1.
Russian language
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Russian is an East Slavic language and an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many minor or unrecognised territories. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the four living members of the East Slavic languages, written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th century and beyond. It is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages and it is also the largest native language in Europe, with 144 million native speakers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Russian is also the second most widespread language on the Internet after English, Russian distinguishes between consonant phonemes with palatal secondary articulation and those without, the so-called soft and hard sounds. This distinction is found between pairs of almost all consonants and is one of the most distinguishing features of the language, another important aspect is the reduction of unstressed vowels. Russian is a Slavic language of the Indo-European family and it is a lineal descendant of the language used in Kievan Rus. From the point of view of the language, its closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn. An East Slavic Old Novgorod dialect, although vanished during the 15th or 16th century, is considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian. In the 19th century, the language was often called Great Russian to distinguish it from Belarusian, then called White Russian and Ukrainian, however, the East Slavic forms have tended to be used exclusively in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with different meanings. For details, see Russian phonology and History of the Russian language and it is also regarded by the United States Intelligence Community as a hard target language, due to both its difficulty to master for English speakers and its critical role in American world policy. The standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the modern Russian literary language, mikhail Lomonosov first compiled a normalizing grammar book in 1755, in 1783 the Russian Academys first explanatory Russian dictionary appeared. By the mid-20th century, such dialects were forced out with the introduction of the education system that was established by the Soviet government. Despite the formalization of Standard Russian, some nonstandard dialectal features are observed in colloquial speech. Thus, the Russian language is the 6th largest in the world by number of speakers, after English, Mandarin, Hindi/Urdu, Spanish, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a choice for both Russian as a second language and native speakers in Russia as well as many of the former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics, samuel P. Huntington wrote in the Clash of Civilizations, During the heyday of the Soviet Union, Russian was the lingua franca from Prague to Hanoi
2.
Ludvig Nobel
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Ludvig Immanuel Nobel was a Swedish-Russian engineer, a noted businessman and a humanitarian. One of the most prominent members of the Nobel family, he was the son of Immanuel Nobel, with his brother Robert, he operated Branobel, an oil company in Baku, Azerbaijan which at one point produced 50% of the worlds oil. He is credited with creating the Russian oil industry, Ludvig Nobel built the largest fortune of any of the Nobel brothers and was one of the worlds richest men. Following the Bolshevik revolution, the communists confiscated the Nobel familys vast fortune in Russia, with some funds he had managed to save, Ludvig opened a new firm, the Machine-Building Factory Ludvig Nobel. Initially producing chilled cast-iron shells, the factory became in a few one of the largest producers of gun carriages of Russia. While running the factory in St. Petersburg, Ludwig obtained a contract to manufacture rifles for the Russian government. He sent his oldest brother, Robert Nobel in 1873 to procure Russian walnut wood in the Caucasus region of southern Russia. Without consulting his brother, Robert spent the 25,000 rubbles that Ludwig entrusted to him for buying wood – walnut money –, Ludwig sent additional funds to Robert to invest in modernisation and refinery efficiency. By 1876, the Nobel brothers established themselves as the most competent refiner in Baku, by 1879, Ludvig turned the initial business into a shareholding company, Branobel, of which he was the major shareholder and had as partners his brothers Robert and Alfred Nobel. Ludvig Nobel invented oil tankers, and better refineries, pipelines, before 1880 the United States was Russias teacher in most aspects of the oil business. The roles were reversed in some respects by Nobel, the oil business lacked technical know-how and scientific methodology. To rectify this, Nobel established technical chemical research labs in Baku and these research centers were very active and when something of commercial interest was found, Nobel was fast in trying the new products out on a large scale. Dozens of scientists were employed, finding ways to treat oil, developing new uses for oil, Nobel first experimented with carrying oil in bulk on single-hulled barges. Turning his attention to self-propelled tankships, a concern was to keep the cargo. Other challenges included allowing for the cargo to expand and contract due to temperature changes, the worlds first successful oil tanker was Nobels Zoroaster. He designed this in Lindholmen-Motala in Sweden with Sven Almqvist, the contract to build it was signed January 1878, and it made its first run later that year from Baku to Astrakhan. The design was studied and copied, with Nobel refusing to patent any part of it. In October 1878, he ordered two tankers of the same design, the Buddha and the Nordenskjöld
3.
Baku
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Baku is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located 28 metres below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world and it is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, alongside the Bay of Baku. At the beginning of 2009, Bakus urban population was estimated at just over two million people, officially, about 25 percent of all inhabitants of the country live in Bakus metropolitan area. Baku is divided into administrative districts and 48 townships. Among these are the townships on the islands of the Baku Archipelago, the Inner City of Baku, along with the Shirvanshahs Palace and Maiden Tower, were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. According to the Lonely Planets ranking, Baku is also among the top ten destinations for urban nightlife. The city is the scientific, cultural and industrial center of Azerbaijan, many sizeable Azerbaijani institutions have their headquarters there. The Baku International Sea Trade Port is capable of handling two million tons of general and dry bulk cargoes per year, in recent years, Baku has become an important venue for international events. The city is renowned for its winds, which is reflected in its nickname. Indeed, the city is renowned for its fierce winter snow storms and this is also reflected in the citys nickname as the City of Winds. A less probable folk etymology explains the name as deriving from Baghkuy, baga and kuy are the Old Persian words for god and town respectively, the name Baghkuy may be compared with Baghdād in which dād is the Old Persian word for give. Arabic sources refer to the city as Baku, Bakukh, Bakuya, around 100,000 years ago, the territory of modern Baku and Absheron was savanna with rich flora and fauna. Traces of human settlement go back to the Stone age, from the Bronze age there have been rock carvings discovered near Bayil, and a bronze figure of a small fish discovered in the territory of the Old City. These have led some to suggest the existence of a Bronze Age settlement within the citys territory, further archeological excavations revealed various prehistoric settlements, native temples, statues and other artifacts within the territory of the modern city and around it. In the 1st century, the Romans organized two Caucasian campaigns and reached Baku, near the city, in Gobustan, Roman inscriptions dating from 84–96 AD were discovered. This is one of the earliest written evidences for Baku, during the 8th century Baku was the realm of the Shirvanshahs. The city frequently came under assault of the Khazars and the Rus, shirvanshah Akhsitan I built a navy in Baku and successfully repelled another Rus assault in 1170. After a devastating earthquake struck Shamakhy, the capital of Shirvan, the Shirvan era greatly influenced Baku and the remainder of Azerbaijan
4.
Azerbaijan
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Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a country in the South Caucasus region, situated at the crossroads of Southwest Asia and Southeastern Europe. It is bound by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bound by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic proclaimed its independence in 1918 and became the first democratic state in the Muslim orient world. The country was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920 as the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, the modern Republic of Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence on 30 August 1991, prior to the official dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. In September 1991, the Armenian majority of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region seceded to form the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, the region and seven adjacent districts outside it became de facto independent with the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994. These regions are recognized as part of Azerbaijan pending a solution to the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan is a unitary semi-presidential republic, the country is a member state of the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the NATO Partnership for Peace program. It is one of six independent Turkic states, a member of the Turkic Council. Azerbaijan has diplomatic relations with 158 countries and holds membership in 38 international organizations and it is one of the founding members of GUAM, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Its term of office began on 19 June 2006, Azerbaijan is also a member state of the Non-Aligned Movement, holds observer status in World Trade Organization and is a correspondent at the International Telecommunication Union. The Constitution of Azerbaijan does not declare an official religion and all political forces in the country are secularist. However, the majority of the population are of a Shiite Muslim background, Azerbaijan has a high level of human development which ranks on par with most Eastern European countries. It has a rate of economic development and literacy, as well as a low rate of unemployment. According to the Davos World Economic Forum, Azerbaijans economy has scored 37th place within 138 countries in 2016, Global Competitiveness Index 2015 indicates that Azerbaijan scores highest in its region. ASAN services, established with Presidential Decree, are known for eliminating bribery. ASAN Service has been awarded with United Nations Public Service Award 2015, the ruling party, the New Azerbaijan Party, has been accused of authoritarianism and human rights abuses. The original etymology of name is thought to have its roots in the once-dominant Zoroastrianism. In the Avesta, Frawardin Yasht, there is a mention of âterepâtahe ashaonô fravashîm ýazamaide, the name Atropates itself is the Greek transliteration of an Old Iranian, probably Median, compounded name with the meaning Protected by the Fire or The Land of the Fire
5.
Turkmenistan
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Turkmenistan has been at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries. In medieval times, Merv was one of the cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road. Annexed by the Russian Empire in 1881, Turkmenistan later figured prominently in the movement in Central Asia. In 1924, Turkmenistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, Turkmenistan possesses the worlds fourth largest reserves of natural gas resources. Most of the country is covered by the Karakum Desert, since 1993, citizens have received government-provided electricity, water and natural gas free of charge. Turkmenistan was ruled by President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov until his death in 2006, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow was elected president in 2007. According to Human Rights Watch, Turkmenistan remains one of the world’s most repressive countries, after suspending the death penalty, the use of capital punishment was formally abolished in the 2008 constitution. Historically inhabited by the Indo-Iranians, the history of Turkmenistan begins with its annexation by the Achaemenid Empire of Ancient Iran. In the 8th century AD, Turkic-speaking Oghuz tribes moved from Mongolia into present-day Central Asia, part of a powerful confederation of tribes, these Oghuz formed the ethnic basis of the modern Turkmen population. In the 10th century, the name Turkmen was first applied to Oghuz groups that accepted Islam, There they were under the dominion of the Seljuk Empire, which was composed of Oghuz groups living in present-day Iran and Turkmenistan. Turkmen soldiers in the service of the played a important role in the spreading of Turkic culture when they migrated westward into present-day Azerbaijan. In the 12th century, Turkmen and other tribes overthrew the Seljuk Empire, in the next century, the Mongols took over the more northern lands where the Turkmens had settled, scattering the Turkmens southward and contributing to the formation of new tribal groups. The sixteenth and eighteenth centuries saw a series of splits and confederations among the nomadic Turkmen tribes, by the 16th century, most of those tribes were under the nominal control of two sedentary Uzbek khanates, Khiva and Bukhoro. Turkmen soldiers were an important element of the Uzbek militaries of this period, in the 19th century, raids and rebellions by the Yomud Turkmen group resulted in that groups dispersal by the Uzbek rulers. According to Paul R. Spickard, Prior to the Russian conquest, Russian forces began occupying Turkmen territory late in the 19th century. From their Caspian Sea base at Krasnovodsk, the Russians eventually overcame the Uzbek khanates, in 1916 the Russian Empires participation in World War I resonated in Turkmenistan, as an anticonscription revolt swept most of Russian Central Asia. In 1924 the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic was formed from the tsarist province of Transcaspia, by the late 1930s, Soviet reorganization of agriculture had destroyed what remained of the nomadic lifestyle in Turkmenistan, and Moscow controlled political life. The Ashgabat earthquake of 1948 killed over 110,000 people, during the next half-century, Turkmenistan played its designated economic role within the Soviet Union and remained outside the course of major world events
6.
Robert Nobel
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Robert Hjalmar Nobel was the oldest son of Immanuel Nobel and his wife Caroline Andrietta Ahlsell, brother of Ludvig and Alfred Nobel. He was working for his brother Ludvig when he bought an interest in an oil refinery in Baku and he and his brother started Branobel, which was an important early oil company that controlled a large amount of Russian output. The Prize, The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power, the Russian Rockefellers, The Saga of the Nobel Family and the Russian Oil Industry. Media related to Robert Nobel at Wikimedia Commons
7.
Kerosene
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Kerosene, also known as paraffin, lamp oil and coal oil, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum, widely used as a fuel in industry as well as households. Its name derives from Greek, κηρός meaning wax, and was registered as a trademark by Abraham Gesner in 1854 before evolving into a genericized trademark and it is sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage. Liquid paraffin is a more viscous and highly refined product which is used as a laxative, paraffin wax is a waxy solid extracted from petroleum. Kerosene is widely used to power jet engines of aircraft and some rocket engines, in parts of Asia, where the price of kerosene is subsidized, it fuels outboard motors on small fishing boats. World total kerosene consumption for all purposes is equivalent to about 1.2 million barrels per day, to prevent confusion between kerosene and the much more flammable and volatile gasoline, some jurisdictions regulate markings or colorings for containers used to store or dispense kerosene. For example, in the United States, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requires that portable containers used at retail service stations be colored blue and it is miscible in petroleum solvents but immiscible in water. The American Society for Testing and Materials standard specification D-3699-78 recognizes two grades of kerosene, grades 1-K and 2-K, regardless of crude oil source or processing history, kerosenes major components are branched and straight chain alkanes and naphthenes, which normally account for at least 70% by volume. Aromatic hydrocarbons in this range, such as alkylbenzenes and alkylnaphthalenes. Olefins are usually not present at more than 5% by volume, the flash point of kerosene is between 37 and 65 °C, and its autoignition temperature is 220 °C. The pour point of kerosene depends on grade, with aviation fuel standardized at −47 °C. 1-K grade kerosene freezes around -40 °C, heat of combustion of kerosene is similar to that of diesel fuel, its lower heating value is 43.1 MJ/kg, and its higher heating value is 46.2 MJ/kg. In the United Kingdom, two grades of heating oil are defined, BS2869 Class C1 is the lightest grade used for lanterns, camping stoves, wick heaters, and mixed with gasoline in some vintage combustion engines as a substitute for tractor vaporising oil. BS2869 Class C2 is a heavier distillate, which is used as heating oil. Premium kerosene is sold in 5 or 20 liter containers from hardware, camping. Standard kerosene is usually dispensed in bulk by a tanker and is undyed, National and international standards define the properties of several grades of kerosene used for jet fuel. Flash point and freezing point properties are of particular interest for operation and safety, the process of distilling crude oil/petroleum into kerosene, as well as other hydrocarbon compounds, was first written about in the 9th century by the Persian scholar Rāzi. In his Kitab al-Asrar, the physician and chemist Razi described two methods for the production of kerosene, termed naft abyad, using an apparatus called an alembic, one method used clay as an absorbent, whereas the other method used ammonium chloride. The distillation process was repeated until all most of the volatile hydrocarbon fractions had been removed, Kerosene was also produced during the same period from oil shale and bitumen by heating the rock to extract the oil, which was then distilled
8.
Finland
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Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
9.
Saint Petersburg
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Saint Petersburg is Russias second-largest city after Moscow, with five million inhabitants in 2012, and an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. It is politically incorporated as a federal subject, situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 271703. In 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, in 1924 to Leningrad, between 1713 and 1728 and 1732–1918, Saint Petersburg was the capital of imperial Russia. In 1918, the government bodies moved to Moscow. Saint Petersburg is one of the cities of Russia, as well as its cultural capital. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Saint Petersburg is home to The Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world. A large number of consulates, international corporations, banks. Swedish colonists built Nyenskans, a fortress, at the mouth of the Neva River in 1611, in a then called Ingermanland. A small town called Nyen grew up around it, Peter the Great was interested in seafaring and maritime affairs, and he intended to have Russia gain a seaport in order to be able to trade with other maritime nations. He needed a better seaport than Arkhangelsk, which was on the White Sea to the north, on May 1703121703, during the Great Northern War, Peter the Great captured Nyenskans, and soon replaced the fortress. On May 271703, closer to the estuary 5 km inland from the gulf), on Zayachy Island, he laid down the Peter and Paul Fortress, which became the first brick and stone building of the new city. The city was built by conscripted peasants from all over Russia, tens of thousands of serfs died building the city. Later, the city became the centre of the Saint Petersburg Governorate, Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712,9 years before the Treaty of Nystad of 1721 ended the war, he referred to Saint Petersburg as the capital as early as 1704. During its first few years, the city developed around Trinity Square on the bank of the Neva, near the Peter. However, Saint Petersburg soon started to be built out according to a plan, by 1716 the Swiss Italian Domenico Trezzini had elaborated a project whereby the city centre would be located on Vasilyevsky Island and shaped by a rectangular grid of canals. The project was not completed, but is evident in the layout of the streets, in 1716, Peter the Great appointed French Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond as the chief architect of Saint Petersburg. In 1724 the Academy of Sciences, University and Academic Gymnasium were established in Saint Petersburg by Peter the Great, in 1725, Peter died at the age of fifty-two. His endeavours to modernize Russia had met opposition from the Russian nobility—resulting in several attempts on his life
10.
Alfred Nobel
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Alfred Bernhard Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, and philanthropist. Known for inventing dynamite, Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a manufacturer of cannon. Nobel held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous, after reading a premature obituary which condemned him for profiting from the sales of arms, he bequeathed his fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes. The synthetic element nobelium was named after him and his name also survives in modern-day companies such as Dynamit Nobel and AkzoNobel, which are descendants of mergers with companies Nobel himself established. Born in Stockholm, Alfred Nobel was the son of Immanuel Nobel, an inventor and engineer. The couple married in 1827 and had eight children, the family was impoverished, and only Alfred and his three brothers survived past childhood. Alfred Nobels interest in technology was inherited from his father, an alumnus of Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, following various business failures, Nobels father moved to Saint Petersburg in 1837 and grew successful there as a manufacturer of machine tools and explosives. He invented modern plywood and started work on the torpedo, in 1842, the family joined him in the city. For 18 months, from 1841 to 1842, Nobel went to the school he ever attended as a child. As a young man, Nobel studied with chemist Nikolai Zinin, then, in 1850, there he met Ascanio Sobrero, who had invented nitroglycerin three years before. Sobrero strongly opposed the use of nitroglycerin, as it was unpredictable, but Nobel became interested in finding a way to control and use nitroglycerin as a commercially usable explosive, as it had much more power than gunpowder. At age 18, he went to the United States for one year to study chemistry, working for a period under inventor John Ericsson. Nobel filed his first patent, an English patent for a gas meter, in 1857, while his first Swedish patent, the family factory produced armaments for the Crimean War, but had difficulty switching back to regular domestic production when the fighting ended and they filed for bankruptcy. In 1859, Nobels father left his factory in the care of the son, Ludvig Nobel. Nobel and his parents returned to Sweden from Russia and Nobel devoted himself to the study of explosives, Nobel invented a detonator in 1863, and in 1865 designed the blasting cap. On 3 September 1864, a used for preparation of nitroglycerin exploded at the factory in Heleneborg, Stockholm, killing five people. Dogged and unfazed by more minor accidents, Nobel went on to build further factories, Nobel invented dynamite in 1867, a substance easier and safer to handle than the more unstable nitroglycerin. Dynamite was patented in the US and the UK and was used extensively in mining, in 1875 Nobel invented gelignite, more stable and powerful than dynamite, and in 1887 patented ballistite, a predecessor of cordite
11.
Pipeline transport
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Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods or material through a pipe. The latest data, in 2014, gives a total of less than 2,175,000 miles of pipeline in 120 countries of the world. The United States had 65%, Russia had 8%, and Canada had 3%, Pipeline and Gas Journal’s worldwide survey figures indicate that 118,623 miles of pipelines are planned and under construction. Of these,88,976 miles represent projects in the planning, Liquids and gases are transported in pipelines and any chemically stable substance can be sent through a pipeline. Pipelines exist for the transport of crude and refined petroleum, fuels - such as oil, natural gas and biofuels - and other fluids including sewage, slurry, water, pneumatic tubes using compressed air can be used to transport solid capsules. Oil pipelines are made from steel or plastic tubes which are usually buried, the oil is moved through the pipelines by pump stations along the pipeline. Natural gas are lightly pressurised into liquids known as Natural Gas Liquids, Natural gas pipelines are constructed of carbon steel. Highly toxic ammonia is theoretically the most dangerous substance to be transported through long-distance pipelines, hydrogen pipeline transport is the transportation of hydrogen through a pipe. District heating or teleheating systems use a network of insulated pipes which transport heated water, pipelines conveying flammable or explosive material, such as natural gas or oil, pose special safety concerns and there have been various accidents. Pipelines can be the target of vandalism, sabotage, or even terrorist attacks, in war, pipelines are often the target of military attacks. It is uncertain when the first crude oil pipeline was built, pipelines are generally the most economical way to transport large quantities of oil, refined oil products or natural gas over land. Natural gas are lightly pressurized into liquids knows as Natural Gas Liquids, small NGL processing facilities can be located in oil fields so the butane and propane liquid under light pressure of 125 pounds per square inch, can be shipped by rail, truck or pipeline. Propane can be used as a fuel in oil fields to heat various facilities used by the oil drillers or equipment and trucks used in the oil patch. EG, Propane will convert from a gas to a liquid under pressure,100 psi, give or take depending on temperature. Pipelines and rail cars use about double that pressure to pump at 250 psi, the distance to ship propane to markets is much shorter, as thousands of natural-gas processing plants are located in or near oil fields. Compared to shipping by railroad, pipelines have lower cost per unit, pipelines are preferable to transportation by truck for a number of reasons. Employment on completed pipelines represents only 1% of that of the trucking industry and this allows the Bakken Basin and Three Forks oil producers to get higher negotiated prices for their oil because they will not be restricted to just one wholesale market in the US. The distance from the biggest oil patch in North Dakota, is Williston, North Dakota, only about 85 miles or 137 kilometers to the Canada–US border, mutual funds and joint ventures are big investors in new oil and gas pipelines
12.
Vladimir Shukhov
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He is also the inventor of the first cracking method. Besides the innovations he brought to the oil industry and the construction of bridges and buildings. These forms, based on non-Euclidean hyperbolic geometry, are known today as hyperboloids of revolution, Shukhov developed not only many varieties of light-weight hyperboloid towers and roof systems, but also the mathematics for their analysis. Shukhov is particularly reputed for his designs of hyperboloid towers such as the Shukhov Tower. Vladimir Shukhov was born in a town of Graivoron, Belgorod uezd and his father Grigory Ivanovich Shukhov was a minor government official, promoted for his efforts in the Crimean War. For a while, Grigory served as Mayor of Graivoron and later as an administrator in Warsaw, in 1864 Vladimir entered Saint Petersburg gymnasium from which he graduated with distinction in 1871. During his high school years he showed mathematical talents, once demonstrating to his classmates, the teacher praised his skills but he failed the grade for violating the textbooks guidelines. After graduating from the gymnasium, Shukhov entered the Imperial Moscow Technical School, in which his teachers included Pafnuty Chebyshev, Aleksey Letnikov, in the beginning of the year 1876 Shukhov graduated from school with distinction and a Gold Medal. Chebyshev offered him a job as a lecturer in mathematics at the Imperial Moscow Technical School, during his stay in the US, Shukhov came to know a Russian-American entrepreneur, Alexander Veniaminovich Bari who also worked on the organization of the Fair. In 1877 Shukhov returned to Russia and joined the office of the Warsaw–Vienna railroad. Within several months, Shukhovs frustration with standard and routine engineering made him abandon the office, on his coming to Russia in 1877, Bari persuaded Shukhov to give up his medical education and to assume the office of Chief Engineer in a new company specializing in innovative engineering. Shukhov worked with Bari at this company until the October Revolution and their works revolutionized many areas of civil engineering, ship engineering, and oil industry. The thermal cracking method, the Shukhov cracking process, was patented by Vladimir Shukhov in 1891, Shukhov always found time for a passionate hobby – photography. The photographic works of Shukhov opened new trends ahead of their flourishing of Fine art photography and he made photos in various genres, reporting, city landscape, portrait, constructivism. About two thousand photos and negatives made by Shukhov have survived until this day, after the October Revolution Shukhov decided to stay in the Soviet Union despite having received alluring job offers from around the world. Many signal Soviet engineering projects of the 1920s were associated with his name, in 1919 he framed his slogan, We should work independently from politics. The buildings, boilers, beams would be needed and so would we, in the later 1930s during the Great Purge he retired from engineering work but was not arrested or persecuted. Shukov died on 2 February 1939 in Moscow and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery and his many honours included the Lenin Prize and the title of Hero of Labour
13.
Ruble
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The ruble or rouble is or was a currency unit of a number of countries in Eastern Europe closely associated with the economy of Russia. Originally, the ruble was the unit of Imperial Russia and then the Soviet Union. The Russian ruble is used in the partially recognised states of Abkhazia. In the past, several other countries influenced by Russia and the Soviet Union had currency units that were also named rubles, one ruble is divided into 100 kopeks. According to one version, the ruble is derived from the Russian verb рубить, to cut, to chop, to hack. Rubles were parts of the grivna or pieces of silver with notches indicating their weight, each grivna was divided into four parts, the name ruble came from the word cut because the silver rod weighing 1 grivna was split into four parts, which were called rubles. Another version of the origin is that it comes from the Russian noun рубец. Therefore, the word means a cast with a seam. A popular theory deriving word ruble from rupee is probably not correct, the ruble was the Russian equivalent of the mark, a measurement of weight for silver and gold used in medieval Western Europe. The weight of one ruble was equal to the weight of one grivna, in Russian, a folk name for ruble, tselkovyj, is known, which is a shortening of the целковый рубль, i. e. a wholesome, uncut ruble. This name persists in the Mordvin word for ruble, целковой, the word kopek, kopeck, copeck, or kopeyka is a diminutive form of the Russian kopyo — a spear. The first kopek coins, minted at Novgorod and Pskov from about 1534 onwards, from the 1540s onwards the horseman bears a crown, and doubtless the intention was to represent Ivan the Terrible, who was Grand Prince of all Russia until 1547, and Tsar thereafter. Subsequent mintings of the coin, starting in the 18th century, since the monetary reform of 1534, one Russian accounting ruble became equivalent to 100 silver Novgorod denga coins or smaller 200 Muscovite denga coins or even smaller 400 polushka coins. Exactly the former coin with a rider on it became colloquially known as kopek and was the higher coin until the beginning of the 18th century. Ruble coins as such did not exist till Peter the Great, apart from one ruble and one kopek coins other smaller and greater coins existed as well. Both the spellings ruble and rouble are used in English, the form rouble is preferred by the Oxford English Dictionary, but the earliest use recorded in English is the now completely obsolete robble. The form rouble probably derives from the transliteration into French used among the Tsarist aristocracy, the Russian plurals that may be seen on the actual currency are modified according to Russian grammar. Numbers 1,21,31 etc. are followed by nominative singular рубль, numbers 2–4, 22–24, 32–34 etc. will be followed by genitive singular рубля, копейки
14.
Pood
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Pood, is a unit of mass equal to 40 funt. It was used in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, pood was first mentioned in a number of 12th-century documents. Together with other units of weight of the Imperial Russian weight measurement system, but the term remained in widespread use at least until the 1940s. In his 1953 short story Matryonas Place, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn presents the pood as still in use amongst the Khrushchev-era Soviet peasants. Its usage is preserved in modern Russian in certain cases, e. g. in reference to sports weights, such as traditional Russian kettlebells, cast in multiples. For example, a 24 kg kettlebell is commonly referred to as one-and-half pood kettlebell and it is also sometimes used when reporting the amounts of bulk agricultural production, such as grains or potatoes. An old Russian proverb reads, You know a man when you have eaten a pood of salt with him, the expression Сто пудов - Hundred poods means very large amount. In modern colloquial Russian it is used in a generic meanings of very much and very, as well as most surely, The adjective stopudovy, also used in Polish as idiomatic/proverb, nudy na pudy Conversion factors from pood to other units of mass
15.
A.I. Mantashev & Co.
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Alexander Mantashev was a prominent Armenian oil magnate, industrialist, financier, and a philanthropist. By the end of his life he had one of the worlds wealthiest individuals. Born in Tiflis, Mantashev spent most of his childhood in Tabriz, in northern Iran, being the only son, he was involved in his fathers business affairs early on. In 1869, he moved to Manchester, a center of cotton and textile processing industries. Mantashevs stay in Manchester played an important role in the development of his character, not only did he learn the secrets and crafts of the textile industry in Manchester, but he also delved into the intricacies of European business and English culture. During this period he learned the English, French, and German languages, in 1872, Mantashev returned to Tiflis with his father. In the first floor of the hotel Caucasus, located in Erivansky Square, the bank was involved in almost every aspect of trade in the Caucasus. Incidentally, Tifkombank was the financial institution in the Caucasus whose shares traded on the Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange. In the early 1890s, Alexander was already a 1st guild merchant and it was then that he became interested in a new business venture, when he was looking into the prospects of Baku oil. This was the epoch of the oil trade. The underground black liquid promised entrepreneurs incredible profits and opened ambitious prospects, the only requirements were a large investment and the ability to run the business. His chief accountant recalled that not a single document went into effect without Alexanders resolution, Mantashev, not being afraid of high risk investments, bought unprofitable oil wells in Baku that very soon became profitable. This was in response to Standard Oils aggressive marketing policy, in 1896, during a trip to Egypt, Mantashev met Calouste Gulbenkian who was fleeing the Ottoman Empire with his family as a result of the Hamidian massacres. Mantashev introduced Gulbenkian to the circles in Cairo, including Sir Evelyn Baring. For refining oil, Mantashev built a plant in Baku, as well as a lubricant plant. In England Mantashev bought two tankers, which supplied oil to India, China, Japan and the Mediterranean countries, in 1899 he created the trading house A. I. Mantashev became a shareholder in a number of oil companies, among them the Nobel Brothers,51. 3% of the total stock of oil and 66. 8% of the oil content in the Caspian Sea was centered on the firm. In 1904, it was the third largest oil company in Baku, next to only the Nobel Brothers, once while riding on a train from Vienna to Paris, Mantashev was accompanied by a silent passenger in the same car
16.
Emanuel Nobel
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Emanuel Nobel was a Swedish-Russian oil baron, the eldest son of Ludvig Nobel and his first wife, Mina Ahlsell, grandson of Immanuel Nobel and nephew of Alfred Nobel. Carl Nobel, Emanuels brother, was put in charge of the Machine-Building Factory Ludvig Nobel, on 16 February 1898 Emanuel signed a licence agreement in Berlin with Rudolf Diesel, after having heard Diesel describing his new engine in a public lecture. The agreement allowed Nobel to build the worlds first diesel engine plant in St Petersburg, Emanuel led Baku to a dominating role in the global oil industry and Branobel activities soon developed throughout the Caspian Sea, operating also in Grozny and Dosser. In 1888, Emanuel was host to Tsar Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna in Baku and was personally requested by the Tsar to accept Russian citizenship. From 1891 until 1918, His Excellency Emanuel Nobel was also on the board of the Russian State Banks Discount Committee and he was in charge of the company until he was forced to flee Russia in the Summer of 1918. Like his father Ludvig, Emanuel Nobel was an art collector. The rooms of the Nobel familys residence in St, the outcome of the Russian Revolution forced Emanuel to flee Russia in the Summer of 1919. After the seizure of the Nobel familys properties by the Bolsheviks and he never married and died in 1932 in Sweden. Schück, Henrik, Ragnar Sohlman, Anders Österling, Carl Gustaf Bernhard, the Nobel Foundation, Nobel, The Man and His Prizes. 3rd ed. Coordinating Ed. Wilhelm Odelberg, new York, American Elsevier Publishing Company, Inc. The Russian Rockefellers, The Saga of the Nobel Family and the Russian Oil Industry, yergin, Daniel, The Prize, the Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power, Free Press, p.237. ISBN 0-671-79932-0 Åsbrink, Brita, Ludvig Nobel, Petroleum har en lysande framtid, wahlström & Widstrand ISBN 978-91-46-18181-1 На память о дне пятидесятилетия Эммануила Людвиговича Нобель -10 июня1909. Издание комиссии служащих Товарищества нефтяного производства братьев Нобель, Товарищество Р, Вильборг,1909 г.120 стр. http, //www. ozon. ru/context/detail/id/3592326/ Alfred Nobel, hans far och hans bröder - book by John Rosén Azerbaijans Oil History Article in Kommersant in 2002
17.
Nobel Prize
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The Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards bestowed in a number of categories by Swedish and Norwegian institutions in recognition of academic, cultural, or scientific advances. The will of the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel established the prizes in 1895, the prizes in Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine were first awarded in 1901. Medals made before 1980 were struck in 23 carat gold, between 1901 and 2016, the Nobel Prizes and the Prize in Economic Sciences were awarded 579 times to 911 people and organisations. With some receiving the Nobel Prize more than once, this makes a total of 23 organisations, the prize ceremonies take place annually in Stockholm, Sweden. Each recipient, or laureate, receives a medal, a diploma. The Nobel Prize is widely regarded as the most prestigious award available in the fields of literature, medicine, physics, chemistry, peace, and economics. The prize is not awarded posthumously, however, if a person is awarded a prize and dies before receiving it, though the average number of laureates per prize increased substantially during the 20th century, a prize may not be shared among more than three people. Alfred Nobel was born on 21 October 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden and he was a chemist, engineer, and inventor. In 1894, Nobel purchased the Bofors iron and steel mill and this invention was a precursor to many smokeless military explosives, especially the British smokeless powder cordite. As a consequence of his patent claims, Nobel was eventually involved in a patent infringement lawsuit over cordite, Nobel amassed a fortune during his lifetime, with most of his wealth from his 355 inventions, of which dynamite is the most famous. In 1888, Nobel was astonished to read his own obituary, titled The merchant of death is dead, as it was Alfreds brother Ludvig who had died, the obituary was eight years premature. The article disconcerted Nobel and made him apprehensive about how he would be remembered and this inspired him to change his will. On 10 December 1896, Alfred Nobel died in his villa in San Remo, Italy, Nobel wrote several wills during his lifetime. He composed the last over a year before he died, signing it at the Swedish–Norwegian Club in Paris on 27 November 1895, Nobel bequeathed 94% of his total assets,31 million SEK, to establish the five Nobel Prizes. Because of skepticism surrounding the will, it was not until 26 April 1897 that it was approved by the Storting in Norway. The executors of Nobels will, Ragnar Sohlman and Rudolf Lilljequist, formed the Nobel Foundation to take care of Nobels fortune, Nobels instructions named a Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the Peace Prize, the members of whom were appointed shortly after the will was approved in April 1897. Soon thereafter, the other prize-awarding organisations were designated or established and these were Karolinska Institutet on 7 June, the Swedish Academy on 9 June, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on 11 June. The Nobel Foundation reached an agreement on guidelines for how the prizes should be awarded, and, in 1900, in 1905, the personal union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved
18.
Bolsheviks
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The RSDLP was a revolutionary socialist political party formed in 1898 in Minsk in Belarus to unite the various revolutionary organisations of the Russian Empire into one party. In the Second Party Congress vote, the Bolsheviks won on the majority of important issues and they ultimately became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Bolsheviks or Reds came to power in Russia during the October Revolution phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917, with the Reds defeating the Whites, and others during the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922, the RSFSR became the chief constituent of the Soviet Union in December 1922. Their beliefs and practices were often referred to as Bolshevism, in the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, held in Brussels and London during August 1903, Lenin and Julius Martov disagreed over the membership rules. Lenin wanted members who recognise the Party Programme and support it by material means, Julius Martov suggested by regular personal assistance under the direction of one of the partys organisations. Lenin advocated limiting party membership to a core of active members. A main source of the factions could be attributed to Lenin’s steadfast opinion. It was obvious at early stages in Lenin’s revolutionary practices that he would not be willing to concede on any party policy that conflicted with his own predetermined ideas and it was the loyalty that he had to his own self-envisioned utopia that caused the party split. He was seen even by fellow party members as being so narrow minded that he believed there were only two types of people, Friend and enemy—those who followed him, and all the rest. Leon Trotsky, one of Lenins fellow revolutionaries, compared Lenin in 1904 to the French revolutionary Robespierre, Lenins view of politics as verbal and ideological warfare and his inability to accept criticism even if it came from his own dedicated followers was the reason behind this accusation. The root of the split was a book titled What is to be Done. that Lenin wrote while serving a sentence of exile, in Germany, the book was published in 1902, in Russia, strict censorship outlawed its publication and distribution. One of the points of Lenin’s writing was that a revolution can only be achieved by the strong leadership of one person over the masses. After the proposed revolution had overthrown the government, this individual leader must release power. Lenin also wrote that revolutionary leaders must dedicate their lives to the cause in order for it to be successful. Lenins view of a socialist intelligentsia showed that he was not a supporter of Marxist theory. For example, Lenin agreed with the Marxist idea of eliminating social classes, most party members considered unequal treatment of workers immoral, and were loyal to the idea of a completely classless society, so Lenin’s variations caused the party internal dissonance. Although the party split of Bolsheviks and Mensheviks would not become official until 1903, as discussed in What is to be Done. Lenin firmly believed that a political structure was needed to effectively initiate a formal revolution
19.
Nobel family
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The Nobel family is a prominent Swedish and Russian family closely related to the history both of Sweden and of Russia in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its legacy includes its outstanding contributions to philanthropy and to the development of the armament industry, the Nobel family originated from the village of Östra Nöbbelöv in Scania, hence the name. The first member was Petrus Olai Nobelius who married Wendela Rudbeck, daughter of the famous Swedish scientist Olaus Rudbeck the Elder, also known as Olof Rudbeck. One of his sons, Ludvig Nobel, was the founder of The Machine-Building Factory Ludvig Nobel, a great armaments concern and the inventor of the Nobel wheel. Ludvig was also the founder of Branobel, the foremost Russian oil industry of its time, alfred Nobel, who died childless, was the inventor of dynamite and the founder of the Nobel Prizes, to the creation of which he left the bulk of his estate. In 2007, the Nobel family archives kept in the Archives of Lund were inscribed in UNESCOs Memory of the World Register, bruno Ferraz-Coutinho Sven Nobel Michael Nobel Rolf Nobel, Emil Waldemar Ludvig Nobel, Gustaf Oscar Ludvig Nobel, Nobel Charitable Trust Nobel Ice Nobelite
20.
Standard Oil
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Standard Oil Co. Inc. was an American oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller as a corporation in Ohio and its controversial history as one of the worlds first and largest multinational corporations ended in 1911, when the United States Supreme Court ruled that Standard Oil was an illegal monopoly. The Standard Oil trust streamlined production and logistics, lowered costs, trust-busting critics accused Standard Oil of using aggressive pricing to destroy competitors and form a monopoly that threatened other businesses. John D. Rockefeller was a founder, chairman and major shareholder and its successors such as ExxonMobil, BP, and Chevron are still counted among the companies with the largest income worldwide. By 1882, his top aide was John Dustin Archbold, after 1896, Rockefeller disengaged from business to concentrate on his philanthropy, leaving Archbold in control. Other notable Standard Oil principals include Henry Flagler, developer of the Florida East Coast Railway and resort cities, and Henry H. Rogers, Standard Oils name came from the companys manufacturing standards, which preceded todays ASTM standards. In 1870 Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil in Ohio, of the initial 10,000 shares, John D. In the early years, John D. Rockefeller dominated the combine and he quickly distributed power and the tasks of policy formation to a system of committees, but always remained the largest shareholder. Authority was centralized in the main office in Cleveland. In response to state trying to limit the scale of companies, Rockefeller and his associates developed innovative ways of organizing. On January 2,1882, they combined their disparate companies, spread across dozens of states and this organization proved so successful that other giant enterprises adopted this trust form. The company grew by increasing sales and also through acquisitions, after purchasing competing firms, Rockefeller shut down those he believed to be inefficient and kept the others. Smaller companies decried such deals as unfair because they were not producing enough oil to qualify for discounts, in 1872, Rockefeller joined the South Improvement Co. which would have allowed him to receive rebates for shipping and receive drawbacks on oil his competitors shipped. But when this became known, competitors convinced the Pennsylvania Legislature to revoke South Improvements charter. No oil was shipped under this arrangement. Standards actions and secret transport deals helped its kerosene price to drop from 58 to 26 cents from 1865 to 1870, competitors disliked the companys business practices, but consumers liked the lower prices. Standard Oil, being formed well before the discovery of the Spindletop oil field, the company was perceived to own and control all aspects of the trade. In 1885, Standard Oil of Ohio moved its headquarters from Cleveland to its permanent headquarters at 26 Broadway in New York City
21.
Gustaf Nobel
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Gustaf Nobel is a Swedish businessman and humanitarian, and a member of the Nobel family. He is the Chairman of the Nobel Charitable Trust and he studied at the University of Lund, and has worked in management positions in various companies in 15 countries around the world. Since 2005 he has lived in France and he is currently CEO of Conversus SARL, a company owned by the Nobel family. He is also involved in issues and renewable energy
22.
Marta Nobel-Oleinikoff
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Marta Helena Nobel-Oleinikoff, née Marta Helena Nobel, was a Swedish-Russian physician and philanthropist and member of the Nobel family. She was the daughter of industrialist and humanitarian Ludvig Nobel and the niece of Alfred Nobel, in 1904, she graduated from the St. Petersburgs Womens Medical Institute, presently First Pavlov State Medical University of St. Peterburg, its Surgery Clinic. She was the physician of the Branobel war hospital and was awarded the Finnish Winter War Medal in 1940. In 1905, she married a doctor specialist in infectious diseases and she was the grandmother of Michael Nobel. Nobel opposed the creation of the Bank of Sweden prize in economics, and stated in a letter to the Nobel Foundation in 1968 that the Nobel family would not allow it to be named a Nobel prize
23.
Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology
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The Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology is a Swedish museum in Stockholm. It is Sweden’s largest museum of technology, and has a charter to be responsible for preserving the Swedish cultural heritage related to technological and industrial history. Its galleries comprise around 10,000 square meters, and the museum attracts annually about 350,000 visitors. The collections consist of more than 50,000 objects and artifacts,600 shelf metres of records and documents,200,000 drawings,620,000 images. The National Museum of Science and Technology also documents technologies, processes, stories and its present building is designed in the functionalistic style by architect Ragnar Hjorth, and was opened in 1936. The museum became a foundation in 1947, and has operated with government funding since 1964. Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology website
24.
Alexander III of Russia
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Alexander III was the Emperor of Russia, King of Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death on 1 November 1894. He was highly conservative and reversed some of the reforms of his father, Alexander II. During Alexanders reign Russia fought no wars, for which he was styled The Peacemaker. Although an enthusiastic amateur musician and patron of the ballet, Alexander was seen as lacking refinement, indeed, he rather relished the idea of being of the same rough texture as some of his subjects. His education was not such as to soften these peculiarities, more than six feet tall, he was also noted for his immense physical strength. A sebaceous cyst on the side of his nose caused him to be mocked by some of his contemporaries. I was struck by the size of the man, and although cumbersome and heavy, there was indeed something of the muzhik about him. The look of his eyes made quite an impression on me. As he passed where I was standing, he raised his head for a second and it was a look as cold as steel, in which there was something threatening, even frightening, and it struck me like a blow. The look of a man who stood above all others, but who carried a burden and who every minute had to fear for his life. In later years I came into contact with the Emperor on several occasions, in more ordinary cases Tsar Alexander III could be at once kind, simple, and even almost homely. Great solicitude was devoted to the education of Nicholas as tsesarevich and this included acquaintance with French, English and German, and military drill. Pobedonostsev instilled into the mans mind the belief that zeal for Russian Orthodox thought was an essential factor of Russian patriotism to be cultivated by every right-minded emperor. On his deathbed the previous tsesarevich was said to have expressed the wish that his fiancée, Princess Dagmar of Denmark, the union proved a happy one to the end, unlike his fathers, there was no adultery in his marriage. The couple spent their night at the Tsesarevichs private dacha known as My Property. To the scandal of many at court, including the Tsesarevich himself, on 1 March 1881 Alexanders father, Alexander II, was assassinated by members of the terrorist organization Narodnaya Volya. As a result, he ascended to the Russian imperial throne in Nennal on 13 March 1881 and he and Maria Feodorovna were officially crowned and anointed on 27 May 1883. On the day of his assassination Alexander II had signed an ukaz setting up commissions to advise the monarch
25.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
26.
Energy in Azerbaijan
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Energy in Azerbaijan describes energy and electricity production, consumption and export in Azerbaijan. Production, -931,990 bbl/d Consumption, -160,000 bbl/d At the turn of the 20th century, Oil wells have been operating in Baku since the 1840s. As of the early 21st century, almost all came from off shore in the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan was one of four former Soviet republics to be self-sufficient in petroleum. However, production declined following the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union until foreign investment provided the capital for new development, production rose from 194,000 barrels per day in 1998 to an average of 318,000 barrels per day in 2004. According to industry journals and government sources, proven oil reserves as of 2004 totaled between 7 billion and 13 billion barrels, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan has planned for joint development of the off shore fields and has entered into several agreements to build oil pipelines. For instance, a project with the Caspian Pipeline Consortium would carry oil from the Caspian Sea to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. Another deal with Turkey involved the construction of a 1,760 km pipeline, in 1995 Azerbaijan had 17 offshore oil fields in production. Guneshli, about 96 km off the Azeri coast, currently accounts for more than half the annual production, by the end of 2002,33 companies in 15 foreign countries had signed agreements to develop 21 major oil fields in Azerbaijan. As of 2003 disputes over off shore oil rights in the Caspian Sea continued to hinder development of those reserves, the 2013 report by UK-based Global Witness NGO revealed that companies working in Azerbaijan’s oil industry have no transparency and accountability. It has been documented that millions of dollars of revenue disappear into the hands of obscurely owned private companies cooperate with SOCAR. The report concluded that the opacity of the struck by Socar is systemic and added. Oil and its products are central to the Azerbaijani economy. It is important for Europe that Azerbaijan keeps the oil and gas flowing and maintains a transparent, proven reserves as of late 2004 totaled 1.37 trillion cubic metres. Production of natural gas in 2011 totaled 17.66 billion cubic metres, ukraine and Iran are interested in running a natural gas pipeline through Azerbaijan en route to Eastern Europe. On March 10,2016, Natiq Aliyev, Azerbaijani energy minister, the SGC is an energy project whose goal is to move 10 billion cub meters of gas from Azerbaijan through Georgia and Turkey to Europe. Production,19.44 billion kWh consumption,13.57 billion kWh In 2011, in 2011, consumption of electricity was estimated at 13.57 billion kWh. Total installed capacity at the beginning of 2011 was 6.392 million kW, eight thermal plants supply more than 80% of capacity, and the rest comes from 5 hydroelectric plants
27.
Petroleum industry in Azerbaijan
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The petroleum industry in Azerbaijan produces about 873,260 barrels of oil per day and 29 billion cubic meters of gas per year as of 2013. Azerbaijan is one of the birthplaces of the oil industry and its history is linked to the fortunes of petroleum. It is poised to become an important oil and gas producer once again, in 1871, Ivan Mirzoev, an ethnic Armenian who was then an otkupchina monopolist, built the first wooden oil derrick followed by another the next year. Drilling was conducted primitively with an arm, whim and manual pump. There is evidence of petroleum being used in trade as early as the 3rd, information on the production of oil on the Apsheron peninsula can be found in the manuscripts of most Arabic and Persian authors. This oil is not good to eat, but it is good for burning and as a salve for men, men come from a long distance to fetch this oil, and in all the neighborhood no other oil is burnt but this. The first detailed description of the Baku oil industry was made by Engelbert Kaempfer, in his notes he confirms the existence of places where natural gas discharges to the surface. Kaempfer describes flaming steppe as follows, it and it was occupying the territory of 88 steps in length and 26 in width. Many 18th and 19th century European accounts of the Caucasus refer to the Fire Temple of Baku at Suraxanı raion, in 1806, the Russian empire occupied Baku Khanate and took monopolistic control of oil production. Later exclusive rights to produce oil were given to individuals, thereby creating the Persian otkupchina lease system, Oil extraction methods in those times were very primitive —mainly hand-dug wells, drilled to very shallow depths. The production volume of those years can be judged from data provided in 1842 by the Caspian Chamber of the Department of State Property Ministry. As a result of monopoly and the absence of growing demand. In 1813, the number of producing wells was 116, then 125 in 1825,120 in 1850, otkupschina system meant that oil production was monopolized by set of individuals who saw no incentive to increase production or improve drilling methods. In 1846, under the supervision of state advisor V. N, semyonov engineer Alekseev drilled a 21 m deep well using a primitive percussion drilling mechanism, in Bibiheybət to explore for oil, with positive results. More than a later, on August 27,1859. A small petrochemical industry sprung up around Baku, as demand for kerosene soared locally, vasily Kokorev, Peter Gubonin and German baron N. E. Tornow built the first kerosene factory in Surakhany, the factory was used to produce kerosene out of kir, an asphalt-like substance. Vitte, a Tiflis pharmacist, built the second paraffin-producing factory on Pirallahi Island, as a result, there was flurry of financial activity and various bank societies and organization were created
28.
Absheron gas field
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The Absheron gas field is an offshore natural gas field in the Caspian Sea. The field is located 100 kilometres southeast of Baku and 25 kilometres northeast of the Shah Deniz gas field and it covers approximately 270 square kilometres. Partners of the Absheron field are Total S. A. SOCAR, operator of the field is Total. Absheron block has been discovered as a result of seismic exploration by Azerbaijani scientists in 1960 and was commissioned for works in 1993. The first production sharing agreement on the Absheron field was signed between SOCAR and ChevronTexaco on August 1,1997. According to the agreement, contractors conducted three studies of 634 square kilometres of the block and drilled an exploration well in its southern section at a depth of 520 metres. In 2001, gas condensate beds were found on the depth of 6,500 metres, however, the new contract between Total and SOCAR was signed on February 27,2009. The agreement which oversaw drilling of three exploration wells within the three years was ratified by Azerbaijani Parliament in mid May,2009. Later GDF Suez acquired 20% stake from Total, the area stipulated in the agreement covered 747 square kilometres. The field is expected to contain 350 billion cubic metres of gas and 45 million ton of gas condensate. Subsequently boosting Azerbaijans gas reserves from 2.2 trillion cubic metres to 2.5 trillion cubic metres, according to Azerbaijani authorities, the production is likely to being in 2021-2022. The discovery of vast gas reserves at Absheron field will positively affect the job market in Azerbaijan and significantly boost the Azerbaijani economy
29.
Azeri oilfield
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Azeri is an offshore oil field in the Caspian Sea, located 100 km east of Baku, Azerbaijan and is a part of the larger Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli project. The Azeri field includes Central Azeri, West Azeri, East Azeri production platforms compression, the field was discovered in 1988 and originally it was named after 26 Baku Commissars. Central Azeri is a production, drilling and quarters platform located in nearly 128 m depth of water in the part of the Azeri field. The platform is constructed to produce approximately 420,000 bbl/d, West Azeri adds 300,000 bbl/d to the overall ACG production. The facilities on West Azeri include, a 48-slot PDQ platform a 30-inch oil pipeline from the platform to receiving Sangachal terminal The platform has started its operations in December 2005. East Azeri is a production, drilling and quarters platform located in 150 m depth of water and was constructed to produce oil from eastern section of Azeri field, the facilities on East Azeri include, a 48-slot PDQ platform The platform has started its operations in October 2006. The C&WP supplies Central, West and East Azeri platforms with water and gas services, manages gas export. The platform is linked to Central Azeri platform. Gas injection capacity at C&WP is 1 billion cubic feet per day utilizing 5 gas injection wells, water injection capacity is 1 million barrels per day utilizing 12 water injection wells. Gas export capacity stands at 250 million cubic feet per day, Azeri C&WP has some of the largest water injection pumps and gas injection compressors among BP platforms worldwide. The topsides have been constructed in the ATA construction yard in Bibi-Heybat, on 17 September 2008, a gas leak was discovered in the area of the Central Azeri platform after blowout in a gas-injection well. The platform was shut down and the staff was evacuated, as the West Azeri Platform was being powered by a cable from the Central Azeri Platform, it was also shut down. BP, an operator of ACG, suspected a bad cement job caused the leaking gas, production at the West Azeri Platform resumed on 9 October 2008 and at the Central Azeri Platform in December 2008
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Ashrafi field
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Ashrafi field is an oil and gas field located 105 km northeast of Baku, Azerbaijan, west of Karabakh field, in the northern section of Absheron archipelago. The Production sharing agreement for exploration, development and production between SOCAR and NAOC consortium for Dan Ulduzu-Ashrafi bloc was signed on December 14,1996, the contract area is 453 km2. The water depth on location is 160 metres -180 metres, according to the agreement,3 exploration wells would be drilled and if successful, the production would start in 2003 with an intended output to reach 7 million tons per year by 2007. Azerbaijan would also have been paid $75 million in bonuses, total capital investment was estimated to be at $2.5 billion. After drilling of 3 exploration wells,2 million tons of oil was discovered at Dan Ulduzu and 6 million tons was found at Ashrafi field in January 1998, during the exploration stage, in 1998-2001, the price for barrel of oil was below $20. Due to low prices, the bloc was not considered commercially viable and was thus abandoned. On March 7,2000 the contract for exploration ended and was not renewed by the consortium, the project was operated by North Absheron Operating Company which consisted of the operator Amoco and partners SOCAR, Itochu, Unocal, Delta Oil Company. The company had spent a total of $64.5 million for exploration, the initial right for development of the field was granted to Amoco and Unocal in 1992. The other partners joined in mid-1990s, in early 2004, SOCAR confirmed plans to revitalize the project at Dan Ulduzu and Ashrafi fields in 2007. SOCAR intends to drill 19 wells by 2015 which will require an investment of 2.76 billion Azerbaijani manats, in 2007, SOCAR signed a Memorandum of understanding with the German company Wintershall for exploration works at Ashrafi. Currently, the drilling is being carried out by semi submersible drilling vessel Dede Qorqud of Caspian Drilling Company, Dan Ulduzu field Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli Karabakh oilfield Text of the ratified law on Dan Ulduzu-Ashrafi for PSA Agreement
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Bahar oilfield
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Bahar is an offshore oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea, located 40 km southeast of Baku, Azerbaijan. The field was discovered in 1968 and was first developed in 1969, prior to 2010, it produced approximately 16.8 million tonnes of oil and 128.7 billion cubic meters of gas. There had been up to 93 wells operating in the field during the peak of production and this was the 28th agreement SOCAR signed with a foreign investor on the basis of production sharing. Rovnag Abdullayev stated that SOCAR is planning to increase the gas production of Azerbaijan to 1 trillion cm. According to the agreement, within the next 3 years, Bahar Energy Ltd will drill one exploration well, the first stage of the project includes drilling of 50 wells. In addition to that, all existing wells will be rehabilitated for production and it is estimated that the first stage of the project will bring nearly $2.5 billion of income to SOCAR. The second stage of the consists of exploration of the Bahar-2 structure within the Bahar field.5 times the 2008 production indicators. In 2008, the field produced 54-55,000 tonnes of oil and 195 million cm of gas, Bahar Energy Ltd owns 80% of the stake while SOCAR owns 20%. It is expected that Bahar Energy Ltd will invest nearly $1 billion in the project and it is estimated that Bahar field holds 2.7 million tonnes of oil and between 18.4 and 25 billion cubic meters of gas reserves. It contains oil and gas condensate in sandstone and sandy siltstone of the Pliocene Productive Series, the reservoir rocks have porosities of 13-18% and permeabilities of 45-250 mD. Biomarker geochemical analyses of onshore and offshroe fields indicate that the Pliocene oil, gum Deniz oilfield Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline Sangachal Terminal Baku-Supsa pipeline Nabucco pipeline Baku-Novo Filya gas pipeline
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Chirag oil field
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Chirag is an offshore oil field in the Caspian Sea, located 120 km east of Baku, Azerbaijan and is a part of the larger Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli project. The production, drilling and quarters platform Chirag 1 has been in operation since 1997, Chirag 1 has been producing the Early Oil from the ACG field. West Chirag is planned as an extension of ACG project, the Early Oil Project has averaged between 100,000 to 150,000 barrels per day of oil since the start of production. It was recognized as the first large-scale oil project in the Caspian Sea region, the partnership also included companies from United States, Russia, Turkey, United Kingdom, Norway, Japan and Azerbaijan. Sponsors share of the costs are estimated at $800 million. IFC loans included five A loans equalling $100 million in total and five B Loans and this part of the field is forecasted to produce until 2024. Initially, the production from Chirag was exported through Baku–Novorossiysk pipeline, once the Baku-Supsa pipeline became operational in 1999, the production was also directed through Georgia. This is considered to be an expansion of ACG field development and is known as Chirag Oil Project. In September 2010, construction of steel jacket for West Chirag platform will be started, construction will be conducted by Baku Deepwater Jacket Factory named after Heydar Aliyev. Project management plans West Chirag production to start in the quarter of 2014. According to preliminary forecasts, the platform will produce 183,000 barrels per day and 209 million cm3/day, gas produced from Chirag is planned to be exported to Europe in 2016
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Dan Ulduzu field
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Dan Ulduzu field is an oil and gas field located 105 km northeast of Baku, Azerbaijan, west of Karabakh field, in the northern section of Absheron archipelago. In Azerbaijani, Dan Ulduzu means Pole Star, the Production sharing agreement for exploration, development and production between SOCAR and NAOC consortium for Dan-Ulduzu-Ashrafi bloc was signed on December 14,1996. The contract area is 453 km2, the water depth on location is 160 metres -180 metres. According to the contract,3 exploration wells would be drilled and if successful, Azerbaijan would also have been paid $75 million in bonuses. Total capital investment was estimated at $2.5 billion, after drilling of 3 exploration wells,2 million tons of oil was discovered at Dan Ulduzu and 6 million tons was found at Ashrafi field in January 1998. During the exploration stage, in 1998-2001, the price for barrel of oil was below $20, due to low prices, the bloc was not considered commercially viable. On March 7,2000 the contract for exploration ended and was not renewed by the consortium, the project was operated by North Absheron Operating Company which consisted of the operator Amoco, SOCAR, Itochu, Unocal, Delta Oil Company. The company had spent a total of $64.5 million for exploration, the initial right for development of the field was granted to Amoco and Unocal in 1992. The other partners joined in during the mid-1990s, in early 2004, SOCAR confirmed plans to revitalize the project at Dan Ulduzu and Ashrafi fields in 2007. SOCAR intends to drill 19 wells by 2015 which will require an investment of 2.76 billion Azerbaijani manats, currently, the drilling is being carried out by Caspian Drilling Company, contracted for various projects by SOCAR. Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli Karabakh oilfield Ashrafi field Text of the law on Dan Ulduzu-Ashrafi for PSA Agreement
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Darwin Bank
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Darwin Bank is an Azerbaijani bank oil field in the Caspian Sea,45 kilometres -50 kilometres north-east of Baku and 6 kilometres west of Pirallahi Island. Industrially significant oil and natural gas resources were discovered here in the 1950s, to date,16.2 million tons of oil and 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas were extracted. State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic is in the process of building a new oil platform which will be installed in the field for drilling of 12 wells in 2010. A similar platform No.660 has already commenced on site. Another platform operated by Absheronneft drilled two wells in 2009 with an overall output of 7-8.5 tonnes of oil. The field holds 3 million tonnes of oil and 0.5 billion cubic meters of gas, a mud volcano is in the banks central part. Oil industry in Azerbaijan Azerbaijani Soviet Encyclopedia, vol
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Gum Deniz oilfield
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Gum Deniz is an offshore oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea, located 21 km southeast of Baku, Azerbaijan. The field has been in operation since 1955, Gum Deniz has produced approximately 28.9 million tonnes of oil and 27 billion cubic meters of gas to date. In March 2009, Azerbaijan drilled its last well No.478 in Gum Deniz field before new production sharing agreement for development of the field was signed with a company in December 2009. The well produces 50 tonnes of oil on daily basis, SOCAR announced this was 28th agreement it signed with a foreign investor on production sharing terms. Rovnag Abdullayev emphasized that SOCAR is planning on increase the gas production of Azerbaijan to 1 trillion cm. According to the agreement, within the next 3 years, Bahar Energy Ltd will drill one exploration well, the first stage of the project includes drilling of 50 wells. In addition to that, all existing wells will be rehabilitated for production and it is estimated that the first stage of the project will bring a profit of $2.5 billion to SOCAR. Second stage of the consists of exploration of Bahar-2 structure within the Bahar field.5 times from 2008 production indicators. Bahar Energy Ltd owns 80% of the stake while SOCAR is entitled to 20% and it is expected that Bahar Energy Ltd will invest nearly $1 billion in the project. It is estimated that Gum Deniz field holds 4.52 million tonnes of oil and 1.94 billion cubic meters of gas reserves, Bahar oilfield Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline Sangachal Terminal Baku-Supsa pipeline Nabucco pipeline Baku-Novo Filya gas pipeline
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Gunashli oilfield
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The Azeri translation of Gunashli means sunny. Gunashli is believed to have more than 100 million tonnes of oil reserves, the field was explored in 1958–63. The first offshore platform was installed by 1976, production in this section started in 1982. It consisted of 4 steel jackets for drilling of 10 wells, as per 1980 data, the platform produced 320 tonnes of oil per day. As of 1995, Gunashli was producing 120,000 barrels per day of oil, because of steadily falling rate of production, SOCAR hired Kvaerner to provide project management to rehabilitate Gunashli. In March 2008, a high-flow-rate well No.244 was put into operation through the platform No.13 and it produces 140 tons of oil and 23,000 cubic metres of natural gas per day. The well was drilled by SOCAR subsidiary Azeri Drilling Company Ltd, the well No.247 was drilled by Bayil Limani Offshore Exploration Drilling Unit through platform No.14. It produces 100 tonnes per day, the deep water section of Gunashli field has been included for development within the ACG projects Phase III. First oil from DWG was produced on 20 April 2008 from one of 10 pre-drilled wells, DWG now produces nearly 320,000 barrels per day of the total 1 million barrels per day from ACG fields complex. The DWG has 9 operating wells and it has been producing 16,800 tonnes of oil and 6.4 million cubic metres of natural gas per day. In Soviet times, on 12 July 1986 a fire out on an exploration platform in the Gunashli oilfield. Three oil workers and two rescuers died, while the incident was blamed on an engineer, widespread rumors claimed that faulty and outdated equipment caused the fire. After this incident, a minor protest against government neglect took place in front of the Government House, protestors were arrested and described as hooligans by the Soviet press. On 4 December 2015, a fire broke out in the northern part of platform No.10 at the western section of the oilfield. The fire started, according to SOCAR, when a high-pressure underwater gas pipeline was damaged in a heavy storm, as a result of the fire, the platform, which had been in service since 1984, partially collapsed. At the time of the accident,63 workers were on the platform, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Azerbaijan, seven workers are confirmed to have been killed,23 are missing,33 were rescued, and nine were hospitalized. Image showing Chirag within ACG fields
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Karabakh oilfield
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Karabakh is an offshore oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea, located 130 km east of Baku, Azerbaijan, in the northern part of Absheron archipelago. It is considered to be Azerbaijans second major contract for development of oil fields in the Caspian Sea after ACG project, the contract came into force on 28 February 1996. On 4 June 1996, the holding an interest in the project established a joint consortium. CIPCO officially started operating in August 1996, on 26 January 1999, CIPCO announced it would cease its operations. According to the management of the consortium, the development of the field was not economically profitable at this stage, as per the president of the consortium, James Tilley, the drilling of 3 wells indicates the reservoir holds no more than 30 million tonnes of oil. CIPCO officially completed its operations on 23 February 1999, total expenses incurred constituted nearly $100 million. In April,2006, SOCAR announced it would be able to develop the field itself without foreign investment, total expenditures would reach close to $200 million. Shareholders of CIPCO have the following stakes in Karabakh field, According to the PSA agreement, total capital expenditures for the project were to be $1.7 billion $1.3 billion was planned for operating costs. According to preliminary data, an estimated 620 million barrels of oil is believed to lay in the field, depth of the strata is 3, 300–4,200 metres. The agreement between the parties stipulated a 3 year feasibility study, the period could have been extended if necessary. First production was planned for end of 2000
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Nakhichevan field
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Nakhichevan field is an offshore oil and gas field the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan. It is located 90 kilometres south of Baku, at a depth of 400–600 metres, Nakhichevan deposit was discovered in 1960. It was prepared for drilling in 1994, on 10 March 2010 it was reported that the German oil company RWE Dea signed a memorandum with SOCAR for developing the field. According to preliminary government estimates, the Nakhichevan field may contain up to 300 billion cubic meters of gas and 40 million tonne of natural gas condensate
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Shafag-Asiman gas field
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Shafag-Asiman is a large complex of offshore geological structures in the Caspian Sea located 125 km southeast of Baku, Azerbaijan. The Shafag and Asiman structures have been previously called D8 and D10, MOU for exploring the Shafag-Asiman structures was signed on July 13,2009. According to the agreement, the offshore block will be jointly developed by BP. The PSA for development and exploration of Shafag-Asiman block covers a period of 30 years with potential extension of up to 5 more years, first two exploration wells will be drilled within the next four years with possible extension of exploration works for 3 more years. All costs for exploration works will be covered by BP, development of Shafag-Asiman block is considered by some as extension of Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli project, operated by BP. Exploration works are expected to start in the half of 2016. The offshore block covers an area of nearly 1,100 square kilometres which have never explored before. The fields are located in a section of close to 650 to 800 metres with a reservoir depth of about 7,000 metres. The initial reserves are estimated to be about 500 billion cubic meters of gas and 65 million tons of condensate, the 2D geophysical surveys previously conducted at block indicate that these deeply laying structures may contain big amounts of gas. The 3D-seismic study in three stages is being carried out by Caspian Geophysical under BP contract, the first phase will be completed in 2011, the second data processing phase in 2012 and the third data interpretation phase in the first half of 2014. Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli Shah Deniz gas field Umid gas field
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Umid gas field
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Umid gas field is the second largest natural gas field in Azerbaijan. It is situated in the South Caspian Sea, off the coast of Azerbaijan, approximately 75 kilometres southeast of Baku, in translation from Azerbaijani, Umid means Hope. Umid field is a part of a block consisting of Umid. The geophysical works at Umid started in 1953 which were repeated in 1972, a total of 9 wells were drilled in the area from 1977 to 1992, however no commercially viable fields were discovered at the time. In 2009, SOCAR financed the works at Umid itself. This is the first time since the Contract of the Century that Azerbaijan conducted exploration works entirely on its own, president Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan placed enormous hopes on the Umid gas field, remarking in 2010, This field has a great future. The rate of the gas wells is very high, the first well has very encouraging figures. So “Umid” lives up to its name, the discovery of “Umid” by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan is a historic event. The State Oil Company has managed to develop this large gas field on its own for the first time in recent years, the joint venture of SOCAR with Nobel Oil Group drilled three wells in the Umid gas field since 2012. The plan was to drill a total of six wells producing one million to 1.5 million cubic meters of gas per day. The Nobel Oil Group is a group operating primarily in the USA, UK, in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Group provides integrated operating services within the oil and gas sector and is developing its exploration and production capabilities. The group was set up by Azerbaijan-born Mr. Nasib Hasanov, the holding company Nobel Oil Ltd. is legally registered as an offshore company in St. Kitts and Nevis, as well as in the United Kingdom. Nobel Oil Ltd. has two shareholders registered as an offshore company – Allendorf S. A. and Technogas LTD, the Allendorf S. A. is owned by Ramiz Hasanov, citizen of Azerbaijan. Nobel Oil Ltd. comprises at least 7 subsidiaries - Nobel Oil Investment Ltd, Nobel Oil Services Limited, Nobel Oil E&P North Sea Limited, Nobel Oil E&P Limited, Nobel Oil E&P Caspian Limited, Nobel Oil E&P Management Limited, Nobel Oil E&P North America Limited. As of January 2016, the tender has not been materialized, according to the wishes of SOCAR and Nobel Oil Group the new foreign partner must have not only the skills and experience of deep-water offshore drilling, but also have available cash reserves. Since 2010 expenses have only increased whilst natural gas prices have fallen. The gas field currently JV between SOCAR and Nobel Oil companies, the JVs founding capital was just 1,000 AZN
