The first mention of oil in Turkmenistan, more precisely on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, dates back to the 18th century. There is evidence that in 1782, 20 oil wells were used on Cheleken (popularly called “oil island”), from which up to 4,000 poods of oil a year were extracted. The oil was shipped in wineskins (bags made of animal skin) by boats – prototypes of modern tankers.
In 1876, the Nobel Brothers’ company drilled a well on Cheleken Island and began to develop oil fields. In 1882, of the 38 oil-bearing sites opened at that time, eight belonged to the Nobel brothers, where they drilled only three wells, the remaining 164 were leased. The remaining 30 sites were taken over by an oil industrialist Palashkovsky.
