2. Moreni Field:
• Peri-Carpathian Region
• South Carpathian Depression
• Mio-Pliocene Zone (Diapir Zone)
The Moreni field has some of the oldest oil
production in Romania and is still the largest
Commercial Reservoir in Romania.
Moreni
Moreni
Operation Area: Asset 3
Field Cluster:
Moreni
4. Moreni Oil History
Moreni is well know for its oil. The first document about
the drillings dates from 1691. The exploitation began after
1880 together with the oil distilleries. Between 1910 and
1913 there were 16 oil companies, Romanian and foreign.
In 1913 it was highest oil production field in the country.
Until 1916 the production kept growing, then collapsed
because of the first world war. In 1930, 50% of Romanian
oil production came from Moreni. At the beginning of the
economical crisis, proprieties from Moreni produced 520
thousand tones of oil per year. The production doubled in
1930. Between the two world wars, the development of the
town was proportional with the one of oil industry. The
developments were made from private properties leased
to some German, Dutch and Americans firms. Americans
drilled for the first time a well with the Rotary system at
Moreni.
5. 1861 - The first well drilled in Romania, to a depth of 150m,
using wooden rods and auger type bits
7. Moreni-Gura-Ocnitei field was found in 1857
Romania is the World’s oldest oil producing country with
production records going back to 1854. The giant Moreni-
Gura-Ocnitei field was found in 1857, holding about 750 Mb.
The country, with its long history of production, ranks 32nd
out of 65 oil producing countries in terms of Ultimate
Recovery. A total of some 540 wildcats have been drilled,
many before 1930, yielding discoveries totaling about 6.7 Gb,
of which 5.8 Gb have already been produced. It is evidently a
very mature oil territory with future discovery here estimated
at about 300 Mb. In addition, some 55 Tcf of gas have been
discovered, of which 43 Tcf have been produced, with
production now running at about 475 bcf a year.
9. The oldest commercial oil fields in the world
The Romanian oil fields began production in 1857 and are the oldest commercial
fields in the world, pre-dating those of the United States by two years. Here the only
American company operating was Standard Oil of New Jersey. In 1905 organize the
Romana-Americana (*Romana-Americana* Societate Anonoma pentru Industria,
Comertul si Exportul Petrolului) which, by 1928, had assets of more than 18 million
$. It has its own electric power plant, and owns a reservoir at Constanta, connected
by pipeline with Moreni. In 1929 company produced 426,540 tons of petroleum. The
Romana-Americana was holds a block of 150000 shares in the Romanian company
Creditul Minier, the largest domestically organized producer, and as a result of
negotiations in 1928, it acquired 49 drilling rights from the Subsolul Roman
company. It was operates the Aurora Company on lease and it purchased in 1926
nine small companies and negotiated for the acquisition of the Phoenix Oil and
Transport Co., Ltd. Rated solely on the basis of its own productions, it operates 30
wells, and produced in 1929 about 10% of the Romanian total (outranked by the
Shell Oil and Romano-Anglo-French (Steaua-Romana) combines). The production
of the Phoenix, Romana-Americana and Creditul Minier companies together totaled
27% of the Romanian output which, in 1929, amounted to 4.8 million tones.
13. Hand-dug wells in Moreni, Romania
The hand-dug wells in Moreni ,Romania are highly interesting relics of a period which
is now relegated to the past, though so long as the Romanian petroleum industry
exists, so long will the old hand-dug wells be associated with it. These wells are
about 5 feet in diameter, and are sunk through alternate layers of clay, schisty clay,
sandy clay, sandstone, and petroliferous sand to the more shallow oil horizons. They
are dug by workmen who descend dressed with the minimum of clothing, usually
saturated with oil, and wearing a tin hat to protect the head from falling stones, etc.
The sides of the wells are lined with impermeable clay, which is protected by wicker-
work. The man is lowered by a rope, air being supplied to him by means of bellows.
At some places the rotary fan was employed more recently, but somehow it
frequently happened that it was operated in the wrong direction, and the unfortunate
digger was asphyxiated. These old wells have a depth of about 450 feet, and though
their yield of oil is not considerable, it has for many years been a paying proposition
to those engaged in this primitive method of petroleum production. The excavated
earth, when digging these wells, was brought to the surface in buckets, lowered and
raised by means of either manual labour or horse traction. When the first oil source,
was reached and the extraction of the crude oil commenced, this was accomplished
by means of the use of wooden buckets or leather skins, one being lowered empty
while the other was raised full. By this means it was possible to raise as much as 20
tons of the oil per day quite a considerable amount, considering the primitive means
adopted.
14. The beginning of
the Petroleum
Industry at Moreni
Early-Mid 20th
Century
26. Moreni Firsts:
For the first time in petroleum industry in Romania:
1907 The Romanian-American Company drilled in Moreni the first Rotary-system
well (Speranta well).
1921 The testing of the gas-lift extraction system at the “15 AR” well, in Moreni, by
ASTRA ROMANA.
1926 The first use of the preventer at 100 AR Moreni well by ASTRA ROMANA.
1927 The construction of gas pipeline between Moreni and Floresti-15 Km by
Steaua Romana.
1928 The construction of gas pipeline between Moreni and Ploiesti by Astra &
Steaua Romana.
1931 The first gas injection at Dacian Moreni oil fields
29. Moreni
Moreni is a town in Dâmbovita County, Romania. In 1691 Moreni became the
first place in Romania (and the third in the world) where oil was extracted.
The oil is still extracted today. The year 1857 was marked by a series of
events which placed Romania as a strategic point on the energetic world
map and had a spectacular impact in all the social life fields. In that year, the
first refinery in the world was built and opened in Ploiesti, and Romania was
the first country in the world with a petroleum production officially
registered in the international statistics (275 tones, according to the
publication “The Science of Petroleum”). In the same year, Bucharest was
the first city in the world illuminated with kerosene, and 50 years later, in
1907, was the host of the third World Conference in the field.
Therefore, Romania has a tradition of over one century and a half in the
petroleum extraction and in capitalization of the products resulted after
processing it. Through the changes they have involved, the 151 years of oil
mean 151 years of modern history of the Romanian economy and society.
Marking this moment represents an opportunity for knowing our own history
and for debates about our place in the “new order” of the oil.
30. Drilling activities in Moreni, Romania
Anton Raky and his Company "Societatea Campina-Moreni", 1906
31. Regatul Roman
From 1898 to 1907, at times with over 100 drilling rigs in
action, the Internationale Bohrgesellschaft AG bores a total
depth of over 1 million meters, almost 200000 meters of these
in just one year. His activity is so successful that the company
sometimes distributes dividends of up to 500 percent. In 1901,
he founds a company “for exploitation of the Raky system”. In
the same year, he steps up his drilling activities in Romania
where, in 1904, he opens up the Moreni oilfield. In 1904,
together with the Schaaffhausen’sche Bankverein, “Petrolium
AG Campina Moreni” is founded in Bucharest. Raky does not
only strike oil in Moreni, but in Campina as well, where the
boreholes of the IBG are sunk to an unusual depth of 800
meters. One success follows another. In 1905, Raky combines
his Romanian enterprises to form the “Regatul Roman”.
32. View over Astra
Romana
Workshops
(Atelierele
Centrale) -1920s
33. View over Astra Romana Workshops (Atelierele Centrale) -1920s
34. View over Astra Romana Workshops (Atelierele Centrale) -1920s
35. View over Astra Romana Workshops (Atelierele Centrale) -1920s
36. View over Astra Romana Workshops (Atelierele Centrale) -1920s
56. Moreni - In-between the Two Wars
During the two wars, the Romanian capital is encouraged and regaining
ground, up 26.3% in 1936 in terms of production growth in the country who
had the 4th largest in the world (8.7 million tons). The origin of foreign capital
has changed too, the Austrian and German capital making up the Anglo-Dutch
capital (40.2% on the same date). This interest was clearly located in the
Prahova Subcarpates, other petroleum stores, known for a long time, are often
neglected. Before 1944, only 2 departments (Prahova and Dâmboviţa)
accumulated 98.6% of oil production. The interest of major foreign oil has
been shown at the time by buying companies so that indigenous production to
1940 was controlled by the Royal Dutch-Shell Oil (through its subsidiary
Steaua Română) and Standard Oil (for its two subsidiaries' Astra Română and
Societatea Romano-Americana). The participation of foreign capital may
explain the increase in production during the economic crisis of 1929-1932
and the important weight in the global oil exports (12% of the total in 1935, the
3rd in the world) . This demonstrates the vital importance of this industry for
Romania at the time, oil being its main asset. One can even say that the myth
of Romania between the two wars, a sort of paradise lost, still invoked today is
at the origin after an illusion of prosperity created by the economic success
which the oil was the recipient emerging bourgeoisie of the country.
71. Moreni Fire
A loss estimated at $5,000,000 has
been caused by fires which are
spreading from one oil well to another
in the petroleum district of Moreni. The
fires started with explosion of a large
well, and spread thru the whole valley
and along the hillsides, which were
soon a mass of flames. Over 25 wells
were alight, all burning furiously
Lewiston Evening Journal - Nov 4, 1913
73. Tragic oil fire
Petroleum well No. 8 at Bana Moreni, belonging to the
Romanian Consolidated Oilfields, Limited, caught fire,
and the outbreak extended to the neighboring wells
belonging to the same company. They were all burnt
down. Seven persons connected with the
management of the company, including Mr Harold
Manderson, an engineer, and brother of the well-
known petroleum expert of that name, were severely
burned and are in a dying condition. A large number
of others were severely injured. The loss to the
company is heavy.
Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 12065, 3 May 1913, Page 10
74. Gushing Fire at Moreni in 1925
”Bill Cannon, Standard Oil Co. driller, had ignited through friction the deepest oil well
at Moreni, Romania. Cannon immediately ordered all the men to leave the danger
zone. As he himself fled from the roaring flames, an angry Romanian crowd attacked
him for causing the fire, now rapidly spreading. Cannon's revolver, however, cowed
them. Thirty miles away, a group of Americans saw the vast columns of fire and
smoke ascending to the heavens. In fast automobiles they dashed to the scene. One
Dunlap, superintendent of the area, realized that nothing could be done except to
localize the conflagration. The usual method of putting out a blazing oil gusher by
steam pressure could not be used, because the nearest boilers were several miles
away. Eventually, the authorities at Bucharest, the capital, were induced to send a
battery of artillery to bombard the well, with the object of closing it up. Romanian
gunners bombarded it for half a day and all they succeeded in doing was to spread the
fire. At this point, several Romanians and Germans offered to sell for $3,500 to
superintendent Dunlap a sure scheme to extinguish the fire. Their proposal was
looked into, rejected.
The next scheme tried was digging a tunnel up to the wall with the idea of dynamiting
it. The project was stopped by irate Romanians who demanded huge payments for
permission to use their property as a right of way. The burning well is about a mile
deep and has a pressure of about 50 atmospheres. The damage may amount to
$1,500,000.The fire was visible for 45 miles”
Retrieval of Time Magazine Aug 17 , 1925
76. The largest oil fire in European history
Oil eruptions at well nr. 160 RA, Moreni, Romania,1929.
77. "The Torch of Moreni"
May 29, 1930 - One Killed In Romanian Oil Blast.
July 23, 1929 - ROMANIAN OIL FIRE WORSE. After Nearly Two Months Fighters Are Driven Further Away.
A Moreni dispatch today said the fire over oil wells of the Romano-American Company, a subsidiary
of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, is growing in intensity so that firemen are forced daily
to work from increasing distances.
July 31,1929 - GAS WELL EXPLODES, KILLS 2; Three Others Are Badly Burned in Blast in Rumania. Two
men were killed and three terribly injured by an explosion of natural gas at the Romanian-American
Petroleum company's well at Moreni which has been burning nearly three weeks.
August 4, 1929 - ROMANIAN WELL BURNS ON; Tunnel, dug to undermine fire, ineffective, experts baffled.
August 6,1925 - STANDARD OIL WELL BURNS IN RUMANIA; Mob Attempts to Kill an American Driller,
Trying to Stop Fire. FLAMES DEFY ARTILLERY Outbreak at Other Wells Causes Panic in Moreni-
Loss May Be $1,500,000. The heroic efforts of American engineers in fighting the largest oil fire in
European history, against odds imposed by nature and human meanness.
August 19,1930 - Romanian oil well flames anew.
September 3, 1929 - Romania Fines Oil Company For Negligence in Wells Fire.
September 22,1929 - OIL WELL TRANSFORMED INTO A FLAMING TORCH; Surrounding Rumanian
Property Threatened by Blaze Which Has Burned Over 100 Days. For more than a hundred days
"the torch of Moreni," a burning geyser of, oil, has, illuminated the countryside, even to the capital,
sixty miles away from "Well 160, Moreni-Standard." All efforts to extinguish the flames have been in
vain so far.
81. Oil eruptions at well nr. 160 Romana-Americana (subsidiary of Standard Oil Co.)
82. Moreni Disaster
28th May 1929. In Moreni area, a big disaster occurred. On a Plateau of Moreni, called
Tuicani was 160RA well ,property of the Romanian-American Society. When drillings were at
about 1460 metres the gas force reached its maximum. At this time the chisel reached the oil
bearing bed and the force of gas blow the derrick in the air at about 400 metres. Because of
sparks the well burst into flames. The flames grew and grew reaching 100 metres in high.
By using the pumps, a great water dam was made. The heat from the flames was so great that
the teams couldn't get closer then 300 metres. By chance, there were no victim. According to
the specialist the damages was over 100 million lei. In the next day the column of fire was 60-
70 metres in high and a whole region it was lightened. It was very well seen from Ploiesti (50
km away) or even Chitila (85 km away). Many birds around the area didn't migrate that year
and trees remaining greens The well burn for two and a half years and in this time the lost
amount of oil was huge and many trying to put the fire down has ended with no effect and
human life lost. Never had a fire burned so long and so hard as Romania's Moreni No.
160RA . A ferocious blaze that flamed for over two years and lit the skies for as far as seventy
miles, the Moreni No. 160RA had already claimed the lives of fourteen men by the time
Romanian oil executives agreed to the innovative approach proposed by maverick firefighter,
Myron Kinley. In 1931, when Myron went to Romania to put out a fire which had raged for two
years, his fame became international. Every new fire was a new problem. In Romania, the
caved-in well had made a crater 250 ft. wide and 65 ft. deep filled with small ground fires and a
tangled web of melted pipeline. It took Kinley six months to lick the fire. American engineer
Myron Kinley receive after the fire ended, a 50 thousand dollars, a fortune for that time. In
September 1931 the Great Fire ended by itself but still went on slowly until 4 th of November.
83. Oil eruptions at
well nr. 160
Romana-
Americana
(subsidiary of
Standard Oil Co.)
