Industria romana de petrol in 1906

Tribuna, Anul XI, Arad, Joi, 12 I 25 Iulie 1907, Nr. 154

Industria romana de petrol in 1906

Consulul Germaniei la Bucureşti a publicat nu de mult următorul interesant raport asupra industriei româneşti de petrol în 1906:

Anul 1906 a fost cel mal strălucit an pe care l-a înregistrat până acuma industria română de petrol. Aceasta însă nu înseamnă că şi din punctul de vedere financiar anul a fost bun şi pentru proprietarii de mine; în privinţa aceasta trebue să aşteptăm dările de seamă anuale pentru a putea face o idee. In general supracapitalizările şi cheltuielile mari de exploatare simt mereu lipsurile de care sufere, în măsură mare, industria românească de petrol.

Un raport al viceconsulatului nostru din Ploieşti conţine un tablou cuprinzător al mersului progresiv al industriei de petrol româneşti. In ce priveşte starea financiară a societăţilor existente la sfârşitul lui Decemvrie 1906 raportul menţionat dă următoarele date, la care trebue arătat că cifrele dintâi indică mărimea capitalului la sfârşitul lui 1906, iar cifrele din paranteza capitalurile la sfârşitul Iui 1905: Producători : Steaua română 46 milioane (40.000.000) Regatul român 24 milioane (5.000.000), Internaţionala 12 milioane (12.000.000), Buştenari 10 milioane (10.000.000), Sylva 10 mil. 5 sute mii, Italo-română 15 mii., Credit Petrolifer 5 milioane (3.000.000), Româno-Americana 12 mil. 500.000 , (5 mil.) Berca Petrol C-nie 3 mil. 250 mii (3.250.000), Neederland Petrol C-nie 2.500.000 (2.500.000), Columbia 4.500.000 (1.200 000) Arnheemsche Petr. C-nie. 1.617.000 (1.176.000) Societatea română pentru industria petroleului 1.607.500 (1.637.000), Speranţa 1 mil. 5 sute mii (1.500.000), Soc. des pétroles roum. 1.250.000, Matitza 1 mil. 250.000, Galo-romana 1.500.000 (1 mil. 120.000), Dâmboviţa 400.000 (400.000) Oltenia 300.000 (300.000), Izvorul 200 mii (200.000) Pasărea 200.000 (200. 000), Ialomiţa (200.000), Petrolifera 1.500.000, Alpha 1.000.000. Soc. anon Raky 2 milioane, Prima soc. rom. de foraj 750.000, Nafta 1.600.000, Moreni-Filipeşti 3 sute mii lei.

Societăţile de rafinerii : Aurora 7 milioane 450 mii (7.450.000), Vega 3 mil. 750 mii (3.750.000), Aquila Fr. Română 3 milioane (3.000.000) Iei. La aceasta mai trebue observat că societatea »MisiIişoara-Buştenari« şi-a vândut tot avutul societăţei »Aquila Franco Română« şi că societatea »Telega Oil Cy.« s'a transformat în »Sylva«.

»Steaua Română« a dat în 1906: 7 Ia sută dividendă faţă de 8 la sută în anul precedent. Internaţionala 6 la sută faţă de 7 3 la sută. Aurora 5 Ia sută faţă de 5 la sută. Societăţile »Buştenari« şi »Aquila Franco-Romana« au dat în 1906 dividende urcate : de o la sută faţă de 5 la sută şi de 6 Ia sută faţă de 5 la sută. Alte societăţi, cum Arnheemsche, Galo-Română, Ialomiţa etc. nu dau nici un divident. Rezultatul celorlalte societăţi nu sunt încă cunoscute.

Tabela următoare arată tabloul producţiunei de petrol în ultimii 4 ani:

In ultimii 4 ani, producţiunea pe petrol românească a crescut dar în mod constant. De remarcat este totuşi că numai judeţul Prahova are producţiune anuală superioară. Terenul cel mai productiv este Buştenari (acum în urmă Moreni şi Băicoi. N. Red.), care a produs 509.955 tone sau 55 la sută din producţiunea românească totală şi în 1906 a produs cu 98.679 tone mai mult sau 24 la sută faţă de 1905.

Petroleum in Romania in 1930

A gusher at Ochiuri belonging to the Creditul Minier Co.

A well at Boldesti, belonging to the Astra Romana Co.

Baicoi oilfield belonging to the Concordia Company ( Petrofina )

General view of the Astra Romana refinery at Ploiesti.

General view of the cracking plant at Campina.

 Steaua Romana Company.

General view of the

Dacia Romano Petroleum Syn.Ltd. refinery at Ploiesti

General view of the Gura Ocnitei oilfield, belonging to the

Sondrum Co.(Hamiltons Oil Concession Ltd. )

 General view of the refinery Xenia belonging to the
Romano-Africana ( Service Petroleum Co. Ltd. )

General view of the Vega refinery ( Petrofina ).

 Interior of a well in course of drilling by the Rotary system.

Moinesti oilfield in Bacau district belonging to the

 Steaua Romana British Co. Ltd.

 Moreni oilfield. 

Ochiuri - Creditul minier oilfield.

 Oil tankers in the port of Constanta.

 Partial view of the refinery belonging to the
Dacia Romano Petr.Synd.Ltd..

Runcu oilfield-well no.5

Unirea-Phoenix&Transport Co.Ltd.

The refinery at Targu-Mures belonging to the

Creditul Minier Company.

The refinery Aurora, Baicoi, belonging to

Creditul Minier Company.

View of the Albanasi oilfield belonging to the

Romano-Belgiana de Petrol Company.

View of the Gura Ocnitei oilfield belonging to the

Sirius Co. ( Petrofina ).

Well no.1 Prahova Co. at Razvad-Ochiuri.

Wells no.129, 119, 150, 131 and 151 of the Tintea oilfield

 and gas exhauster shed belonging to 

Unirea-Phoenix&Transport Co.Ltd.

The destruction of oil refineries in Targoviste

The following refineries were destroyed,at Targoviste, during the Romanian army's withdrawal in 1916: 

1.ROUMANIAN CONSOLIDATED OILFIELDS, LIMITED . This refinery had a working capacity of 350 tons of crude oil per day. Storage capacity 35,000 tons, distributed over an area of 14 acres. It contained a battery, of 6 stills, with ephlegmators and preheaters, refining and rectifying plant,electric light installation, boiler plant, workshops and stores, stocks in reservoirs,when fired, 18,000 tons.This refinery was situated in the immediate vicinity of the railway station. 

2.HAIMAN . A small, old refinery enlarged to a working capacity of 35 tons per day. Storage capacity, 3,500 tons, distributed over an area about 1 1/2, acres. Contained 3 stills, refining and small rectifying plant. Stocks in reservoirs when fired, 2,000 tons.A large dam was built outside the refinery and a trench cut to the storage tanks, which were inside the refinery. The valves of the reservoirs were then opened and the oil fired which wrecked both reservoirs and refinery, as well as firing the surrounding installations. It was here that the first work of the Roumanian Commission was seen to consist of an uphill gradient resulting in the flooding of the refinery. This was most suitable to us,as it was intended to carry the oil away in the opposite direction and so avoid wreckage of the refinery. 

3.GRIGORESCU. A small refinery enlarged to a working capacity of 60 tons per day. Storage capacity, 4,000 tons, distributed over an area of about 2 ½ acres. Contained stills, refining and rectifying plant, all fairly old. Stocks in reservoirs when fired,1,300 tons.The refinery,was situated immediately on the left,bank of the River Ialomita. The authorities feared the, escape of oil down the river,and a special dam had to be built round the refinery before it was fired.Bitches were carried into the workshops and pump-houses, to convey oil for fiting purposes, after pumps and all machinery had been smashed with sledge hammers. The oil was then fired and the reservoirs exploded, firing the adjoining buildings.

4. AURORA . A very old and obsolete refinery, originally owned by a, Dutch concern but in 1916 controlled by the German Steaua Romana group. Working capacity,100 tons per day. Storage capacity,5,000 tons.It was equipped with a small lubricating plant, but all the machinery was old and the buildings in a state of ruin. The refinery contained stocks of 2,780 tons, of which 780 tons were lubricating oils. In view of avoiding the possibility of exaggerated claims for compensation it was decided not to fire, but to run off the oil, allowing it to percolate into the ground, and wrecking machinery of any value.All these fires lasted several days, the smoke hung heavily over the town and te flames, which at times rose to great heights, illuminated the neighbouring districts, thus allowing the enemy for the first time to become aware of our work.

Aurora company

“Aurora Company'' was founded in 1898 in Ploiesti with a capital of 150,000 francs. In 1899, Romanian international oil company in Amsterdam has merged with Aurora, which the store name, moved its headquarters in Bucharest, currently Paleologu street, and increases its capital to 6.5 million francs. The company held a refinery in Băicoi, which can process up to 900 tonnes of oil per day, and another in Targoviste.The company used at 1900, 282 cars and 89 reservoirs have a capacity of 34,987,000 liters. The capital account was in 1900, the sum of 1,420,899 francs, and in 1906, 7,699,680 francs. Dividends paid were 5.50% in 1900 to 7.87% in 1904 and 6% in 1905.

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.