Gennady Shmal
President of the Union of Oil and Gas Producers of Russia.
“Sabit Orudzhev was a prominent figure in our gas industry. It is our good fortune that such people were at the origin of its tremendous growth…”
First Azerbaijani-born minister
Sabit Orudzhev became the head of the Gas Industry Ministry in 1972. As he used to say, “I am the first Azerbaijani-born person to become a USSR Minister.”
Pre-ministerial career
Prior to being appointed as the Gas Industry Minister, Mr. Orudzhev made a significant contribution to the oil industry’s formation. He was a highly competent engineer and a talented scientist. His efforts proved very useful to the gasmen of Tyumen during the early stages of oil development activities in Western Siberia.
Sabit Orudzhev was a person of real talent, which as a rule manifests itself in many ways.
Competition between oil and gas workers
Unlike the oil industry, the gas industry was progressing rather slowly throughout the 1960s. While oilmen brought the oil production rates in Western Siberia to above 31 million tons a year as early as in 1970, gasmen made no headway. However, a few years after Mr. Orudzhev had been put in charge of the Gas Industry Ministry, the gas sector went on a rapid upswing.
Siberia’s potential
In 1972, i.e. 40 years ago, the Medvezhye field – the first major gas deposit located in the north of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area – was put into development, jumpstarting the growth of the gas industry. Much credit for the development of Medvezhye, the gas-rich Urengoyskoye, and other fields in Western Siberia is owed to Sabit Orudzhev.
When gas production in Western Siberia was just starting, everyone said that the cost of extracting gas in this area would be too high. But Mr. Orudzhev believed in the enormous potential of Western Siberia. As early as in 1975, the production cost was equal to the average nationwide level, and five years later it became the lowest in the USSR.
Do we need new city?
The city of Novy Urengoy owes its foundation to Sabit Orudzhev. In those years, disputes were going on as to whether to build a city or just a little town in the region. On arriving in this area, Mr. Orudzhev declared that it should be a city. And his decision was fully justified, as the reserves of the Urengoyskoye field were estimated at 10–11 trillion cubic meters already at that time. Besides, it was planned to create completely unique gas infrastructure in the region to sustain annual gas production at 280 billion cubic meters.
Get everything done in time
Sabit Orudzhev was absolutely indefatigable. Back then, the development of the gas industry was defined by several regions of our country: Vuktyl in Komi Republic, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Western Siberia. And it was necessary to act quickly in all of these places.
Production fields were created in extremely challenging climatic conditions. And within almost 10 years of Mr. Orudzhev’s service as the Gas Industry Minister, gas production rates in our country doubled and rose by 220 billion cubic meters, mostly due to the development of northern fields in the Tyumen Region.
Rise of mechanical engineering
Much attention was also paid to the evolution of domestic mechanical engineering. While the Medvezhye field was developed with the use of mainly French-made equipment, the Urengoyskoye and Yamburgskoye fields’ equipment was 90 per cent domestically-produced.
Busy areas
Sabit Orudzhev made very frequent visits to Western Siberia to check on its gas fields and compressor stations. And what was a compressor station in those years? At best, it was equipped with a wooden deck for a helicopter to land on. There were always two or three dozen pairs of rubber boots in the helicopter, so that the visitors could get from the landing deck to the compressor station. Sabit Orudzhev would put on the rubber boots and walk to the construction site, where he would spend at least half a day: he went into every detail of the construction process.
Mr. Orudzhev was very approachable, which is not always the case for Eastern people. He treated people with great consideration. He asked the workers about not only the construction progress, but also their living conditions, their meals, and their personal concerns. It is worth mentioning that food supply issues were addressed in the best possible way at the time: the meals at the fields were probably better than in many Moscow restaurants. Sabit Orudzhev kept all these matters under continuous review.
Playing key roles
The role of Sabit Orudzhev in the national economic advancement cannot be overestimated. He was a prominent figure in our gas industry. It is our good fortune that such people were at the origin of its tremendous growth.
Celebration in Rome on occasion of launching Soviet gas supplies to Italy. Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro speaking