Tyumen oil

It is believed that exploration for oil in Western Siberia was carried out before the revolution, and the first mention of this dates back to 1903. Geologists did not have an unambiguous opinion about the oil and gas potential of Western Siberia, but in 1932, authoritative academician Ivan Mikhailovich Gubkin at the Ural-Kuzbass session of the USSR Academy of Sciences presented a scientific justification for the prospect of oil searches in this basin ^[1] .

Active exploration geophysical work began here in 1935, and in 1937 - systematic drilling exploration, which revealed numerous oil and gas occurrences. The work was interrupted during the Great Patriotic War , however, immediately after its completion, the search work resumed.

In the early 1950s, the country rose after the military devastation. The objectives of the five-year plan were to restore and build large industrial facilities throughout the country. The oil fields of Azerbaijan, Tataria and Bashkiria could not satisfy the needs of a growing economy. Oil was vital. Therefore, the government decided to create a new fuel and energy base in Western Siberia. To do this, it was necessary to intensify geological exploration in the territory of more than one and a half million square kilometers. At the first stage, production and research teams of geologists from the Novosibirsk, Kemerovo and Tomsk regions were sent to Tyumen to expedite work. The whole country participated in laying the foundation of a new energy base, on which its economic power depended in many respects.

Not a case, not a “smile of fortune”, but years of hard work ensured the discovery of the largest oil and gas province in the world.

The first P-1 reference well with a design depth of 2000 m was drilled in Tyumen, on ul. Milk . Drilling began on February 15, 1949 and completed on June 5, 1950 ^[2] . The work was carried out by the crew of the drilling foreman Bagrat Melik-Karamov . However, instead of oil, the well produced mineral water ^[3] . It is noteworthy that the assistant pioneer at the first well at Bagrat Melik-Karamov worked as the future discoverer of the first, Shaim , oil, Semyon Urusov ^[2] .

As recalled by the Soviet geologist Raul-Yuri Georgievich Ervye , head of the Main Tyumen Production Geological Administration (Glavtyumengeologiya), an outstanding leader and organizer of large-scale exploration work that led to the discovery of the largest oil and gas fields in Western Siberia:

We started from scratch, with the first peg for the tent. Swamp swamps of the taiga, the white silence of the tundra, thousands of kilometers of impassability - this is our working platform. Here we launched the work, built the first villages. Now it is called extreme conditions. Only the inexhaustible energy of the pioneers gave us the strength to survive in those years.

- V. D. Tokarev , A.P. Lidov . The era of Hervier. - Moscow: Siburgheo , 2009 .-- S. 4 .-- 366 p.

The USSR Ministry of Geology adopted a plan to study the geological structure of the West Siberian Lowland, according to which 26 reference wells had to be drilled. From one of them, located near the village of Berezovo, Yamal-Nenets District, on September 21, 1953, a gas fountain hit.

To develop exploration work, the Berezovka Complex Geophysical Party was organized, and then the West Siberian Geophysical Trust and the VNIGRI oil and gas expedition in Salekhard . Natural gas began to produce other exploratory wells.

New areas of search required a new strategy. For effective exploration, it was necessary to combine disparate organizations of geologists, geophysicists and drillers in one fist. Ervier perfectly understood that it was necessary to create a single exploration trust. Of course, the unification did not go smoothly, this idea also had opponents. But time has put everything in its place: systematic geophysical exploration has become a sure guide to the discovery of deposits in vast areas. The combination of geophysical exploration methods with geological and immediate verification of their drilling yielded real results. The volumes of deep drilling increased sharply. New northern areas were introduced into intelligence. The offensive on the Tyumen subsoil went on a wide front.

The scale of drilling in 1957 doubled compared to 1955, the next year - an additional one and a half times. Geologists did not lose hope of finding oil, delving into the inaccessible taiga, marshy, uninhabited areas. In the spring of 1959, drilling began in the upper Konda River.

In 1960, it was there that the crew of drilling foreman Semyon Nikitich Urusov received the first oil at well No. 2P. However, she gave only one and a half tons per day. The next well, No. 7P, turned out to be more productive and showed a flow rate of up to 12 tons per day. During the excavation, the so-called "Paleozoic crystalline rocks" were discovered, so geologists considered that there was nothing to rely on industrial oil on this site. However, Urusov did not give up and began to drill another previously planned well at number 6P. On June 21, 1960, a real oil fountain struck here for the first time - almost 400 tons per day ^[4] . The discovery of Shaim oil inspired people, doubled their strength.

Soon the "Middle Ob" spoke. On March 21, 1961, a well in Megion began to gush with oil at a rate of more than 250 tons per day. The value of this discovery was exceptionally great. It laid the foundation for the development of a whole constellation of oil and gas fields. Almost simultaneously with Megion, the large Ust-Balykskoye, then Vatinskoye, Severo-Pokurovskoye, Zapadno-Surgutskoye, Pravdinskoye, Mamontovskoye, and the oil giants Samotlor and Fedorovskoye fields were discovered on the banks of the Yuganskaya Ob.

The turning point in the history of Tyumen oil was the discovery of the Samotlor oil field on June 22, 1965. The work was conducted by the Megion Oil Exploration Expedition led by V. A. Abazarov . The exploratory well gave an unprecedented power fountain - more than a thousand tons of oil per day. The in-situ pressure was so high, and the oil burst from the depths with such force that the steel pipes were heated. Surrounded by impassable swamps, Samotlor is the sixth largest oil field in the world, which during the development period brought Russia revenues of $ 245 billion, while the costs of its development and operation did not exceed $ 27 billion.

Yuri Ervier said:

Many people think that I’m lucky in life. Just a few years after arriving in Tyumen, I headed the geological service, supervised the discovery of many deposits. I am far from the idea of ​​exaggerating my merits. A whole galaxy of talented people who knew their job worked with me. Together we went through fire and water. Among those who were the first to come here: N. Rostovtsev , S. Belkina , L. Rovnin , A. Bystritsky , V. Anisimov, L. Tsibulin , K. Kavalerov, N. Grigoriev , V. Abazarov . They came to geological exploration from a student's bench: A. Yudin , E. Teplyakov , V. Bovanenko , V. Podshibyakin , V. Tokarev , I. Nesterov , G. Makhalin , F. Salmanov , V. Gavrikov, B. Saveliev, V. Sobolevsky , I. Girya, A. Storozhev, G. Bystrov , V. Parkhomovich, A. Brekhuntsov. All of them have become first-class leaders determining the geological exploration strategy of Western Siberia.

- V. D. Tokarev , A.P. Lidov . The era of Hervier. - Moscow: Siburgheo , 2009. - S. 6-7. - 366 p.

In 1965, Glavtyumenneftegas was created, headed by Viktor Ivanovich Muravlenko , who applied a fundamentally new approach to the development of oil wealth and new technologies not only in drilling, but also in creating industrial and social infrastructure in the conditions of permafrost and swampiness. A large role in the industrial development of Tyumen oil was played by Aleksey Kirillovich Kortunov (head of Glavgaz from 1957 to 1972) ^[5] and Boris Evdokimovich Shcherbina - in 1961-1973 the first secretary of the Tyumen regional committee of the party, and in 1973-1984 - the minister of construction of oil enterprises and the gas industry of the USSR.

Discoveries in the Far North began with the Purpei Gas Fountain . Following it, the world's largest Urengoy gas pantry was "printed". Then the Medvezhye , Zapolyarnoye , Yamburgskoye , Komsomolskoye, Novoportovskoye deposits. Their discovery and expedited exploration on Yamal created a reliable raw material base for organizing large-scale, decades-long gas production and transportation throughout Russia and many European countries.

In order to increase the efficiency of exploration work, their efficiency, determine the most important areas of searches at the initiative of Hervier, a powerful organizational structure was created - Glavtyumengeologiya. Its creation immediately affected the pace of exploration, growth in volumes and speed of penetration, and the discovery of new deposits. Ervier directed all the activities of Glavtyumengeology to accelerate the preparation of reserves in Priobye, to study the subsoil in new areas of Yamal. Subsequent discoveries showed that the richest gas province in the world is located in Yamal. Four deposits of this region - Urengoyskoye, Yamburgskoye, Bovanenkovskoye and Zapolyarnoye - are among the 10 largest deposits in the world ^[6] .

The role of Glavtyumengeologiya in the management of exploration is difficult to overestimate. Glavk became the headquarters, immediately responding to a changing situation. In a short time, decisions were made to increase the volume of work in promising regions and this work was provided by personnel, finances, and equipment.

The region began to attract highly qualified personnel.

The construction of new cities for oil and gas workers was launched, and health resorts on the Black Sea coast were built for their relaxation.

For the efficient transportation of oil and gas, a network of oil and gas pipelines was built in the West Siberian oil and gas basin , connecting the fields with oil refineries and consumers. The first of them were the Shaim-Tyumen (1965) ^[5] and Ust-Balyk – Omsk ^[7] oil pipelines, 987 km long, the construction of which began in 1964 and was completed in 1967. The Surgut-Polotsk export oil pipeline was announced by the All-Union Komsomol shock building . In general, the development of fields in Western Siberia, the construction of the city of Novy Urengoy and the creation of a gas pipeline system, the Lenin Komsomol declared the All-Union Komsomol shock building ^[8] .

For utilization of associated gas , which was originally flared, the Surgut State District Power Station , the Nizhnevartovsk State District Power Station , and the Tobolsk Petrochemical Plant were built.

In the 1970s, gas pipelines began to be built from Western Siberia to the west, the largest of which was Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod .

By 1970, over 80 oil, gas and oil and gas fields, including the largest in the world, were discovered in the Tyumen region. For oil, these are Samotlor, Fedorov, and Mamontov deposits, for natural gas, Urengoy , Medvezhye , and Zapolyarnoye .

The volume of fuel production grew multiple: if in 1965 953 thousand tons of oil were produced in the Tyumen region, then in 1970 it was already 28 million tons, and in 1975 more than 141 million tons, and by the end of the decade the region had reached the production of a million tons of oil and billion cubic meters of gas per day: in 1980 the Tyumen oil fields produced 313 million tons, in 1981 - 329.2 million tons of oil ^[9] . If in Baku it took a hundred years to achieve an annual oil production of 23.5 million tons, in Tyumen this line was crossed in the first five years after the start of industrial development ^[1] .

The first secretary of the Tyumen regional committee of the Komsomol Gennady Shmal recalled that in 1966 the Financial Times wrote skeptically that the Russians called some numbers of reserves and production - let's see what they did in 5 years. “And after 5 years, already in 1971, oil production in Western Siberia amounted to more than 31 million tons. There was no such pace anywhere ” ^[10] .

After the rise in world oil prices in 1973 more than three times, and in 1979, even more than twice, Tyumen oil became the main source of foreign exchange earnings of the country. Equipment, materials, consumer goods were bought with the proceeds ^[11] .

Yuri Ervye , Head of Glavtyumengeologiya

Farman Salmanov , founder of the Tyumen school of geology, participant in the discovery of more than 160 oil and gas fields

Victor Muravlenko , Head of Glavtyumenneftegaz

Boris Shcherbina , First Secretary of the Tyumen Regional Party Committee

Alexey Kortunov , head of Glavgaz, initiator of the construction of the Unified Gas Supply System

Semyon Urusov , drilling foreman, discoverer of Tyumen oil (Shaim)

Nikolay Glebov , drilling foreman, discoverer of the Urengoy gas field

Genadiy Shmal , initiator of the development of Tyumen oil as an All-Union Komsomol construction site

The development of Tyumen oil gave impetus to the construction of new cities. Surgut , Nizhnevartovsk , Megion , Urengoy , Novy Urengoy , Nefteyugansk , Kogalym , Urai , Langepas , Nyagan turned from small villages into cities with thousands of people. In total, 18 cities were built during the development of Tyumen oil ^[12] . The names of the cities of Langepas, Urai, Kogalym gave the abbreviation of the first letters in the name of the private oil company LUKoil , created by the Tyumen oilman Vagit Alekperov .

Thanks to the development of oil fields in the cities of the Tyumen region, a complete social infrastructure and airports were built. The region has paved roads, the Tyumen-Tobolsk-Surgut-Nizhnevartovsk railway, and dozens of bridges across the rivers have been built.

For its contribution to the discovery and development of Tyumen oil, the Tyumen Geological Administration was awarded the Order of Lenin , eight geologists were awarded the titles of Heroes of Socialist Labor , nine more were awarded the Lenin Prize, 394 people were awarded orders and medals of the Soviet Union.

As a result of the trips of poets and composers to Komsomol construction sites, songs were created that gained wide popularity: “ The main thing, guys, do not get old with your heart ”, “Letter to Ust-Ilim”, “Power transmission line-500”, “Geologists”, “ Girls dance on the deck ”From the cycle of Alexandra Pakhmutova “ Taiga Stars ” (poets S. Grebennikov and N. Dobronravov ) ^[13] ,“ Blue Cities ”by Andrei Petrov .

"Tyumen oil." Song of V. S. Vysotsky ^[14] , 1972.

"Northern option." A feature film, shot in 1974 about the discovery of oil by Semyon Urusov [1], and the main role is Oleg Anofriev .

" Sibiriada ." The epic film of Andrei Konchalovsky 1978.

Since 1964, in Khanty-Mansiysk, ski races for the prize "Big Tyumen Oil" have been held ^[15] . In 1980, they met the standards of the master of sports Nadezhda Kovrizhnykh , the first coach of the Olympic champions Anastasia and Anton Shipulin ^[16] .

• V. D. Tokarev , A.P. Lidov . The era of Hervier. - Moscow: Siburgheo , 2009 .-- 366 p.
• Koleva, Galina Yuryevna. Creation of the West Siberian oil and gas complex in the practice of economic development of Western Siberia: 1964 - 1989 Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Historical Sciences. - Tyumen, 2007.