Reich drilling program

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The Reichsbohrprogramm was a large-scale, state-funded exploration program which, from 1934 to 1945, aimed to systematically search the area of ​​the German Reich for oil deposits . It thus served the goal of the Nazi regime to significantly increase domestic oil production as part of its self-sufficiency efforts in order to ensure an adequate oil supply for the German war economy . The Reich drilling program was extended to Austria in 1938 and later to other occupied countries.

backgrounds

After the blockade experiences of the First World War, efforts towards self-sufficiency also largely determined the armament-economic course of the Nazi regime with regard to the decisive raw material crude oil. In addition to the accelerated expansion of hydrocarbon synthesis in hydrogenation plants (in particular operated by IG Farben ), considerations to increase domestic oil production via the development of further deposits played a decisive role in the war preparations. The Reich drilling program from 1934, which was essentially based on the suggestions of the oil geologist Alfred Bentz, who worked at the Prussian Geological State Institute (PGLA), supported the systematic exploration of undeveloped areas in the German Reich with loans to companies. The companies only had to pay the money back to the state if they were successful. With the help of the Reich drilling program, German mineral oil producers successfully tapped domestic reserves, so that even without the simultaneous expansion of the hydrogenation plants at the beginning of the war, they could get more than half of the car gasoline, almost a third of the motor oil and around a fifth of the supply of aviation fuel, diesel fuel and heating oil could cover from their own sources.

development

In order to reduce the German Reich's dependency on imports of crude oil, the Reich government pushed domestic production as early as the 1920s and granted concessions to exploit further fields. When German wells struck gold near Hanover in 1932 , an oil euphoria broke out. The PGLA with Alfred Bentz advocated a general and systematic search for oil in the German Reich. After the seizure by the Nazis these requirements fell on fertile soil. Since the German oil industry, which was underdeveloped at the time, was unable to raise the financial means required for a systematic exploration on a large scale, the Nazi state decided to take part of the risk through subsidies.

On January 10, 1934, the Reich Government announced at a meeting with the most important German oil companies in the Reich Ministry of Economics that it would provide loans for the development of new oil areas. She agreed, as part of a plan drawn up by the PGLA - later kingdom drilling program called - to take over half of the pure drilling costs. Only if the drilling was successful did the company responsible have to repay the Reich loan from the profits. The Reich Ministry of Economics entrusted Alfred Bentz with overall management of the program. The PGLA thus played a key role in distributing the drilling loans. It had to select those wells that had the greatest chance of finding it.

The Elwerath union , Deutsche Erdöl AG , Preussag , Wintershall AG and ITAG developed the largest activities within the framework of the Reichsbohrprogramm . They accounted for around three quarters of all drilling operations and the majority of the drilling loans issued. The total cost of the drilling carried out in the Reich was around 44 million RM.

Results

The results of the Reich drilling program were quite remarkable. Between 1934 and 1945 a total of 643 wells were drilled. Of these, 504 wells resulted in oil discoveries and 19 new fields were developed (the natural gas field south of Bentheim was one of the most important outcrops ). Domestic production rose from 214,000 t in 1932 to a peak of 1.06 million t in 1940. Nevertheless, it quickly became clear that despite these successes, Germany's independence from oil imports could not be achieved.

Considerable progress has also been made on the technical side. In 1930 drilling at a depth of 900 m took 200 days, but in just eight years the time was reduced to 25 days. With the switch to the rotary drilling method, greater depths could also be reached. Overall, the German drilling industry, which was relatively small by international standards, caught up with foreign competitors in terms of technology.

The Reich drilling program provided the occasion for radical changes in the legal basis for oil production in Germany. The new provisions made it possible for the state to issue uniform licenses, mostly limited to five years. The Deposits Act of December 4, 1934 obliged all companies and state geological institutes to submit their geological and geophysical documents to the PGLA. Previously kept secret material was made available for the compilation of maps and for further exploration. In addition, landowners were required to allow geophysical measurements on their land.

literature

  • Titus Kockel: German Oil Policy 1928–1938 . In: Yearbook for Economic History, Supplement 7 . Akademieverlag, Berlin 2005, ISBN 978-3-05-004071-4 .
  • Rainer Karlsch , Raymond G. Stokes: Factor oil - The mineral oil industry in Germany 1859-1974 . CH Beck, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-406-50276-8 .
  • From Satan's bacon to black gold - 150 years of oil and gas from Germany . In: fuel level . No. 08 , 2009, p. 2-3 ( [1] ).