Azerbaijan’s oil industry – the twentieth century and the beginning of the developing and the Republic of the area, which play an important role in the economy. The oil industry is basically concentrated around Baku.
The petroleum industry in Azerbaijan produces about 873,260 barrels (138,837 m3) 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. Its history is linked to the fortunes of petroleum. It is poised to become an important oil and gas producer once again.
The real oil boom in the country coincides with the end of the 19 – early 20 centuries. At that time, Rothschild and the Nobel brothers, as well as the oil industry workers of the Russian Empire, developed through the Baku oil. Then, the party functionaries were in charge of the development and production of oil fields in Moscow. Only in the early 1990’s, when Azerbaijan gained its independence, the Azerbaijanis could have their natural resources.
In 1871, Ivan Mirzoev, who was then an otkupchina monopolist, built the first wooden oil derrick followed by another the next year. Drilling was conducted primitively with a balance arm, whim and manual pump.
History
Early history
There is evidence of petroleum being used in trade as early as the 3rd and 4th centuries. Information on the production of oil on the Apsheron peninsula can be found in the manuscripts of most Arabic and Persian authors.
Pre-industrial period
Haji Kasimbey Mansurbekov, in 1803 for the first time in the world, begins sea oil extraction in Bibi-Heybat bay from two wells in 18m and 30m away from coast line. First offshore oil extraction was abandoned when strong storm in 1825 destroyed the wells.
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. This year all oil sources of Absheron, Guba and Salyan belonging to Baku khanate are requisitioned and declared state assets of Russia; and also, by the time of the joining of the Baku khanate to Russia about 120 wells were placed in the Baku area; the annual extraction from these wells made up about 200 thousand poods of oil.
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. It refers to 136 wells around Absheron, which produced 3,760 cubic metres (23,600 bbl) per year, and this oil was exported to Persia, where it was used for lighting as well as in ointments and other traditional remedies.
As a result of otkupschina monopoly and the absence of growing demand, annual oil production in the first half of 19th century remained unchanged at 250–300 poods (4–5 thousand tons). In 1813, the number of producing wells was 116, then 125 in 1825, 120 in 1850, and only 218 in 1860. Otkupschina system meant that oil production was monopolized by set of individuals who saw no incentive to increase production or improve drilling methods. In 1845 Grand Duke Mikhail Vorontsov (1782-1856), Governor on the Caucasus authorizes funds for oil drilling considering the ideas of N.I. Voskoboynikov (1801-1860).
In 1846, under the supervision of state advisor V.N. Semyonov (1801-1863), an 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 decade later, on August 27, 1859, “Colonel” Edwin L. Drake struck oil on American soil for the first time.
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. In 1859, N.I. 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. In 1884, the oil barons in Baku established their own organization, the Oil Extractors Congress Council for the discussion of oil business. They created their own magazine, Neftyanoe Delo (Oil Business), a library, school, hospital, and pharmacy. For six years, the Council of Oil Extractors Congress was directed by Ludvig Nobel.
The oil industry greatly influenced the architectural appearance of Baku as a modern city. Administrative, social and municipal institutions were established which, in turn, made decisions about the city’s illumination, roads, streets, buildings, telephone stations, and horse-drawn trolleys. Gardens and parks were laid out and hotels, casinos and beautiful stores were built.
First, exclusive rights to develop Baku oil fields were in the hands of Russian-registered businesses, and only in 1898 foreign companies were granted rights to explore and develop oil fields as well as to participate in annual bidding process. Between 1898 and 1903 British oil firms invested 60 million rubles in Baku oil fields. Ethnic Armenians also contributed to the oil production and drilling around Baku. They reportedly ran almost one-third of the region’s oil industry by 1900..
Oil production
The main oil-producing regions were located near Baku at Sabunchy, Surakhany and Bibi-Heybat. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Sabunchi region produced 35% of Baku’s oil, and the Bibi-Heybat region produced 28%, followed by the Romany and the Balakhany regions. Most oil production came from oil gushers in the early days, although this was a very uneconomical and environmentally-harmful process. However, the share of blowout production in the total decreased as the equipment improved. In 1887 blowouts had accounted for 42% of recovered oil, but by 1890 their prevalence decreased to 10.5%.
Foreign capital dominated the oil industry of pre-revolutionary Russia. On the eve of the World War I three companies (“Russian General Oil Company”, “Royal Dutch Shell” and “Partnership of Nobel Brothers.”) held 86% of all share capital and controlled 60% of oil production. In 1903, 12 English companies with capital of 60 million rubles were functioning in Baku region. In 1912, Anglo-Dutch Shell obtained 80% of the shares of the Caspian-Black Sea Society “Mazut”, which had belonged to De Rothschild Frères. Other British firms purchased oil operations from Hajji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev.
In 1898, the Russian oil industry produced more than the U.S. oil production level. At that time, approximately 8 million tons were being produced (160,000 barrels (25,000 m3) of oil per day). By 1901, Baku produced more than half of the world’s oil (11 million tons or 212,000 barrels (33,700 m3) of oil per day), and 55% of all Russian oil. Approximately 1.2 million tons of Baku kerosene were also sold abroad.
Subsurface and drilling
By the late 1890s, large companies started to employ geologists to describe and map prospective structures. Geologist and oil specialist Dmitry Golubyatnikov began a systematic investigation of Absheron and predicted the availability of oil deposits in Surakhany field. In 1901, the Pirallahi oil field was discovered and put on production. Scientists like Ivan Gubkin, Golubyatnikov and Uskin described the productive series deposits of Azerbaijan and the process generation for the first time in 1916.
By the early 20th century, innovation started to improve hitherto backward well drilling practices. Most of the wells up to that time were drilled by cable-tool drilling method, which limited the exploitation to shallow depth.
Qualified engineers (of which Fatulla Rustambeyov is the first Azeri national) contributed to the improvement of well designs. By early 1913 the following changes occurred in some of largest producers such as Branobel.
Transition from percussion cable-tool drilling to rotary drilling using electrical drive.
Use of thread line casing pipe instead of valve strings during drilling.
Replacement of wooden derricks with metal ones.
The process of gaslift was tested for the first time in 1915 in Romani field.
The compression during transportation of oil and gas was introduced in 1911.
Storage and transportation
In 1858, one of the major shipping companies on the Caspian Sea — joint-stock company “Kavkaz and Merkuriy” was established and served as the first oil shipping outlet.
Great changes were introduced in the area of oil storage by Nobels. To counteract the waste of the ground pits, vessels and lakes where great quantities of oil evaporated or simply penetrated back into the ground, the company started to use iron reservoirs for oil storage.
Revolution and Soviet Republic
Several oil crises jolted Russia around 1903, when constant strikes, violence and ethnic strife during Russian Revolution of 1905 led to fall in the oil production from the peak of 212,000 bbl/d (33,700 m3/d). The relative calm of the early 1910s was disrupted by World War I, when production of oil steadily decreased to reach the lowest level of just 65,000 bbl/d (10,300 m3/d) by 1918 and then dropped even more catastrophically by 1920. As a result of civil unrest no oil export was possible, oil storage facilities were damaged and wells were idle. The government of Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan was unable to restore the damage done to the oil industry during its time in office between 1918 and 1920.
Since 1918, more 5 mln ton of oil accumulated in Azerbaijan. After the occupation of Azerbaijan by Bolsheviks, all oil supplies were directed to Russia. All oil assets in the country were nationalized and Azneft State company was formed. In 1920, Alexander P. Serebrovsky, soon to be known as the “Soviet Rockefeller”, was named head of Azneft.
In 1920, only 1800 qualified specialists worked in the Russian oil industry of which 1232 worked in Azerbaijan. The industry urgently needed technology, education and specialists. The scientific exchange started with the US, where visitors from Baku were seconded to oil-fields in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, California, Texas, learned new methods of well deepening and exploitation. The Azerbaijan State Oil Academy was established in 1920 to train oil specialists.
Advancement in drilling and logging practices
For the first time in Russia in 1925, Baku engineer M.M. Skvortsov constructed a device for the automatic movement of a chisel, which became known as the “automatic driller”. By 1930, electrical logging tools were used in the wellbore by Schlumberger in the Surakhany oil field.
A new technology in drilling was introduced in Baku: electrical aggregates with exact control of the number of rotations came into widespread use. By the early 1930s, about third of well stock was operated with pumps using gas lift. In 1933, the first deviated well was drilled in the Bibi-Heybat field.
World War II
Between 1939 and 1940, when the Soviet Union was supplying oil to Nazi Germany, Britain and France planned a major strategic bombing offensive called Operation Pike to destroy the oil production facilities in Baku.
During that first year of the war, Azerbaijan produced 25.4 million tons of oil — a record. By the Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in February 1942, the commitment of more than 500 workers and employees of the oil industry of Azerbaijan was recognised by the giving of orders and medals of the USSR.
By the end of the year, so many engineers and oil workers had left for the war front that positions had to be filled by women. By the summer of 1942, more than 25,000 women or 33% of all the workers were working 18-hour shifts in the oil industries. At refineries and chemical plants, the percentage of women was even higher, estimated at 38%. By 1944, women’s participation had grown to 60%. Veterans and retirees also returned to the oil fields to help. It was not uncommon for the workforce of small towns (i.e. Kıncıvo) to completely and rapidly convert toward dependence on the oil industry during this period.
Hitler was determined to capture the oil fields of the Caucasus, in particular Baku, as it would provide much needed oil-supplies for the German military which was suffering from blockades. The 1942 German offensive codenamed Case Blue saw a determined attempt to seize the oil fields in a large scale advance into the area. The plan was to attack Baku on September 25, 1942. Anticipating the upcoming victory, Hitler’s generals presented him with a cake of the region, where the piece showing Baku was given to Hitler. But the Axis forces were surrounded and eventually defeated at Stalingrad forcing a retreat from the region. During World War II (1939-1945) – control of oil supply from Baku and the Middle East played a large role in the events of the war and the ultimate victory of the allies. Cutting off the oil supply considerably weakened Japan in the latter part of the Pacific war.
Post-war period
Beginning of offshore exploration
Oil production from the existing fields started to decline after World War II, as a result of catastrophic over-production and under-investment. However real potential for new discoveries was felt to be present offshore.
As far back as 1864, a German mineralogist and geologist H.V.Abikh surveyed and reported structures present on the seabed of the Caspian.
In the early 1930s, engineers proposed construction of offshore wells from timber piles, connected by a causeway. The first such well was laid in the open sea on the depth of 6 m to the east from filled Bibi-Heybet bay.
In 1945, oil engineers S.A. Orujev and Y. Safarov proposed a method of tubular collapsible constructions for offshore bases. This construction enabled quick installation under oil-rig at any season. In 1947, a group of oilmen developed the trestle method of linking development rigs and processing facilities. Average height of trestle above sea level is 5–7 m, and width of causeway was about 3.5 m. In 1948, construction of trestles and other causeways started on Pirallahi and Oil Rocks.
Oily Rocks Saga
One of the striking examples for offshore oil deposit development is “Oily Rocks” — “Neft Dashlari”. It is located to the south-east of Absheron Archipelago. In “Oily Rocks” sea depth ranges from 10 to 25 m, though part of the oil pool reaches 60 metres depth. Oil prospecting with geological survey, structure drilling, seismic prospecting and preliminary drilling started in 1945.
Offshore exploration in the 1960s and 1970s
As a result of intensive geological and geophysical mapping during 1950–1960, Caspian oil-and-gas bearing structures were determined. The discoveries included such fields as Darwin Bank, Gum Deniz “Canub”, “Gurgani-esea”, “Chilov Island”, “Hazi Aslanov”, “Sangachalli-sea”, “Duvanni-sea”, “Bulla Island” and Peschany.
“Contract of the Century” and following years
After gaining independence Azerbaijan started to attract badly-needed foreign investment into the country.
The implementation of the 20 PSA contracts (requiring $60 billion investment) that have been concluded so far is an integral part of Azerbaijan’s oil strategy. Azeri, Chirag and deep-water Gunashli (ACG)-International Contract No. 1 was signed by President Heydar Aliyev and the participating international companies on September 20, 1994, ratified by Parliament on December 2, and went into effect on December 12. Because of its potential reserves estimated at 6 billion barrels (950,000,000 m3) of oil, this project is often referred to as the “Contract of the Century”. The projected investment for this project is $13 billion.
However, the problem of how to deliver the oil to European markets existed. This problem was solved by the agreement for the construction of the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey in 1998.
The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline officially opened on July 13, 2006 and now transports crude oil 1,760 km (1,090 mi) from the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli oil field on the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. The oil is pumped from the Sangachal Terminal near Baku, via Tbilisi the capital of Georgia, to Ceyhan, a port on the south-eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. It is the second-longest oil pipeline in the world. (The longest is the Druzhba pipeline from Russia to central Europe).
More than 1.9 million tons of Azerbaijani oil from the port of Ceyhan were exported to world markets in September 2017 (1 million 204 thousand 943 tons of this volume was made by the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan). The volume of oil exported from the Ceyhan port amounted to 19 million 140 thousand 954 tons during January-September of 2016.
2 million 268 thousand 672 tons of Azerbaijani oil were transported through the BTC main export pipeline in October 2017.
Entirely, 344 133 525 tons of Azerbaijani oil were transported via BTC pipeline from June 2006 till November 1, 2017.
Azerbaijani Government extended “Contract of Century” until 2050 with BP-led consortium (Azerbaijan International Operating Company) based on the amended contract for extension of Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) on development of Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli block of oil and gas fields by 2050. The new contract was signed on 14 September 2017 after a letter of intent for future development of the field was signed on 23 December 2016.
The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan
The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan was founded at the decree of former president Heydar Aliyev on 29 December 1999 and started to operate in 2001. It is a sovereign wealth fund where surplus revenues of oil industry is saved. The main purposes of the Fund are to maintain macroeconomic stability and through decreasing dependence on oil and gas revenues and to foster the development of non-oil sector, to save revenues for future generations and to finance principal projects. Approximate amount of the Fund’s financial reserves is 34.7 billion dollars. Fund’s assets may be used for strategically important infrastructure projects but not for government borrowing. The strict target asset allocation of the Fund decreases investment risks. Funds flow mainly from the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan.
Main projects financed by the Fund
Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline
Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway
Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline
Oguz-Gabala-Baku water supply system
Samur-Absheron irrigation system
The role in politics
Domestic
According to political scientist Oksan Bayulge, in the 1990s, foreign oil companies brought external support and legitimacy to the Soviet-era communist elites in Azerbaijan. According to some experts, after the 1990s oil boom has increased social and economic inequality in Azerbaijan. While expenditures in the national budget are billions of dollars, most spending has been invested not in education, health and social security, but on infrastructure, military budgets and government services. Economist Thorvalth According to Gylfaso’s observations,the rich in natural resources and the money floating in money does not properly appreciate the value of Azerbaijan’s education in the long-term perspective. ”
Foreign policy
Having a private export pipeline from Azerbaijan since 1991 weakened its dependence on Russia and contributed to its regional energy projects. As a result, the Nabucco project can be used as a transit territory for the transportation of Central Asian oil and gas.
Environmental pollution
In 1929, the Keshla canal was discharged from the Lake Boyukshor lake. About 60% of these waters were directly drilled, and the remainder consisted of mines, directly taken from the sea by water lines. From the 1970s, the fauna has been discharged from fecal, household and industrial waters. Farm-fecal waters were discharged through open-air canals and slopes without the lake clearing process, which significantly worsened the sanitary condition of the area, the bottom of the lake and the coastline remained under the bitumen layer of petroleum products. Due to the evaporation of oil products in hot weather, light oil concentrations in the atmosphere have been caused by a sharp odor. The Boychor Lake Integrated Restoration Project envisages the State Program on the Socio-Economic Development of the City of Baku and its Deposits in 2014-2016 and the Additional Measures to Improve, Protect and Use the Ecological Situation of Lake Boyukoror, December 26, 2013, in accordance with the Decree.
November 4, 2013, the third of the Environment and Natural Resources Minister Huseyn Bagirov said that the development of oil industry in Azerbaijan, 35 thousand hectares of land were contaminated with oil. As a result, old plants and factories in Baku and Sumgayit have been abolished, and modern equipments have been installed at the oil and gas facilities in Garadagh. In the same year, Mirsalam Gambarov, chief of the Caspian Comprehensive Environmental Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, said in an interview with the press that the Caspian littoral pollution is 8-12 times higher than the oil extraction and transportation on the shores of Azerbaijan.
As a result of various reasons, petroleum products spilled into the reservoir cover the water surface and prevent oxygen from entering the water. The fishes exposed to oxygen deficiency are fatal. Non-soluble fibers entering the water, particles prevent it from digesting physical and chemical processes. Wood particles use oxygen when oxidizing too much, which adversely affects fish and other living things. Radioactive substances enter fish and then into other organisms.
Culture
The “black gold”, which introduces Azerbaijan to the world, has been a subject of various styles of art from time to time and even encouraged some types of art to be created. In 1921, the “Azerbaijan Oil Industry” magazine was published. The country’s oil industry was reflected in the manat released in 1994 to 2001. The oil industry and its development are also devoted to postage stamps.
The literature
The literature of Azerbaijan is dedicated to the country’s oil-related and highly esteemed literary works. Critical poems include Ramiz Rovsha’s “Homeland”, Baba Punhan’s poems “Money shows”.
Ramiz Heydar’s book, “I am a Baku oil trader,” mentions oil workers from all over the world. He spent several years in Garadagh, on the coast of the sea to write the poem “Garadagh Symphony”, visited the sea oil wells, communicated with oilmen and was closely involved with their lives and life. RHeydərin “Waves lap rising grave” poem (Paul Pototskiyə Polish engineer working in the oil fields of work has been devoted to the Bail), “Oil – the future of the motherland”, “Coast to stand up,” “America the last neftim”, “veteran oilman”, “We are in the waves”, “I saw a slippery burrow”, “I saw a city in the Caspian”, “Returning workers”, “Baku burrows come to Siberia”, “Baku’s biggest tramp”, “You breathe in oil air” and so on. poems are devoted to the life of oilmen, their romantic world.
Cinema
It is necessary to emphasize the strong influence of oil industry in Azerbaijani cinematography in Azerbaijan.
In subsequent years, Baku oil continued to be the subject of new screenplays. In the early years of Soviet rule, films about the problems of the work of trade unions of workers were drawn. In 1924, director Alexander Litvinov showed it in the comedy genre. The film ” Miner’s Oilers and Recreation” talks about oil and sanatorium rest homes. The conflicts in the oil industry were one of the main topics for filmmakers. The plot of the detective-drama ” Littoral on various shores “, published by Lytvynov in 1926, was also created around the conflict of forces that opposed hard labor in oilfields. Often there were frequent conflicts between local and local specialists in Baku. These conflicts are the basis of the film.
Since the end of the 1930s, young professionals have been involved in the oil industry. The relations between the new generation and the elderly oil masters were not smooth. In the ruling circles, this was the attitude towards the older villagers. These processes were revived in the 1940 drama New Horizon, a joint film by Agarza Guliyev and Grigori Braginski.
As the oil industry moved from sea to sea, the themes of the films were “pursued”. From the end of the 1950s, oil-related films focused on drilling in the sea. Directed by Agarza Guliyev in 1956, The Black Stones featured dramatic events that occurred when oil explorers drilled offshore. Some films were devoted to the work and life of oil workers working in Oil Rocks in the middle of the Caspian Sea. The ” Island of Miracles ” drama talks about the relationship between those who spend their lives on this island.
In 1977, the film was directed by Eldar Guliyev. The ” Burial of Love ” film, which is in the genre of Drama, speaks of the struggle of oil magnates with the new power during the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1920. In 1980 Mirzaga Mirmovsumov wrote the second screen version of Ibrahimbay Musabayov’s novel, ” Oil and Millions of Realities.” Fikret Aliyev shoots the movie “The Golden Curse “. For the filmmaking scenes, 16 burrs were built and tons of oil was used. The Golden Cliff film won the “For Successful Debut” award in 1983 at the XIV All-Union Film Festival, directed by Fikrat Aliyev.
Director Murad Ibrahimbeyov borne oil film 2003, the third of the Venice Film Festival ‘s best film in the film as the “Silver Lion” Award received. 1999 -th in the world’s screens and the James Bond adventures, of the next film in the series The World Is Not Enough (eng. The World Is Not Enough), the film some scenes were filmed at the Oil Rocks.
Other films that have a role in the history of Azerbaijan include black face of Black Gold, Oil Explorers, Oil and Millions Reality, Sixth Feel, Target Baku, and Cartoon – Black Gold.
In Fine Art
The image of oil in the fine arts of Azerbaijan can be conditionally divided into several periods: the pre-revolutionary period, the Soviet era and the modern era. Accordingly, we can observe different attitudes towards this subject, taking into account the specific features of time in different periods as well as the requirements existing in society in a specific time period.
Tahir Salahov gives a special place in oil exploration. He has repeatedly created the image of the Baku oilfield on canvas. Salahov’s works created in the 1960s have caused criticism of the “stiff style” epithets. The artist has created “Neftchi”, “Estakada”, “Neft Dashlari”, “Neftchi portrait”. In his “Neftchi”, created in 1959, his red-colored muscle’s modernist content reveals the sun’s scalp copper color. Tahir Salahov, speaking of the works dedicated to oilmen:
“Baku is the romanticism of oil workers. The city is closely linked to oil and oil production. This theme has always attracted me. That is why I dedicated my diploma to this topic. I’ve been living in a dormitory for two months and have been a family friend for them. Baku is a hard-working city, and labor has come to its end. There is no other way to describe him; for example, the “Absheron Women” is the excitement that mothers and sisters spend on their worker sons and brothers. The Neftchi family is always awaiting, constantly concerned, because their labor is heroic. ”
Maral Rahmanzadeh’s “Oil Rocks” series of “Our Guests” graphic shows that the artist describes a foreign delegation visiting oil stones as an unusual, exotic and noteworthy place. As for softness, Sattar Bahlulzadeh ‘s paintings on ” The dawn of the evening on the Caspian Sea” – the towers and hillside on canvas have been depicted in the time of the day when the sun was already sunk, but the darkness was not yet full.
The drawings by Tevfik Javadov on the oil theme are exaggerated by exaggerated colors and give the colors more bold and give preference to bright spots and black contours. In this regard, his work is more compatible with the works of other Azerbaijani artists than the work of the Mexican monumentalists. His portrait of the Oilman, although slightly modest for the painting, is reminiscent of the monumental work (on the whole canvas only the head of the worker).
Architecture
The development of oil industry in Azerbaijan has affected the country’s architecture. Revenues from the oil industry have given a powerful impetus to the construction of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic as the Palace of Felix, the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. Modern architectural examples include the SOCAR Tower and Flame towers.
The country has been named as a number of places in honor of oilmen. The two-lane 5-lane street, located in the Sabail district of Baku, is named after Neftchilar Avenue. In addition, Baku Metro has Neftchilar subway station.
In sport
The development of the oil industry in Azerbaijan also affected the sport of the country. Neftchi PFK, founded by oilmen on 18 March 1937 and representing Baku, is one of the most popular and most successful professional football clubs in Azerbaijan. Other oil-related clubs are Azneftyag Baku and Neftgaz Baku. The decline in oil prices in 2010 led to a decline in clubs in Azerbaijani football.
Music
Several songs about the oil industry in Azerbaijan are composed. The Rashid Behbudov’s repertoire Tofig Guliyev Neftchi “song”, “Gaya” vocal quartet “Oil Rocks” songs can be mentioned.
Education
The development of the oil industry in Azerbaijan has played a role in the creation of educational institutions such as the Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University, the Institute of Petrochemical Processes of ANAS, and the Baku High Oil School.
Source from Wikipedia