Paging Persia

[Ithekro]

Rohan's small oil-fired force is presently supplied by the Confederate States of America and possibly "California".  Rohan might have its own internal sources and the annexation of California (in a few months time now) may give Rohan a fuctioning source of refined oil.  Since most of my oil fired ships are rather new, their numbers are limited.  Most are partially oil fired at this time, with maybe a few exceptions under construction from 1907 (new belted cruisers and destroyers are fully oil fired).

[The Rock Doctor]

I'm not a petroleum geologist, Maddox, but I can make a few observations:

-In 1908, we're lacking any knowledge of modern plate tectonics, which would be important in predicting where oil may be.

-In 1908, we're at least a decade away from any functional geophysical techniques that would allow "remote sensing" of oil at depth.

-In 1908, drilling techniques are limited, and one will not be able to exploit oil that is deeper than a few hundred metres, or located underwater.

In the end, one only really finds oil here based on visual observation.  In that case, you're most likely to get lucky if the area is either highly populated or has been settled for a long time.  Failing that, one can still get lucky, of course.

In this sim, we could see earlier-than-historical production in places which are more heavily populated or industrialized than historical, or where the culture has been around longer.  There may also be examples of good luck at mod discretion.  However - if the oil's too deep, and beyond the era's limited means of finding and extracting it, then it should simply have to remain idle until later.

I would hope that players can avoid too much meta-gaming going on in the sim in this regard.  We should not acquiring territory or diplomatic relations on the basis of oil that has not yet been discovered. 

A navy's desire to use the more efficient all-oil-firing boilers should be tempered by the fact that there are far fewer suppliers than there are of coal, and that the ships transporting this oil will be vulnerable to commerce warfare.  I can not imagine that any sane government would permit dependence on any single foreign fuel source - especially if the same government has access to perfectly useful coal closer at hand.

[swamphen]

That's one reason after an initial spree of preliminary SpringSharps, I've backed off on AOF just a bit - keeping ~60% coal firing in a number of ships that I had been considering for AOF.

The DKB buys the majority of its oil from the Dutch - hence our interest in keeping the Swiss out of those islands ;) - but also as Borys noted we buy a considerable chunk of Austria's production, both as Germanic Solidarity and also as it started out as an Oil for Food exchange back during the Hard Winter. Most Habsburg oil for Brandenburg, I would assume, goes to Ost Afrika, while the Brandenburgian Fatherland receives its black gold from the NEI.

There are (per discussions at reboot) a few small oil sources in north-east Brandenburgia, however not enough to make it worth developing - yet.

Basically the Kreigsmarine is looking at fast ships (24+ knots) going with as much oil firing as possible, with slower ships keeping coal. There are risks with this strategy of course but the economical benifits to the ships of going with oil are considered to make the game worth the candle.

[Korpen]

A navy's desire to use the more efficient all-oil-firing boilers should be tempered by the fact that there are far fewer suppliers than there are of coal, and that the ships transporting this oil will be vulnerable to commerce warfare.  I can not imagine that any sane government would permit dependence on any single foreign fuel source - especially if the same government has access to perfectly useful coal closer at hand.

"Safety and certainty in oil, lie in variety and variety alone."
-Winston Churchill

And that applies to all forms energy security.

[Borys]

Ahoj!
To add to what Rock wrote - if there is oil on the ground, seeping into stincking puddles, there is a chance of sooner than OTL explotaition.
An interesting piece of trivia I unearthed while researching Angolan oil - the first (wooden) barrels with oil from around Luanda were sent to Lisbon around 1750. Commercial exploitation, after some 20 years of drilling, came in 1960.
Borys

[Korpen]

Ahoj!
To add to what Rock wrote - if there is oil on the ground, seeping into stincking puddles, there is a chance of sooner than OTL explotaition.
An interesting piece of trivia I unearthed while researching Angolan oil - the first (wooden) barrels with oil from around Luanda were sent to Lisbon around 1750. Commercial exploitation, after some 20 years of drilling, came in 1960.
Borys

Hm, I am pretty certain that it was asphalt, not oil.
Also, there are no commercial exploitation in those areas that i know of.

[miketr]

I just checked out of the library the following book.  "Trek of the oil finders:A history of exploration for petroleum by Edgar Wesley Owen"  We can forget places like Libya and Angola for different reasons but the biggest is they are both deep well fields.  By deep I am talking 5,000 to 10,000 feet deep holes.  Angola may have surface pools but commerical production isn't really possible at this time.

Perhaps an even bigger problem for out of the way places like Angola and Libya is that they are out of the way places.  Lack of highly detailed maps, info on the geology, supporting infrastructure and better theory of petroleum geology in general.  Libya for example water wells dug along the coast in the 20's and 30's showed gas and oil signs but if you look at the field locations its all in the deep desert.  Italian geologist were looking around the place since they took over in 1912 but hard core exploration didn't start till the 1950's which was the part of the global search in non obvious places foor oil. 

At anyrate I have some reading for today.

Michael

[Borys]

Ahoj!
The 1767 stuff was both oil and asphalt.
The first research licence was granted in 1910. The first find was in 1955, and the first field - Benfica - started producing in 1956.

http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia.asp?ID=68406

ANTECEDENTES

Não se sabe, ao certo, quando é que surgiram as primeiras notícias sobre o conhecimento da existência de petróleo em Angola. Relatos dispersos dão conta de que há séculos que os povos de algumas regiões do litoral angolano utilizavam o betume e o petróleo viscoso, que ocorriam à superfície, como combustível.

Essas ocorrências de petróleo oxidado terão despertado o interesse e a curiosidade das então autoridades coloniais portuguesas sobre o fenómeno, a partir dos primórdios do século XVIII. Segundo esses mesmos relatos, o então governador geral de Angola, Sousa Coutinho, terá enviado, para Lisboa, em 1767, um lote de 49 barris de betume e petróleo recolhidos à superfície.

PRIMEIRA LICENÇA DE PESQUISA

Porém, a prospecção intermitente de petróleo em Angola tem início, em 1910, ano em que foi concedida a primeira licença de pesquisa, concentrando-se nas bacias do baixo Congo e Kwanza.

Com a concessão da primeira licença, começa a história da exploração do petróleo em Angola e a primeira descoberta do "ouro negro"; ocorreu em 1955, 45 anos após o início da actividade de pesquisa, e pertenceu Missão de Pesquisas de Petróleo da Petrofina, que descobriu, nesse ano, um pequeno jazigo denominado Benfica.

A produção do campo de Benfica teve início em 1956, enquanto a Petrangol, nome adopta a Petrofina, a partir de 1957 continuava a sua missão de prospecção do ouro negro em terra (onshore).

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ADDED LATER:
A pity there was no champion of neither Portugal nor Spain at Nacvalism 2 setup - hence the missing possessions of Guinea Bissua, Rio Muni, Goa, Timor Leste, Fernando Po, Cabinda ...

Borys

[swamphen]

Well Goa got worked into the "Portugese-influenced" ACM. ;)

Back in N2 the DKB started a nation (inc. colony)-wide geological survey, however it was to start in Kuwait - which I 'traded in' in N3 setup when I believed that it was going to be sunk under a Caspian Sea sea connection.  :(

There is, I seem to recall, oil in them thar Neue-Guinea hills, but that's almost certainly not going to happen anytime soon...