Ludvig Nobel improved working conditions
Ludvig Nobel took a great interest in improving working conditions. He reduced working time and opened up pharmacies and hospitals. However, the managerial jobs were almost always given to Swedes.
Skilled specialists were important to Nobels’ success
One of the main factors behind the success of the Nobel Brothers Company business was the way they invited skilled, hard-working and highly professional specialists to join the company. Most of the people in the managerial staff were Swedes, but a man from Norway came to play a crucial role in the Branobel history.
Petrochemical production on a grand scale
In the 1880s, Branobel’s business in the Baku oil trade grew quickly, and Ludvig Nobel assumed various responsibilities in bodies organising many companies in the Baku petrochemical industry. The production figures of Branobel rocketed.
Guns brought Nobel into the oil business
The Nobel family played an important role in the development of Azerbaijan’s oil industry from the late 19th century and onwards. The first member of the family to get acquainted with Baku was Robert Nobel, who went to Azerbaijan in 1873. The gun business brought him there.
Transforming the oil business
Branobel was founded in 1879 and grew quickly due to the Nobel brothers’ willingness to develop all parts of the oil business like production, transportation and sale. At the end of the 19th century Branobel was among the eight biggest oil companies in the world.
Nobel’s inventions led to oil business boom
Finding efficient ways of transporting the oil was crucial and the Nobel brothers were constructing ocean-going tankers early on. They were also the first to introduce pipelines, and, concerned with the great waste of oil, they invented the notion of oil storage above the ground.
The pivotal role of Azerbaijan oil and Baku
As early as the 15th century, Baku was an important international trading centre for merchants travelling between the East and Europe. Caravans of camels and merchant ships transported oil, salt, madder and saffron. In the 19th century, the rapid growth of the oil industry caused a total modernization. By the turn of the 20th century, Baku was one of the biggest industrial cities of the world.