiori Oilfields Of Roumania, Ltd.-1913.

Forage Lemoine Société à Responsabilité Limitée Ploesti,Roumaine-1926.

Deutsch-Rumänische Petroleum AG, Berlin-1924.

Redeventa exploitation et commerce du soussol-1923.

Rumeensche Petroleum-Matschappij-1897.

Sidus Comp. Pétrolière Franco-Roumaine 1921.

Soviet-Romanian Society for mining and trade oil and oil derivatives.

Astra Romana stock holdings - 1926

Colombia Romanian-French petroleum society-1920.

Concordia S.A. Romania, Bucharest - 1920

Creditul Minier Societate Anonima Romana, Bucuresti-1923.

Industria Romana de Petrol - 1920.

IRDP Industria Romana de Petrol S.A., Bucuresti-1924

Minerva (Romania) Oil Company - 1925

Petrol-Block stock holdings- 1922

Romania Petrolifera Fratia - 1920

Société Belge-Roumaine de Transports & d'Industrie - 1898.

Societe Belge-Roumaine de Petrol-1908.The company that issued this superb antique bond, Romano-Belgiana, was a joint Romanian-Belgian joint venture based in Bucarest that was formed to exploit Romania's sizeable oil reserves in the first decade of the 20th Century.