Discussions about Russian History > Imperial Russian History

Oil and the Russian Elite

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JD:
In the biography of Felix Yussupov on this site it is said how the Yussupov land in the Caucusus was so soaked with oil that peasants would use it to grease their carts.  

Did the Russian landowners ever exploit this?  I believe the Rothschilds, Shell, and other Western companies (doubtless Rockefeller and Standard Oil) were involved in oil prospecting and production in Russia.  But it seems a cunning noble could've made a fortune by properly tapping the vast resources underneath their feet, yet I am unaware of this happening.  Did the Yussupov's, Romanov's, or any other power family ever realize the moneymaking potential of this resource?   Or was the land just cheaply leased or sold off to Western companies?

AGRBear:
I remember when I first heard about the huge interest the British had was in the tv production, [from the book by Lockardt by the same name]:  "Reilly, Ace of Spies".  

Evidently,  the interest was just rising into the public eye but WW I got in the way and the communists eliminate outside interests....  

Back in my memory bank,  it seems I remember a book about these oil fields and the "slaves"   [prisioners of war, convicts] were worked to death in building derecks....

Are these fields still useable today?

AGRBear

AGRBear:
June  1918 - p. 213   The Flight of the Romanovs by Perry and Pleshakov:    "The British became alarmed because the collapse of the Russian Persian front meant that they way was open for German her her allies to march to British India through northern Persia.  Furthermore the increasing importance of petroleum gave new strategic meaning to this part of the world."

AGRBear

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