PETROLEUM IN THE USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700030444-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 14, 2011
• Sequence Number: 444
• Publication Date: December 15, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

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SECURITY INFORMATION
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Economic - Petroleum industry, production
HOW
PUBLISHED Book
WHERE
PUBLISHED Hamburg
DATE
PUBLISHED 1951
LANGUAGE
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1951
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Extracts from Erdoel in der Savjetunioa published by Industrieverlag
von Her nhaussen K. G.
PETROLEUM IN THE USSR
Production and Consumption
Figures t:n USSR petroleum production by regions cannot be given with ab-
solute certainty, but there is good reason to believe that they are approx.
imately as follows:
Production Figures for 1950
Petroleum Region Produc*ion
tonsr
Percent of Total
Baku 17,000,000 45.2
Groanyy 1800000 4.8
Maykop 1,500,000 4.0
Dagestan 500,000 1.3
Georgia 120,000 0.3
Turkmenistan 1,250,000 3.3
Ukraine 330,000 0.9
Second Baku
(Molotov, Ufa, Kuybyshev) 10,600,000 28.2
Emba 1,300,000 3.5
Ukhta-Pechora 800,000 2.1
Central Asia
(Fergana Valley) 1,200,000 3.2
Sakhalin 1,200,000
3.2
STATE
ARMY
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NAW NSRB
X AIR FBI
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If these production figures are considered from the'.tandpoint of the usual'
subdivision if petroleum-producing areas into southern and western regions (Hike,
Groznyy,'Nsykop, Dagestan, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine) and' eaetern'reigicas
(Molotov, Ufa, Kuybyshev, Ukhta-Pechora, Reba, Central Asia, Sakhilin), then it
is apparent that the former group produced 59.8 percent of the total output"
with its 22.5 .}illion tons and the second group produced 40.2 percent with-its
15.1 million tone.
The total amount of oil that the USSR had at its disposal for 1950 was
approximately 44 million tons with the following breakdown:
ai
n tons)
Petroleum
37.6
Shale oil
0.4
Synthetic oil
1
Total
39
I ports
Petroleum
4
Synthetic oil
1
Total
5
Grand total
44
It may be estimated that in 1950, the USSR used the petroleum and oil prod-
ucts at its disposal as follows:
Type of Use
Consumption
(million
on.)
Industrial
12
Transport
10
Agriculture
9
Household
1
Military
8
Total
Export
40
China and Korea
4
Grand total
44
USSR crude petroleum came from 18,000 to 20,000 oil wells. In 1934, the
country had 6,000 wells in operation. This number was increased on an average
of 1,500 per year, so that when the German-Soviet war started in 1941, the USSR
had about 15,000 producing veils. During the war years, about 2,500 new wells
were brought in, a number just about sufficient to replace those wells which
were exhs ted during those 4 years. The Fourth Five-Year Plan provided for
the driL..ng of 5,500 velle, 3,500 of them in the Second Ba_.u. If one estimates
that there are approximately 19,000 producing wells, then the average produc-
tion per well per year would be 2,000 tons and the average production per well
per day would be 5.5 tons.
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Petroleum Refining and Cracking
At the beginning of the Third Five-Year Plan, more than three fourths, or.
about 77 percent, of the USSR's total refining capacity was concentrnted'in
Baku. The Groznyy aria accounted for 12 percent more and the Maykop ar?a, 5
percent. During the course of the Third Five-Year Plan, USSR refining capacity
was considerably expanded.
The USSR began to construct cracking plants in 1928. In 1937, their
cracking capacity is said to have reached 9.25 million tons. At that time,
production in cracking plants was as follows (in tone):
Gasoline 1,750,000
Illuminating oils 1,500,000
Motor oils 325,000
Most of the processing plants, usually including both refining and crack-
ing installations, are located in the more important petroleum-producing-areas,
that is, in Baku, Groznyy, and the Second Baku. However there Are also im-
portant installations in petroleum-consuming areas. The chief petroleum re-
fineries are located in the following places:
Andizhan
Kazan'
lfikolayevsk
Baku
Komsomol'ek
Novobogatinskiy
Batumi
Krasnodar
Odessa
Berdyansk
Krasnoyarsk
Okha
Buguruslan
Krasnovodsk
Orek
Khabarovsk
Kuybyshev
Seratov
Kherson
Lvov
Stalingrad
Drogobych
Leningrad
Sterlitamak
Fergana
Len..nsk
Stryy
Gor'kiy
Makhachkala
Syzran'
Gorodki
Mel'nikovo
Tbilisi
Groznyy
Mirzaani
Chelyabinsk
Gur'yev
Molotov
Tu'',ee
r t
k
oskelvo
Tu mazy
I
p
s ay
M
Moscow
lots
Iskine
Nadvornaya
Ufa
Yaroslavl'
Nebit-Dag
Vladivostok
Kanibadam
Nikolayev
Since several refineries exist in some of these places, for example, 5
in Baku, 4 each in Drogobych and Fergana, 3 in Groznyy, and 2 in Molotov, the
USSR has at its disposal in 1951 at least 66 petroleum refineries which naturally
differ from each other considerably in size and capacity. The total refining
capacity of the plants would probably be between 33 and 35 million tons and the
cracking capacity between 13 and 14 million tons.
Pipelines
Two pipelines start in Baku. The older Baku-Batumi pipeline, under construc-
tion from 1896 - 1906 at a cost of 20 million rubles, was put into operation in
1906. This pipeline is 885 kilometers long and has a yearly capacity of about
one million tons. The second Baku-Batumi pipeline, put into operation in 1928,
is 840 kilometers long and has a yearly capacity of 1.4 million tons.
Two large pipelines start in Groznyy, one running to Tuapse on the Black
Sea via Armavir and Maykop, the other going via Armavir and Rostov to Trudovaya,
from which point an extension is planned to Dnepropetrovsk on the Dnepr. In
addition to this, two pipelines from Makhachkala, as well as a pipeline from
Malgobek and a natural gas pipeline from Pravoberezhnyy, terminate in Groznyy.
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The Maykop oil fields are connected by pipeline with the Krasnodar refinery.
Besides this, the Groznyy-Armavir-Tuapse pipeline runs through the area.
A 40-kilometer pipeline connects the two Georgian oil fields with the city
of Kachreti.
'A 60-kilometer pipeline, running from Izerbash, Dagestan ASSR, to Makhach.
kala, was Out into operation in 1939. Mekhachkala is itself the starting point
for two important pipelines, 155 kilometers long, constructed in 1924 and 1935,
and running from the coast of the Caspian Sea to Groznyy.
A 550-kilometer pipeline runs from the port of Krasnovodek on the Caspian
Sea to Ashkhabad, capital of the Turkmen SSR. This pipeline carrier no crude
petroleum but only refined petroleum products which it supplies to ta.e eastern
part of Turkmenistan.
Two pipelines, each 160 kilometers long an( '?uilt in 1939 - 1940, run from
Ishimbay to Ufa, and a 150-kilometer pipeline, a_oo built in 1940, runs from
Tuymazy to Ufa.
In the Kuybyshev area a petroleum pipeline ru:,e from Yablonovo, via
Batraki, to Syzran'. In 1947, a natural-gas pipeline was constructed from the
newly discovered gas field of Sultangulovo to Buguruslan, and since 1943 the
Buguruslan gas field has been connected by pipeline with Kuybyshev.
The most important pipeline in the Emba area, the 845-kilometer line from
Gur'yev on the coast to Orek, was put into operation in 1936. Its mission is
to transport crude petroleum obtained in the coastal area to Orak for refining.
From Orsk the refined products move to industrial areas on the other side of
the Urals. There are three branch lines connected with the main pipeline: one
from the Kul'sary oil field, via Koechagyl, to Makat; the second from the Bay.
chunas oil field to Iskine; and the third from Rakusha to Dossor. All these
lines were constructed in the 1930'x.
Since the oil fields of the Fergana Valley are concentrated in a small
area and there is adequate refining capacity there to process the crude petro-
leum, the need for constructing large petroleum pipelines does not exist. How-
ever there are two gas pipelines in the area, one going from the Andizban field
to the city of Andizhan, the other from Pavlan-Tash to Leninsk. These pipelines
supply Andizhan and Leninsk with gas.
In the Sakhalin oil fields a single pipeline was constructed in stages,
starting in 1937. It connects the Ekhabi oil field with Okha, Okha with
Nikolayevsk on the mainland, and from there it runs along the Amur, via Kom-
somol'sk, to Khabarovsk. This pipeline makes it possible to move Sakhalin
crude oil directly to the industrial ar. of the Far East.
The richest natural gas deposit of the USSR is concentrated in the Saratov
area. In 1942 - 1943, a 26-kilometer pipeline was constructed from the Elshanka
natural-gas field to the city of Saratov to supply gas to the power station there.
This pipeline served as a model for the 845-kilometer one from Saratov to Moscow,
decided upon in 1944 and put into operation in August 1947. This pipeline has
a daily capacity of 1,350,000 cubic meters and a yearly capacity of about 500
million cubic meters.
An 800-kilometer natural-gas pipeline has its starting point in the Izbma
gas field of the Ukhta-Pechora area, passes through the Molotov oil fields,
and terminates in Ishevsk, southwest of Molotov.
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In 1947 - 1948, a 203-kilometer pipeline was built from Kokhtla-Yarve,
Estonian SSR, to Leningrad to transport tra gas produced in connection with
the Estonian shale industry. This, line :applies one third of the population
of Leningrad with gas. A gas pipeline is being built to Tallin.
Steel Supply for the USSR Petroleum Industry
If it is assumed that the petroleum industry will require one ton of
steel for every 30-35 tone of petroleum produced, then with a petroleum,' shale
oil, and synthetic oil production of about 39 million tons, the steel require-
ment will be about 1,250,000 tons. The actual steel requirement will probably
be higher since the USSR petroleum industry is in the process of extensive ex-
pansion, but it will probably not exceed 2 million tons. This would represent
less than one twelfth of the USSR 1950 steel production of approximately 27
million tone.
However, in view of the increased steel requirements of other branciea of
industry, the steel requirements of the petroleum industry present a serious
bottleneck. One piece of evidence to this effect is the eagerness of the USSR
to import seamless Mannesmann pipes, which are used primarily in the petroleum
industry, in the production of shale oil, and in natural-gas extraction.
The future increase in the petroleum industry to meet Stalin's demands
will only be possible with a commensurate increase in the steel industry.
Contribution of Synthetic Oil to the USSR Petroleum Supply
Sixty percent of Germs. synthetic-oil plants and hydrogenation plants were
located in the Eastern Zone of Germany. Part of these the Russians converted
to a Russian stock company, and part they shipped to the USSR where two were
set up in Dzerzhinskiy and Gor'kiy to make synthetic aviation gasoline, Two
other German installations are said to have been set up near Irkutsk on Lake
Baykal. The Fourth Five-Year Plan provided for a 900,000-ton synthetic oil
production for 1950. Present synthetic-oil production is about one million
tons per year.
The Russian industry has not yet attained the highly technical statue and
productive capacity of the German industry, but it can become extremely important
to the USSR as soon as it is beyond the experimentation stage and has overcome
initial difficulties.
USSR Oil Imports
From 19%( to 1937, the USSR was an important petroleum exporter. In 1932,
she extorted 6 million tons of petroleum, but from 1937 on, her exports decreased
steadily and today they no longer play any role except for isolated exports for
political reasons. On the other hand, the USSR now strives to import as much
oil as possible.
The most important countries in Europe from which the USSR can import
petroleum or synthetic oil are Rumania, Hungary, Albania, Czechoslovakia, ;.dstria,
and Eastern Germany. T`a relations between these countries and the USSR are
not purely economic but are largely conditioned by political and ideological
motives, and the danger exists that economic relations will weaken if other po-
litical influences should become dominant in these countries.
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Rumania stands in first place amon? countries which could make a petroleum
contribution to the USSR. With a production of 4.3 million tons in 1950, she
held 12th place among petroleum countries of the world. The lack of stable
politics and a stable economy has had a deleterious effect on the Rumanian
petroleum production, as is shown in the following table:
Year
Yield
Year
Yield
Year
Yield
1936
8,700
1941
5,453
1946
4,327
1937
7,150
1942
5,665
1947
3,809
1938
6,594
1943
5.,273
1948
4,000
1939
6,226
1944
3,512
1949
4,300
1940
5,810
1945
4,690
1950
4,300
The ineatisfactory performance of the Rumanian petroleum industry is the
direct result of the poor condition of drills and other oil field mechanical
devices which date largely to prewar times. The shortage of proper equipment
has become increasingly evident since the US and Great Britain have stopped'
providing modern petroleum-production equipment for political reasons, and
the USSR is able to help out in only a very limited way because of her own
extensive requirements.
Of the entire Rumanian output the USSR taken 20 percent as reparations.
Half of the remaining 80 percent is needed for Rumania herself, and half is
available for export to the USSR. Thus, of the 1950 output, 2,6 million tons
went to the USSR and 1.7 million tons remained i.?i Rumania. The great interest
of the USSR in Rumanian petroleum is indicated by the fact that in 1950 a pipe-
line was constructed and put into operation from the Rumanian petroleum center
of Ploesti to the Black Sea port of Odessa, permitting dire-t transport of Ru-
manian petroleum to the USSR.
Although a gradual upswing in the Rumanian petroleum output has been
noted since the war, it is doubtful that it will ever again reach the prewar
high of 8.7 million tons, and it is hardly to be expected that Rumanian petro-
leum export will exceed 4 million tons in the next few years.
Petroleum exports to the USSR from Hungary e.' Albania cannot be expected
since the total production of the former amounted to 550,000 tons while that of
the latter was only 350,000 tons. Czechoslovakia and Eastern Germany do not
have any petroleum deposits but they have developed synthetic-oil production
on a large scale. In Eastern Germany synthetic-oil production amounted to
600,000 tons in 1949 and may have exceeded the million-ton mark in 1950. Czecho-
slovakia has a production capacity of 1.5 million tons yearly. The USSR could
obtain at least one million tons annually from these two areas.
At present, the petroleum production of %ustria is estimated at 1.5 to 1.8
million tone. In,l949, about half of this went to Western countries in return
for Ametican dollars. The USSR has now stopped this export and diverted the
petroleum to herself.
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Imports from an these sources to the USSR probably amounted to about 5
million tons in 1950, that ii, about one eighth 'of -the picssent' UBSR pstralst
production. An of these isports flow into the Europsan USSR. Ths'd-d- _'lies
in-Asia on nhich the-USSR could place long-range; reliance,. on thi bitlis of - -
direct Participation, would"be Sinkiang. The R lsian-Cfiineae tract- of"'27'l~rrh
1950 assigned the opening up of this province from'an economic. standpoint"to"
Moscov and Peiping and the USSR has a 50-percent share in the-Ruiiian.CpinjN
Oil Caspany- which is opening up the petroleum deposits in the area. PitrolA
from-this source wculd be extremely important to the USSR industrial aria in
Central Asia, but it is hardly to be expected that the work of the oil cwepany
will progress to such an extent as to perrdt such export to the USSR in the
foreseeable future.
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