Cars and petrol stations are so widespread today that it is difficult for us to imagine that there was a time when only the wealthiest could afford these means of transport, and that even for them it was almost impossible to find petroleum products. However, all of this was everyday life at the beginning of the 20th century, and around that time, the story of petrol stations in Serbia began.

This is how it happened…

From pharmacies to ship pumping stations

Trade in petroleum products in Serbia can be traced back to the last decades of the 19th century. At first it was about kerosene, which came to our region from nearby Romania and was mainly used for lighting. However, these were rather small quantities mainly consumed in larger cities.

Belgrade’s history remembers 03 April 1903 as an important date. On that day, Serbia’s capital between the Danube and the Sava rivers got its first car. Its brand was “Nesselsdorf”, type B, and was bought by Boža Radulović, a rich man from the capital. Not only for this gentleman and for the Serbian capital, that day was also significant for the history of the oil industry. Namely, in order to drive their expensive four-wheelers, Boža needed gasoline, just like all subsequent car owners. It was the new driving force of an entire industry.

The first days saw many problems. Gasoline could only be obtained in pharmacies, was quite expensive, had questionable quality and was sold in small quantities. Thus, the owners of the first Serbian cars were forced to spend a lot of time (and money!) visiting pharmacies and collecting petrol to fill the tank of their expensive “pet”.

However, in small steps, the development continued… With an increasing number of cars, the demand for petrol also grew, which also led to a new shift in the oil industry development. After the First World War, the first petrol station was set up near the “Topola” tavern, at the corner of Kralja Aleksandra and Dečanska streets.

Today’s users, quite used to modern petrol stations offering a wide range of petroleum products and other car supplies, could hardly imagine what these first petrol stations looked like. Basically, they were – just pumping stations! There was a pole with installed ship pump, barrel and the filler, pumping gasoline from it, measuring and pouring it into the car’s tank with a hose.

The whole process was long and arduous, but even this was a step forward. The number of places where it was possible to buy gasoline was constantly growing. The “market competition” between different suppliers began, and we have very scarce statistical information from the decade just before the beginning of World War II. In 1939, there were 156 public petrol stations operating in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and the market consumed about 300 thousand tons of oil and petroleum products.

From ship pumping stations to the first modern petrol stations

The real development of Serbia’s petroleum industry began after the Second World War, proverbially, so to say, from a very bad situation. A modest distribution network of stations and small sales, the four-year devastation inflicted a huge blow. In Serbia alone, about 85 percent of the facilities used for storing and selling petroleum products were destroyed, and only nine petrol stations remained operational, all of them located in Belgrade.

Therefore, the first task of “Jugopetrol Belgrade” (oil and petroleum products sales company founded in 1945) and “Naftagas” (oil exploration and production company founded in 1949) was to push the market. Supply of the economy was organized, the existing distribution network was modernized, investments were made to build a new one, and after oil was discovered in Vojvodina in 1952, the development of the national petroleum industry entered a new, serious and commerce-oriented phase. The largest distribution network of petrol stations in Serbia, today integrating NIS Petrol and Gazprom, would also emerge from this phase in the decades to follow.

If we go back in time for a moment, we will also see that the increase in the number of petrol stations across the country speaks of the development of retail – in 1957 there were 27 (11 in Belgrade and 16 outside Belgrade), while in 1967 this number rose to 76, and in 1977 to 330! From the middle of the last century, an increase in the number of cars was followed by opening first modern petrol stations – some of the first and most famous in the capital were “Železnička”, “Cukarica”, “Zeleni venac”…

Besides gasoline and diesel, drivers could also buy lighting kerosene, motor and machine oils there. Over time, the offer expanded to include consumer goods, as well as other car-related services: windshield washing, checking and replacing engine oil, measuring tire pressure…

Petrol stations thus began to look like the ones we see nowadays.

To be continued…

Author of the text: Aleksandra Bogdanović „Istorijski zabavnik“

Did you know that crude oil was known both in ancient China and in ancient Egypt? The Persian name for crude oil comes from the verb ‘nafata’ meaning ‘to sweat’, as people at that time thought the dark viscous liquid to be the sweat of the Earth coming up to the surface. The word survives in many languages up to this day.

We know that people across the world have been using crude oil for thousands of years, depending on the levels of technological development. However, the industry itself is relatively new.
The exact date of the start of industrial oil production in unknown, but it definitely happened in the first half of the 19th century. In the Balkans systemic development of the oil industry started only after World War II.

One of the important drivers of this development has been NIS, or the companies that later became what we now know as Naftna industrija Srbije.

Where did it all start?

The modern history of the oil industry in Serbia started in 1945 with the creation of Jugopetrol, the first Serbian company dealing with oil and petroleum products. Two years later the company changed its name to Commercial Company for Sale of Oil and Petroleum Products Jugopetrol Belgrade.

Fixed assets of the company back in 1947 amounted to almost 18 million dinars, and its working capital to 28 million. The core activity according to the existing records was “import, export, and sale of petroleum products and raw materials”.

What we now know as one of the leading companies in the region started out in the hard post-war time with only 180 employees.

Historical evidence shows that the four years of the World War left Serbia missing nearly 85% of all its fuel storage and sale facilities. The country only had the total of nine filling stations, all in Belgrade, one warehouse, also in Belgrade, and about twenty smaller storage depots.

The first order of business, of course, was the reconstruction. Starting from 1947, the company allocated all efforts to the restoration of facilities, construction of roads, and development of transportation systems. Those who witnessed there early days say employees often volunteered to work outside of official hours and distribution of labour was non-existent, with the warehouse manager doing the accounting, the driving, and anything else as needed.

The person leading the team through these challenges post-war years was Kosta Poznanović, the first CEO of Jugopetrol from 1947 to 1963.

Where did it lead?

Only knowing how the company started out can we appreciate the progress it made in the first ten years of its development.

In early 1949, Serbia founded a company for exploration and production of oil, whose main objective was to discover oil deposits in the eastern part of the Pannonian basin. Only six months after its founding, the company later named Naftagas disovered the first Serbian gas field near the village of Velika Greda in the South Banat region. Three years later, the company discovered its first oil, with the Je-001 oil well setting the groundwork for all further exploration.

In was only upwards from then on. By 1957, Jugpetrol has a team of 614 people, and the value of its fixed assets increased a hundred times. The sales grew accordingly: where in 1947 yearly fuel consumption in Serbia was 51 thousand tons, by 1957 this amount reached 175 thousand.

The infrastructure expanded as well. In 1957, Jugpetrol had two central warehouses in Belgrade and Smederevo, 19 depots, and 5 jet fuel stations, in Zemun, Podgorica, Dubrovnik, Tivat, and Skopje.

The number of filling stations was still quite low: 11 in Belgrade and 16 across the country.

Further growth

It is also worth noting, that in the first ten years of its operation, Jugopetrol became the first company in Yugoslavia to be registered for foreign trade. The company started with imports, importing 3.5 thousand tons of fuel in 1953.

It is also worth noting, that in the first ten years of its operation, Jugopetrol became the first company in Yugoslavia to be registered for foreign trade. The company started with imports, importing 3.5 thousand tons of fuel in 1953.

After the discovery of oil in Serbia, Jugopetrol was able to start exporting fuel, which now makes it the company with the longest history of foreign fuel trade in the country.

The foundations for future success were in place.

To be continued

Author: Aleksandra Bogdanović „Istorijski zabavnik“

It was known back in ancient times that there was oil and gas in Serbia. However, before the Second World War, research was sporadic, unsystematic, and in most cases – unsuccessful. This picture slowly began to change in 1945, when the country started making more significant investments in the development of this industry, and especially after 1949, when the Oil Exploration and Production Company, the forerunner of one of the most important and longest-lasting companies in Serbia – Naftna Industrija Srbije, or the well-known NIS, started operating.

The short history of the long search

Back at the end of the 18th century, the first oil occurrences registered in the western part of the Pannonian Basin led researchers to the conclusion that similar reserves could be found in the territory of Vojvodina. As the area was part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy at that time, it was researchers from that country who, during the 19th century, first started exploring, especially in Banat, but they did not have much success.

The vast plain intersected by rivers and with land that is often flooded did not provide special conditions for work, so the territory of Vojvodina was marked as oil-bearing in Austro-Hungarian books more in theory than in practice.

Even after 1918, when that territory became part of Serbia, the situation did not change much. During the 1930s, there were attempts to discover oil and gas in our country, but the results were poor. Research and works were expensive, and the state did not consider them particularly cost-effective. On the other hand, foreign capital was not interested in such projects either, because neighbouring Romania had already had refineries and a sales network.

That is why, despite the reasonable assumption that there is oil and gas in Banat, more serious investigations of that area began rather late. Interestingly, the first geological research in Banat was carried out by Germans in 1942, during the Second World War, in the area of Velika Greda-Lokve-Janošik. Initial measurements were made by experts from the company “Seizmos” from Hanover, and exploratory drilling with specialized teams was also organized.

The war situation did not allow this research to go far. For the same reason, there is not much data on it, so the real works on oil exploration and exploitation in Vojvodina were systematically and seriously initiated only after the liberation.

New businesses and new ideas

In addition to freedom, the end of the Second World War also brought a change in the entire social system, so the mid-1940s also featured the establishment of a large number of new institutions that were crucial for the development of the oil industry in Serbia.

Already at the beginning of 1945, within the Federal Government of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, the Ministry of Mining was formed, which included the Department of Oil, Salt, and Gas. In the same year, the first domestic company for sales and distribution of oil and petroleum products was established – Petroleum Company of General State Importance Jugopetrol, which was called Trading Company for Sales and Distribution of Oil and Petroleum Products Jugopetrol Belgrade since 1947. Two years later, the Oil Exploration and Production Company began operating, with the primary task of discovering “black gold” in the eastern part of the Pannonian Basin, which was called “Naftagas” since 1952.

In those first days, it worked under challenging conditions. In the war-torn country, a small number of drilling rigs operated, and there were no necessary geophysical devices nor trained personnel.

However, this also slowly changed. The financial situation became more stable. As early as 1949, so-called “shallow” drilling was replaced by exploration at depths of more than a thousand meters, and as the state began to allocate significant funds for staff training, young experts from the mining and geological field began to come to the newly established companies.

The day when oil started running

Together with the new staff, the first results came. Only five months after the establishment of the Oil Exploration and Production Company, on 13 July 1949, the first natural gas reservoir in Serbia was discovered at the well Vg-002, on the territory of the settlement Velika Greda, in the municipality of Plandište in the South Banat District. Production began three years later.

However, the pinnacle of those first days of operating of companies whose heritage is today continued by Naftna Industrija Srbije, or well-known NIS, was the discovery of the first oil field in Serbia! On 17 November 1952, oil started running from the Je-001 well near Jermenovci in Banat, not far from the previously discovered gas reservoir.

Oil exploitation in this field began four years after its discovery, in 1956, and has continued to this day. Together with the efforts of the pioneers of the Serbian oil industry, their achievements also grew – in just three years, production increased from 7,350 tonnes to about 84,000 tonnes.

All this gave an additional “kick” to the development of the oil industry in Serbia. Funds were obtained for further research and development of the company. The enthusiasm of the employees was enormous, and we should not forget the fact that the primary workforce in the field consisted of men from nearby villages who gained experience there that they could later pass on to others.

Thus, the search for “black gold” in Serbia, in addition to adventure, has also become an amazing school of life. Many of its first “students” went on to become some of the greatest domestic experts in the field of oil and gas exploration and production, and they continue to pass on their knowledge to new generations.

To be continued…

Author of the text: Aleksandra Bogdanović “Istorijski Zabavnik“

The story of Serbia’s oil industry is long and old, and its beginnings date back to a time when people did not really know what oil was and how to use it. Thus, today, rather than in the scientific literature, we will find records and data on the first oil wells in this area in the names of places known since long ago – Paklenica, Smrdelj, Poganac, Katran, Uljanik etc. all of which refer to the appearance of oil, which is black, oily, smells bad, and burns. That is why the story of the development of the oil industry is also the story of the development of the automotive industry, road infrastructure, science, technology… and a real little historical journey into the past and history of our country.

But first things first…

Buying petrol in a – PHARMACY and other troubles of the first car drivers

Although there was oil in this area in the distant past (the first mention dates back to 1788, when the Viennese professor Winterl established that oil existed in Međumurje), its mass use and real, systematic development are more recent.

At first, there was kerosene. In Serbia, it began to be used at the end of the 19th century, but in small quantities and mainly for lighting. It came from Romania, while there were two refineries near the country – in Rijeka and Bosanski Brod.

The development of the industry was boosted by the appearance of the first cars at the beginning of the 20th century. Because they needed petrol, and there was not even a drop of it in Serbia. Actually, there might be a drop or two – benzinum medicinale (petrol used in medicine) could be bought here and there in some pharmacies, but filling the tank of a dearly paid car, which the local population viewed as a dragon rather than a means of transport – was practically an impossible mission!

And so, ironically, the owners of the first Serbian cars spent more time visiting pharmacies and buying what little petrol could be found in them, rather than enjoying driving in their expensive machines.

However, after these almost comical beginnings, the development started… After the First World War, Belgrade got its first petrol station. It was located near the “Topola” tavern, in today’s Nikola Pašić Square. With the increase in the number of vehicles on domestic roads, the need for petroleum products also increased, so the stations began to open in other places. It is recorded that in 1939, there were 156 public petrol stations operating in the then Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Other branches of the oil industry began to develop faster after 1918. In 1926, the English-Dutch company Shell opened a refinery in Sisak and a warehouse in Belgrade, Čukarica. In 1928, the refinery in Bosanski Brod became the property of the US company Standard Oil, which modernized and expanded it. Before the beginning of World War II, the construction of a refinery in Smederevo began, which, due to the good position of this city on the Danube, was supposed to reduce the time and cost of transporting raw materials purchased from Romania.

Around that time, there were attempts to start oil and gas exploration in the territory of our country, but, proverbially, there was always a lack of money, and foreign capital was not interested in investing in this area. Because, despite all these steps, the consumption of oil and petroleum products in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between the two world wars was very low – in 1939 it was about 300 thousand tonnes and most of it still involved kerosene for lighting.

The real, historical development of this industry came only after the Second World War…

Keeping up with the world

The four-year-long war destruction from 1941 to 1945 had terrible consequences for the entire country, including the network of warehouses and petrol stations. Research says that, in Serbia alone, about 85 percent of the facilities used to store and sell petroleum products were destroyed.

It was from this extremely unenviable position that the development began, which would soon bring the then Yugoslavia side by side with the world. As early as 1945, the first domestic company for sales and distribution of oil and petroleum products was founded. It had two basic tasks – to organize the supply of the economy that was being rebuilt from the ruins and to work on the modernization of the existing distribution network and the construction of a new one. For the first two years of its existence, it was called Petroleum Company of General State Importance Jugopetrol, and in 1947 it changed its name to Trading Company for Sales and Distribution of Oil and Petroleum Products Jugopetrol Belgrade. It also went down in history as the first company in Yugoslavia registered for foreign trade.

For those who like numbers, this is also worth mentioning – this company started working with fixed assets of about RSD 17 million, working capital of about RSD 28 million, 180 employees, and only nine petrol stations, all of which were located in Belgrade.

But there was no shortage of enthusiasm! In this period, the state began to allocate funds for research and investments in the oil industry, as well as for staff training. As early as 1949, the Oil Exploration and Production Company, the forerunner of one of the most important and longest-lasting companies in Serbia – Naftna Industrija Srbije, or the well-known NIS, started operating!

The task of this company was to discover “black gold” in the eastern part of the Pannonian Basin. Only five months after its establishment, the first natural gas reservoir in Serbia was discovered – on the territory of the settlement Velika Greda, in the municipality of Plandište in the South Banat District.

And the rest is history!

To be continued…

Author of the text: Aleksandra Bogdanović „Istorijski Zabavnik“