Formation of the Russian Oil Industry in the 19th century: Historical Experience and Modern Assessments

The article analyzes the experience of creation and industrial development of Baku oil fields in the middle of the 19th century and provides a comprehensive analysis of the factors that ensured the accelerated development of oil fields on Apsheron. A comparison is made with the American experience in the development of the oil industry of the 19th century. For the first time in Russian historiography, the authors make a multifaceted comprehensive analysis of the formation and development of the oil industry in the Russian Empire, which should be considered a unique property of the formation of the oil industry in the Russian state. The paper shows that the role of the state and large industrialists has still been insufficiently studied, and the scientific and technical development of oil fields in Baku fields did not only lag behind foreign competitors, but also surpassed them in a number of indicators. A number of well-known historical myths related to the development of new technologies in the oil industry are revealed. The article examines the development of the oil industry in chronological order - from the first historical mentions of Apsheron to the world's strongest oil industry creation of oil production rate in the area of Baku.