Based on his thorough analysis of all that he had seen and understood on his trip, Gennady Romanovsky described the status of the US oil industry, setting guidelines for the practical use of American experience for further development of petroleum geology and improvement of drilling technology in Russia. Lt. Colonel Romanovsky also indicated steps that could be deemed necessary for the development of a Russian “petrol industry” and ways of exploring for petroleum. Based on the experience gained from his trip to the US, he thought it necessary to ban the leasing of land to foreign companies wishing to produce petroleum in Russia, and not to permit monopolies in the production of oil by Russian subjects. In his opinion, oil production and exploration had to be done by the state, at least at first. And only “under these conditions can Russian industry develop rapidly and benefit both the government and the people.”
Russian Cossacks in the Oil Business
It is fitting that some of the most important developments in the chronicle of the 19th-century Russian oil business should occur on ancient land—the territory of the former Russian principality of Tmutarakan.
In the three decades following the end of the Russo-Turkish war of 1768–1774, the Russian Empire decisively fortified and consolidated its new southern borders. Soon, the long-awaited time came when Russians returned to the Taman Peninsula, the territory of the legendary outpost of 12th-century Kievan Rus.
On January 16, 1792, the commander-in-chief of hosts in the Caucasus and Kuban, General-in-Chief Ivan Gudovich (1741–1820), presented a plan to Empress Catherine the Great for establishing a Caucasian line, specifying construction of new forts and settlement of Cossack villages along the border, from Yekaterinograd village on the Malka River to the Kuban River and along the Kuban to the mouth of the Laba. He stressed that “this territory would be quieter if the entire border along the Kuban were occupied by the same Cossack hosts as along the Terek.”
On June 30, 1792, Catherine signed an “Imperial Charter bestowed on the Black Sea Cossack Host,” which stated: “The zealous and fervent service to Us of the Black Sea Host, proven... by feats on land and sea, their unbreakable faith... have drawn our special attention and mercy. We therefore, wishing to reward the Black Sea Host’s services by affirming their permanent well-being... have granted them, in perpetuity, holdings consisting of the region of Tavrich Island of Phanagoria with all the land lying on the right side of the Kuban River from its mouth to the Ust-Labinsk redoubt, so that the Kuban River and the Azov Sea, to the city of Yeysk, serve as the boundaries of the host’s land.”
The first detachment of combat Cossacks under the command of Colonel Sawa Bely arrived in Taman August 25, 1792 in rowing vessels. They were followed by new groups of Black Sea Cossacks. Commander [ataman] Zakhary Chepega, with his military staff, a wagon train and three 500-man cavalry and two 500-man infantry regiments, skirted the Azov Sea and arrived October 23, 1792 at Khan Town (now the city of Yeysk).
In 1794, Don Cossacks also began resettling in the Kuban region, founding six unit [kuren] settlements. Five Cossack districts were also formed that same year, on the lands settled by Cossacks.
In 1792, the Black Sea Cossack Host began to produce petroleum, and not just for its own needs. Persistent demand for oil deliveries had also arisen from the Black Sea Fleet. In 1793, naval commander Admiral Nikolay Mordvinov (1754–1845) wrote to Cossack Colonel Sawa Bely: “The Sevastopol Fleet needs oil and since most of that Taman Island abounds in it, I have ordered Captain Mas, who is located in Kerch, to send the requisite number of workers there to collect and deliver it to Kerch. Please permit them to do this work.”
In October 1832, the Caucasus Line Cossack Host was formed, and on November 19, 1860 it was divided into the Kuban Cossack Host and Tersk Cossack Host with the formation of the territorial administrative Kuban and Tersk Regions.
The lands of the right bank of the Kuban, settled by the Cossacks, and the trans-Kuban region with its long-resident mountain peoples, including the Adygeans, were placed in Kuban Region. The abolition of serfdom in the Russian Empire in 1861 and the end of hostilities in the North Caucasus opened extensive possibilities for settlement of the area by immigrants from other Russian provinces. Thousands of emancipated serfs from southern provinces of European Russia streamed into the Kuban in search of free land and work. In a very short time, Kuban Region became a region of considerable growth in basic economic indicators. The opening and development of the Kuban oil fields played an important role in this.
In the early 1830s, the first geologic investigation of the Kuban region was carried out by specialists from the Georgian Mining Expedition, Nikolay Voskoboynikov and Aleksey Guryev. Their joint study appeared in the Gorny zhurnal for 1832 (Part 1) under the title, “Geognostic Description of the Taman Peninsula Belonging to the Land of the Black Sea Forces.” They studied the peninsula’s geologic structure, determined for the first time the age of the rocks comprising the Taman Peninsula and belonging to the Tertiary System, described all petroleum sources on the peninsula, and provided information on mud volcano eruptions in 1794, 1799, 1814, and 1822. The geologists concluded that “the original cause of both the Baku and Taman volcanoes was petroleum deposits.”
In addition, they were the first to present information on the existence, in 1824, of the first refinery on the Taman Peninsula, belonging to the merchant Ledenev. The enterprise had operated for several years, and the finished “white” oil product was even sold in Kharkiv. Crude oil was produced in hand-dug wells on Kapustin Gorge near the village of Vyshe-Steblovskaya. The entrepreneur paid the Cossack Host 30 silver kopecks per 3.25 gallons of oil. Reports make it clear that in 1827 alone he collected 390 gallons of oil.
The encouraging results of the first regional studies by the geologists from the Georgian Mining Expedition nevertheless led to a certain change in the state of affairs. The first steps were taken in the Kuban to organize the oil business. In 1829, the Black Sea Cossack Host created the special rank of oil well inspector.
Later, at the initiative of the leader of the Black Sea Cossack Host, Major General Nikolay Zavadovsky, measures were undertaken to construct facilities at the oil fields. From June to August 1833, the extensive oil field areas, where there were 195 hand-dug wells in various states of repair, were inspected with the assistance of two Baku masters of oil well construction. These specialists determined that 12 of the wells contained “white” oil, the rest “black.” The depths of the inspected wells ranged from 11.6 to 21 feet, with the well measuring 21 inches at the top, then broadening in the middle, and reaching 42 inches at the bottom. In addition, the masters constructed five new hand-dug wells, gave specific recommendations for further development of the fields, and trained the workers in well construction technology. Implementation of these recommendations enabled oil production to be increased somewhat.
In the summer of 1835, the Georgian Mining Expedition sent Senior Manager [Oberhüttenverwalter] Vollendorf to the Kuban. During his two-month stay, he performed a thorough study of the Taman, summarizing his results in a report dated January 14, 1836, titled “Description of the Taman Oil Fields.”