How it began
Bibi-Heybat lies on the Absheron Peninsula just south of Baku, then part of the Russian Empire. Nikolay Voskoboynikov set out the idea of drilling for oil, instead of digging pits by hand, in a report to the Russian government, which authorized funds for the work. In 1846 a well was drilled at the Bibi-Heybat settlement to a depth of about 21 meters (69 feet) by percussion drilling. One account credits the engineer Vasily Semyonov, who worked for the imperial administration, with directing it. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists calls it the world's first successfully drilled oil well.
What changed first
The well showed that oil could be reached by drilling. Industrial development followed some decades later. The Bibi-Heybat field has an official discovery date of 1871. The first auction of oil plots at Bibi-Heybat and Balakhani was held at the end of 1872, and the first gusher at Bibi-Heybat came six years later.
What lasted
Drilling made Baku a center of the early oil industry and drew investors such as the Nobel brothers and the Rothschilds, followed by pipelines, refineries and export terminals. By 1901 the Baku area produced more than half of the world's oil. In 1909 work began to fill in the shallow part of Bibi-Heybat Bay so the oil under it could be reached. It was finished in 1922 and reclaimed 865 acres from the sea.
Where it stands today
The Bibi-Heybat field was still producing in 2021 and is counted among the large fields of the South Caspian Basin. The 1846 well predates Edwin Drake's 1859 well in Titusville, Pennsylvania, which is the first successful drilled oil well in the United States.
