Oil Supply from the Ottomans to Germany during the war?

[stevenbecker]

Mates,

I notice this question on another site, and some one answered:

"The oil production and consumption of Germany before and in WW1 was almost meaningless and Romania was neutral til 1916 .
Before 1914 the few oil that Germany imported came mostly from Romania, but the war changed this, as Romanian's oil was controlled by Britain and France . It was the same for the Iraqi oil,besides the Ottoman Empire and also Romania on their own could not produce this oil and transport it to Germany .A big part of the Romanian oil installations were destroyed before the arrival of the Germans .
The first oil from occupied Romania arrived in Germany in February 1917, total til November 1918 was 890000 tons .
It is also doubtful that more oil would have benefited Germany as Germany needed less oil than the Allies .The Hochseeflotte used coal, the Royal Navy oil ."

All I could add

"As far as I know Germany with Ottoman help sent units into Persia to destroy/ disrupt British Oil supplies
The British paid a lot of money to the Arab/Persian control British Companies to kept them, the British supplied
Russian Forces also entered Persia to kept the Ottomans/Germans out
I could find no details if any oil was supplied by the Ottomans in Mespotainia to Germany
From what I can see they did not?
But it should be known that British Forces captured Basria early in the war and kept control.
Then again the Ottoman Rail line was not finished from Turkey to Mespot, so the Ottomans had no way to move large quanities of Oil, even if they wanted too"

I was worried that I maybe incorrect, but could not find any thing to disprove my statement

Could you add or help 

S.B

Edited 7 April , 2023 by stevenbecker

[infantry]

There were no oil wells or refineries in the Ottoman Empire. So called Mesopotamia oil was coming from the Iranian Ahwaz oil field under the control of Anglo-Persian company. There were of course known oil fields in Iraq where oil coming to surface naturally. But because there was no refinery crude oil had been used as bitumen. 

So it was impossible for the Germans to import oil from the empire. In fact the Ottomans also depended on oil imports from Romania and Russia (Azerbaijan). The 1918 crisis between the Ottomans and Germans was erupted due to the problem of control of Azeri oil fields.

Romania officially stopped selling oil to the Ottomans but turned a blind eye to smugglers. 

The Ottomans did attack Ahwaz and surrounding area in 1915. Some tribes like Bakhtiari collaborated with the Ottomans. The British had to send a brigade to deal with them. After some reversals, the British repulsed the Ottomans and suppressed the rebellion. 

Cheers

[stevenbecker]

Mate.

Thank you yes, I could find no mention of Oil either neither in Mespot or even Hajaz

Ans other then Sea, there was no way to move it even if they did have fields.

Funny how things changed in twenty years till 1940

S.B

[michaeldr]

See p.2 of The Great War in Palestine: Dr Tawfiq Canaan’s Photographic Album by Dr. Norbert Schwake (https://www.palestine-studies.org/sites/default/files/jq-articles/JQ_56-57_The_Great_War_0.pdf)

caption:- "Oil producing facilities at El Maqarin. Source: State Archive Dűsseldorf"

quote from text: "It is a unique picture of the station where German engineers under the command of Lieutenant Rudolf Beyschlag (later professor at the Technical Academy of Berlin) tried to produce shale oil." 

Wiki also gives the following:-  The modern exploitation of Jordanian oil shale began under Ottoman rule prior to and during World War I, when the German Army produced shale oil from the Yarmouk area. The oil shale was processed to operate the Hejaz Railway. It was mined and processed near the Maqarin station along the Haifa spur of the railroad, which partly follows the Yarmouk River valley. In addition to the shale oil production, oil shale was also utilized as a mix with coal to fuel locomotives. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_shale_in_Jordan#History)

This seems to have been a very limited, small scale, operation of local use only

[stevenbecker]

Michael,

Funny this, as I read its hard to do, and with the limited Rail Transport to move it, its a no win resource.

S.B

[michaeldr]

They really had no choice Steve.

The northern coastal region of Anatolia was the main coal field, with the coal being transported to Istanbul by ships on the Black Sea (an alternative road or rail network was not available). This shipping route was constantly threatened and harassed by the Russian navy.
See SOME RUSSIAN ASPECT OF VIEW ON CHANAKKALE WAR by Lütfi Şeyban – Kateryna Zlobina (quoting from: Bolnix, А.G., Sea fights of the First World War: On ocean open spaces)
Besides the Russian fleet periodically made bombardments of Zonguldak and Eregli: 
«After 149 mines at the Black Sea entrance to the Bosphorus, and 488 mines in Dardanelles were laid, it meant that the Germany-Turkish fleet had used all its stock of mines. That’s why it was not possible to lay mine field to protect the coal mining areas in Zonguldak and Eregli. Therefore these places constantly were under attacks by the ships of the Russian fleet which resulted in the interruption of coal deliveries for the war industry in Constantinople, because Turkey had a weak network of highway and railroads» 

Fuel was a huge problem for the Turks in 1914-1918; see
Poor Ottoman Turkish women during World War I : women’s experiences and politics in everyday life, 1914-1923 by Ikbal Elif Mahir Mahir-Metinsoy 
The shortages of fuel, coal and firewood compelled women to seek for alternative lighting and heating methods. Mitat Enç writes in his memoirs how the decrease in the means of lighting in Gaziantep created new burdens for the women of his family. First, the gas oil sold by street hawkers disappeared. Consequently, big lamps were replaced with lampions. The fuel for these lampions as well ran out soon and they were replaced with lamps using olive oil. Lighting these lamps was much more difficult when matches also disappeared from the market. Instead of matchsticks, they started to ignite hemp chips (kenevir çöpü) using the fire from never extinguished braziers. Finally, his grandmother decided to create her own lighting instruments at home during the kitchen’s idle time. She melted sulfur in a frying pan to make homemade matchsticks out of hemp chips and she organized other members of the family to make candles using cotton smeared with grease as candle wicks. Coal shortages was such a problem of housewives that there were even recipes in women’s periodicals such as Türk Kadını (Turkish Woman) for creating coal out of used papers.

The Ottoman rail lines, running through Syria to the Hedjaz, which should have been fuelled by coal, made extensive use of burning wood during the war. In Syria and Palestine, a large industry came into being to supply sawn timber for the railway, with vast forests cut down all across the country.

[domsim]

I worked in Jordan in the 90s around Shaubak and there was a spur of the Hejaz railway that ran to Hisheh-it was there to transport timber cut down in the Hisheh forest area to the main railway-the track bed was converted to a road after ww2

All the best

Dom

Edited 10 April , 2023 by domsim

[Dave1346]

I'm a former employee with the Saudi Aramco Oil Company. Prior to World War 1, oil had been discovered in Iraq which was part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1913, there were three companies vying for drilling rights in Iraq. This included TPC (Turkish Petroleum Corporation) were negotiating with the Ottoman government for drilling rights in Iraq, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (now known as British Petroleum), and Standard Oil of New York which later became Mobil. Anglo-Persia was already pumping oil in Persia which wasn't part of the Ottoman Empire. Standard Oil had a distribution network within the Ottoman Empire but was looking for a source of crude oil. 

While representatives of Standard Oil negotiated in Constantinople, other employees who had obtained exploration rights from businessmen in Palestine began an exploration of Palestine which was part of the Ottoman Empire. As a curious footnote of history, while the Americans were camping in Palestine in January of 1914, they met a Brit named TE Lawrence who would later go on to become Lawrence of Arabia. Since the Americans did not want to admit to why there were in Palestine, they passed themselves off as tourists.

At a site called Kurnub, they discovered oil. They subsequently obtained 25 year drilling rights from Constantinople. Standard spent $250,000 building a 30 kilometer long road and building a camp while they waited for their equipment to arrive. In the meanwhile Lawrence told his superiors about the American oil explorers and the the British did their best to block the American effort. When WWI began, the Ottoman government confiscated the American trucks that had just been delivered. The British diverted the company's pipes and drilling equipment to Egypt where they were impounded. 

While the potential for oil existed in Palestine, the war blocked the development of this find. For reasons unknown, the Ottoman Empire chose to not build their own oil wells and refineries despite having known about oil sites in Palestine as well as Iraq.

Here is an article that can provide more information. 

Here is another article about oil development in Iraq. 

[stevenbecker]

While this is correct, we should remember that Ottoman inferstructure was so poor that any movement of the Oil, other then Sea, could not be done to make it workable.

The vast some's of money in the Oil industry, was not being given to the Ottoman Empire, but taken by the British and Yanks.

What little money was taken by the local Arabs and the Govts in Persia, not by the Ottomans

Oil in its crude form, as used in the auto industry (POL- petrols, oils, and lubs), and plastic's, was not developed to any degree, all that would begin till well after the war.

If so then the major rail link from Istanbul out to the Empire, would have been more developed and the Empire been more into its resourses

The Germans had been pushing this for some years before the war, so a line would cross from Mespot to Europe but no luck with the poor man of Europe.

S.B

[Dave1346]

Good point. As I recall, a few  years before WWI, Italian forces occupied Tripoli. The Ottoman Empire did nothing and in the following year, they ceded all of Libya to the Italians. I've often wondered why the Ottomans did this but war costs money and if the Ottomans were having financial problems, it would have been easier for them to let Libya go.

[stevenbecker]

Mate, its one of those what if's of any war.

The Ottomans were more interested in Coal, then oil, and a major part of the Transport resources were used to move it.

When the Russians interfered with this during the war, that cause a major concern.

S.B

[KizmeRD]

The first oil refinery in Turkey didn’t get built until 1930.

MB

[Donald dogan]

In April 1919, the French navy made it to Zonguldak and Eregli to protect the coal mines there. In late August or early September 1919, Captain or a Lieutenant named Bruno left the boat and went to Sivas. Does anyone know about the French Navy boats in Zonguldak and Eregli and its crew? I suppose the French navy was sent to Zonguldak and Eregli had nothing to the with the French Navy was sent to bombard Odesa and Sevastopol. 

[KizmeRD]

Wiki can provide further insight into the circumstances of the time.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Turkish_War
 

MB

[Donald dogan]

Thanks, KizmeRD; however, the wiki has no info on the boats and the crew. What I am interested in is the names of the boats and the crew, specifically Captain Bruno.

[stevenbecker]

Sorry, I also can't find the names of any ships with the French Black Sea Fleet, that took soldiers under General d'Espèrey 

I found units of the French 122nd Div from Constanople were moved during 1919 as d'Espèrey went crazy sending French Troops all over the place 

The French had there Armie de Orient over the Balkans/Bulgaria grabbing what they could.

S.B

[stevenbecker]

Mates,

I brought this back because I found an interesting unit I've had on record, but was not sure what they did.

I though it maybe of interest as we all appear to know little on this subject

I was looking into a unit on the Dampfer "Kerkyra" (Ankunft in Deutschland nicht erwähnt)

Brennstoff-Kdo.-Arabien 4 Offz. 1 Beamter 37 Mann.

It got me looking as to what Brennstoff-Kommando Arabien did in the war

There were a number of German groups sent to Turkey or formed there, to do what TEL was up to with the Arabs in Arabia, and Mespotainia and further

I had thought that this was also one of these units, but no, I did find this

"reported start digging the first modern oil wells in the region and hit the jackpot in Mosul 12-17"

While the Germans did send a number of what were called Bohr Sonder Kommando, these dealt with water drilling in Palestine and other areas

I am yet to find who Brennstoff is, or any details on him, as none of the unit are mentioned from what little there is on this unit

I did find an officer of this unit 

Fürer Adalbert    ObLt deR    Brennftoff Kdo Arabian (Arabian Fuel Command) see Orbat 1918    1918-    (born Dürrenberg Merseburg) brother Bernhard 5th Bty/Feldartillerie-Regiment 40

And I list at lest three men who died in that unit (all in camps after the war awaiting return to Germany possibly more influenza deaths)

Pinke (Pinkle) Heinrich    Sgt    Brennstoff-Kommando Arabien    1917-18     (1893 at Saarbrücken DoD 12-1-19) Krankheit (illness) in the Laz Skutari grave in German war cemetery at Tarabya Istanbul Sammelgrab 2 possibly in Internment camp in Istanbul 

Siänen (Sa(i)nen) Clemens    Gefr    Brennstoff-Kommando Arabien    1917-18     (1892 at Erle-Midelich Recklinghausen DoD 8-1-19 or DoD 6-1-19) Krankheit (illness) in the Laz Skutari grave in German war cemetery at Tarabya Istanbul Sammelgrab 2 possibly in Internment camp in Istanbul from 5Co/Infanterie-Regiment 56 schwer verwundet (badly wounded) WIA 1915 
Weidemann Walter    Sgt    Brennstoff-Kommando Arabien    1917-18     (1890 at Schönebeck a. Elbe Sachs DoD 17-1-19 or DoD 13-1-19) Krankheit (illness) in the Laz Skutari grave in German war cemetery at Tarabya Istanbul Sammelgrab 2 possibly in Internment camp in Istanbul 

Does anyone had more on this unit or know who these men are?

 

Edited 10 September by stevenbecker

[KizmeRD]

8 hours ago, stevenbecker said:

I am yet to find who Brennstoff is, or any details on him, as none of the unit are mentioned from what little there is on this unit

I don’t think you should be looking for a person.

‘Brennstoff’ is the German word for fuel.

M.

[stevenbecker]

Thanks mate

I thought the work was benzin or same like

[GreyC]

10 hours ago, stevenbecker said:

Fürer Adalbert    ObLt deR    Brennftoff Kdo Arabian (Arabian Fuel Command)

You had it translated (almost) correctly in your own post. See above. It should be Fuel Command Arabia.

GreyC

[seaJane]

Brennstoff = literally,  "burn stuff" or so it seems to me.

[stevenbecker]

Cheers,

Yes it begs the work they did in the Ottoman Empire

was there 4 officers and 38 per drilling rig or broken down to four sub units

If they hit pay dirt in Mosul did they hit it else where?

The Germans appear to have formed or sent a number of these Resource finding groups, operating all over the Ottoman Empire

I was chasing a dead end here with units like

Ortskommandantur Prinkipo, and

Proviantamt Prinkipo

All I find is Prinkipo Greek Orphanage in the sea of Marmara

What German units with that name is still a mystery?

[KizmeRD]

What makes you believe that this unit was drilling for oil?

You can’t burn crude oil (Rohöl) as fuel, it requires a refinery to turn it into something useful, and the Ottoman’s didn’t operate a refinery, or have the means to transport large quantities of crude oil.

Isn’t it more likely that these were logistics troops? (Perhaps running a fuel depot on the island of Prinkipo?)

M.

Edited 12 September by KizmeRD

[GreyC]

44 minutes ago, KizmeRD said:

Isn’t it more likely that these were logistics troops?

Spot on.

They were part of the Pionier-Truppen  working for the Eisenbahn-Truppen and responsible for keeping the locomotives in the region running with coal and wood and oil (=Brennstoff).

GreyC

Edited 12 September by GreyC

[stevenbecker]

Yes, but I am still unsure if they were a maintence or some other group

GreyC

Mate what makes you think they were part of the Maintence troops?

An interesting articale 

The Oil Empire Fairy Tale (FREE)

With statements like

The role of oil becomes visible before and during WWI. The Great War will also accelerate the consolidation of oil corporations.

Another historic “geopolitical” milestone that shook up the Middle Eastern power equation happened when Germany signed a strategic deal with the Ottoman Empire. Some may argue that the Ottoman Empire signed its death warrant at the same time because the end of WWI marks the end of the Ottoman Empire who would evolve into a smaller but more industrially minded modern-day Turkey.

There were two importants elements emanating from this German-Ottoman deal: (1) colonial ambitions and (2) oil.

(1) Germany agrees to give up its colonial ambitions in the Ottoman Empire. The extremities of the Ottoman Empire (Egypt, Lybia, the Balkans) had already been taken away by other powers. In short, Germany came with a clean sheet and they were willing to give up their colonial ambitions in the region.

(2) Germany starts building the Berlin-Baghdad railway in 1903. In 1904, a concession was signed giving the oil found around the railway to Deutsche Bank. This explains why the “railway to nowhere” will be drawn around the most “oil” promising regions which was Mosul (Iraq) at that time.

Another important milestone for oil domination is the official switch in 1912 from coal steam engines to oil powered engines by the Royal Navy (UK).

The switch from coal to fuel brings a fundamental problem for European powers: there’s a lot of coal in Europe but there are no known oil supplies with the exception of the Carpathian mountains (Eastern and Central Europe).

The Germans start to build a railway to the Middle Eastern oil ressources to build a port in the Persian Gulf, the Baghdad or Berlin–Baghdad railway only to be finished in 1940. The deal was that the oil found around the railway would become property of Deutsche Bank so the Germans carefully drawn the railway around the oil ressources. Oil would become the driver of the German-Ottoman connections. When the Germans got involved into oil digging in the Ottoman Empire, the US, UK and French ambassador in Istanbul protested and attempted to stop this. Oil became a reason for war.

Thanks to their alliance with the Ottoman Empire, the Germans had a laissez passer to dig for oil in the region. The German Brennstoff Kommando Arabien start digging the first modern oil wells in the region and hit the jackpot in Mosul (now Iraq) in December 1917.

So they were a digging group as this said, 

Yes sorry about the 

Ortskommandantur Prinkipo, and

Proviantamt Prinkipo

I was not sure what they did in the war, and as there name is on an Island in the Sea or Marmara 

I know Germans took command positions in the another island, which was the Naval officer School but what Prinkipo did is a side track.