Science
The first oil well and refinery in Russia were constructed by Fyodor Pryadunov back in 1745.
Unfortunately, he was in advance of his time: oil was considered almost useless at the time.
Demand for kerosene gave rise to the development of oil production. Vasily Kokarev launched one of the first Russian kerosene refineries, where photonaphthyl (light oil) was produced. Later on, several researchers of the 1940s and 1950s obtained kerosene independently of one other. Nevertheless, Lukasiewicz and Zech were the first to distill crude oil into kerosene.
With each passing year, the great petroleum tree kept growing new branches. The industrial boom meant the need for new petroleum products. For example, Sidor Shibaev started the production of mineral oils for lubrication, as well as sulphuric acid, which was used to clean crude distillation units at refineries. However, it was Viktor Rogozin obtaining high-quality lubricants from oil residues who successfully brought domestic motor oils to the global market. As early as in 1880, this oilman was granted the right to label his petroleum products using the Russian national emblem, which was the proof of the highest quality.
The development of oil fields in the country was just emerging when the greatest Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev noted that it would be wise to refine oil in Russia and sell finished petroleum products abroad. He also designed an apparatus for continuous oil distillation and launched the production of black oil and oils for lubrication from petroleum residues. The inventions of Dmitri Mendeleev were made at the dawn of the Oil Age, which began when fossil fuels became the driving force for diverse engines that would never even work otherwise. That raised an issue of how to transport oil and petroleum products.
In 1895, Vladimir Shukhov, who was often referred to as “a man and a factory” for his numerous inventions, derived precise mathematical formulas describing the flow of crude oil and black oil in pipes. His calculations are still used at present for routing oil lines as well as for construction of cylinder-shaped oil storage tanks. What is more, Vladimir Shukhov was the first to invent experimental cracking and oil fractionation units of continuous operation, pumps, etc. Years later, the President of one of the largest oil companies in the country would recognize the importance of this distinguished Russian engineer: “In fact, we are developing his engineering ideas when today we are ramping up production, laying pipelines and increasing refinery yield”.
Russian oil science was officially born almost a century ago when the Council of People’s Commissars adopted the dedicated resolution “On Establishing Oil Research” of May 15, 1927. Since then, many notable researchers have contributed to the evolution of this science.
The whole oil industry has a deep gratitude for these extraordinary people of science. They discovered oil, which, in its turn, revealed them to the world as outstanding enthusiasts whose legacy perpetuated their names. Some of them might be more prominent, while others might be less well-known. Anyway, there is no doubt that each of them significantly contributed to our world of today, when life without oil is unimaginable.
It is commonly believed that oil reserves may only last for several decades more, so we have already passed the hydrocarbon stage of human history. However, that is not the case. There are still lots of natural resources. Modern production methods facilitate the extraction of less than half of the reserves from conventional oil fields. There are still many technologies we will have to elaborate to recover massive deposits of new, unconventional reserves. There is no other way: the energy sector might do without oil, but it is irreplaceable in the production of polymers that are essential for our modern life. Exploration and production of hydrocarbons is a challenging task that requires the use of high technology. To find the solution, we now use different methods of geophysics, chemistry, simulation modeling and machine learning algorithms, amongst others.
The ever-evolving oil industry requires more and more exceptional innovations. This generated a number of technologies and approaches that form the basis of oil engineering, which turned into the art of bringing creative ideas to life at all stages, from design to project implementation.
The team of MNKT are specialists who have academic degrees and theses related to oil and gas production. They rely on gained insights and apply theoretical knowledge to practical work. In addition, it is worth noting that it would be impossible to create and introduce the latest scientific developments into production without cooperation between production facilities and research institutes. Our Company is actively engaged in collaboration with universities, which helps us grow and move forward.