After the discovery of oil fields, Baku became a special place, where various economic and political interests of international coalitions, industrial clans and leaders were concentrated and clashed. VK begins publishing chapters from the book by Ismail Agakishiev "History of the Baku Oil Industry and the Second Oil Boom (second half of the 19th century - beginning of the 20thcentury.)". The book presents a historical analysis of the emergence and current state of the Azerbaijani oil industry.
By May 1920 Baku had the largest oil stocks – some 210 million poods. However, the export was less than 40,000 tons so 5/6 of the oil remained in reservoirs. This lack of means to export oil became the main reason for the drop in production. The monthly production of oil in Baku in the first half f 1919 was less than 300,000 tons, and the oil refinement produced 100-150 thousand tons of products instead of 250,000 in early 1918. This data is provided by E. Muradalieva, who also believes that the Azeri government understood that the only promising consumer of Baku oil was Russia.
"However, the implementation of the plan failed because the British command demonstrated strong resistance." 1 As Igolkin rightly states, in those conditions "certainly, the English, and - very interestingly - high-ranking officials of the Azerbaijani government" acquired profit from the export of oil. 2 However, the underground Bolshevik organization exerted great efforts to illegally export crude oil and petroleum products to Soviet Russia. Small vessels accompanied by a couple of sailors were regularly sent to Astrakhan. Such expeditions were associated with greater risks. From 1919 until the early 1920s navigation on the Caspian Sea was strictly controlled by the fleet of the Volunteer Army of Denikin. In this regard. the researcher A. Lomakin wrote: "In the smoke and flames of the Civil War on the shores of the grey Caspian Sea a ruthless struggle was ongoing ... And in this battle (for once!) the aspirations of irreconcilable adversaries - the red army and the white guard - coincided." 3 However, their aspirations coincided only regarding the issue of Baku oil remaining the property of Russia. They had different opinions on who were to become the owners of the oil. Denikin caught vessels controlled by the Bolsheviks which were going to Astrakhan, requisitioned the oil, and shot the crew members. In these circumstances the Bolsheviks Sardarov, Rogov, Gubanov and others escorting the oil were killed. In Soviet times they were represented as legendary fighters for the victory of Soviet power in Azerbaijan. Curiously, the government of A. I. Denikin, which cherished the idea of restoring Russia as a "single and indivisible" power, was forced to temporarily accept the existence of an independent Azerbaijan in 1919. Answering the question of the Azerbaijani government on the attitude of Denikin towards the newly-found state, the leader of the Army of South Russia responded that Azerbaijan must be a part of Russia, but that before the restoration of supreme power in Russia, Azerbaijan can remain independent. 4 Yet the government of Azerbaijan sometimes succeeded in using the oil factor in strengthening the military- economic and political potential of the country.
Great efforts were put into establishing good neighbuorly relations with Georgia. Relations with the latter were to play a major role in ensuring the security of Azerbaijan. For this purpose, in the period from October 1st 1918 to April 1st 1919 alone, Georgia received 281.16 thousand tons of oil from Azerbaijan. Oil supplies played a major role in strengthening Azerbaijani-Georgian relations. One must bear in mind the fact that all the supplies were credited to Georgia. By April 1st 1919 the oil debt of Georgia to Azerbaijan exceeded 15.9 million roubles. 1 But the dominance of Britain in Baku was short-lived. By the decision of the Paris Conference, from August 24th 1919 the British troops began leaving Baku. 2 At the same conference it was decided to hand control over Azerbaijan to Italy. But Baku was fortunate, since at that time the government in Italy changed and the new authorities gave up the mandate. However, after that the British managed to control the export of oil via Batumi for a rather long time, blocking every attempt of the United States and the French governments to purchase oil from the ADR during the oil crisis that erupted at the end of 1919. Although oil production increased in 1919-1920 as compared with the government of the People's Commissars of Baku, its exports in these years were low. Despite the fuel shortage on the world market the British received in Batumi a tenfold return on every pound spent. Soon the US oil magnates managed to reach an agreement with the British and from December 31st 1919 until March 6th 1920 the Americans exported from Azerbaijan 114 puds of petroleum products via Batumi. 3 In the years of the ADR, Soviet Russia, which did not recognize the state, tried to solve its need for oil products by entering into direct negotiations with oil companies. However, the big oil companies did not want to have any business with the Bolshevik government and on the contrary advocated banning the export of petroleum products to Soviet Russia. In principle they announced an economic blockade of Russia. The memory of the recent nationalization of the oil industry had firmly imprinted itself in the memory of the oil magnates. The new government willingly allowed them to export oil through Batumi to Europe. However, not Europe, but Russia was the main market for the oil, and the loss of it led to the accumulation of large reserves of oil in Baku storages.
