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RE: Oil change in new patch?

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 11:24 pm
by SMK-at-work
A summary of German oil situation from http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1981/jul-aug/becker.htm

German consumption 1938 was 44 million barrels, made up of:
- imports 28 million barrels (roughly 60 percent of the total)
- additional 3.8 million barrels imported overland from European sources (incl 2.8 million barrels from Romania),
- another 3.8 million barrels were derived from domestic oil production.
- 9 million barrels were produced synthetically.

total overseas imports were even higher in 1939 before the onset of the blockade in September (33 million barrels),

Germany’s stockpiles of fuel at outbreak of war totaled of 15 million barrels.

Norway, Holland, Belgium, and France added another 5 million barrels in booty,

imports from the Soviet Union accounted for 4 million barrels in 1940 and 1.6 million barrels in the first half of 1941.

A High Command study in May of 1941 noted monthly military requirements for 7.25 million barrels and imports and home production of only 5.35 million barrels.  At those levels German stocks would be exhausted by August 1941.

Maikop was captured in August 1942 (the smallest of the 3 major russian oilfields), and it was expected that the two remaining fields and refineries in Grozny and Baku also would fall into German hands. Had the German forces been able to capture these fields and hold them, Germany’s petroleum worries would have been over. Prior to the Russian campaign, Maikop produced 19 million barrels annually, Grozny 32 million barrels, and Baku 170 million barrels.

Germany anticipated Russian efforts to destroy Maikop in line with previous scorched earth policies, and tried to put measures in place to get the field producing ASAP, but a shortage of transport that was competing with military requirements, a shortage of drill equipment as well as drillers, and the absence of refining capacity at Maikop meant that Germany failed to obtain a single drop of Caucasian oil before withdrawing in early 1943

Germans were able to extract about 4.7 million barrels from the Soviet Union from other sources, a quantity that they would have received anyway under the provisions of the friendship treaty of 1939.

romanian exports increased to 13 million barrels in 1941, and stayed there more or less for 42 and 43, and 7 million in hte first half of 44 despite 50% of refining capacity being destroyed by raids in August 43. romanian production wasn't increased as much as hoped due to failure of German deliveries of coal and other supplies.

German domestic production increased to 12 million barrels by 1944 (tha't normal production - NOT synthetic)

Sythetic production increased to 36 million barrels in 1943 - the raids of May 1944 reduced aviation fuel production by 90% due to hitting the specialised hydrogenation plants that were required to upgrade the octane rating to aviation requirements.

RE: Oil change in new patch?

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 11:30 pm
by Bossy573
Awesome SMK. [8D]

Does the game model the Russian oil imports and their disappearance once Barbarossa starts? Was the 4.5 million barrels extracted from 1941-45 or per year? I usually find myself sliding under 150 oil end of 1941 and beginning of 1942 but the fact remains German operations did not ground to a halt in August 1941 due to lack of oil.


RE: Oil change in new patch?

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 11:34 pm
by SMK-at-work
no - and it doesn't really cover the increased production within Germany either IMO.

Accounting for oil has been an important improvement in CEAW over other games, but I think it's not been done properly yet - mainly on the production side with the huge increases from German domestic and synthetic production, plus increased Romanian production.  There's also the minor matters of captured oil stockpiles and minor production from Russia othe than the 3 major oilfields.

However note that the Germans were quite aware that they might run out of oil altogether - so ultimately that is a reasonable outcome in hte game if things do go wrong.

and remember that this game is not supposed to be a groggy simulation of WW2 in all it's details!![:D]

Edit - http://orbat.com/site/sturmvogel/SovOil.html says that Estonia actually had significant oil production too - a bit more than 1/3rd of Grozny's - some details of it's history of oil shale mining is at http://www.ene.ttu.ee/maeinstituut/mgis ... istory.htm - they were getting 1.7 million tons of shale per annum by 1940

RE: Oil change in new patch?

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 11:43 pm
by Bossy573
ORIGINAL: SMK-at-work

Accounting for oil has been an important improvement in CEAW over other games, but I think it's not been done properly yet

and remember that this game is not supposed to be a groggy simulation of WW2 in all it's details!![:D]

Agreed. I love the oil rule but it does need tinkering and they will be doing so in the next patch. I would guess the developers will continue to tinker with the mechanics for some time which is fine by me.

Agreed x2. Start it up, play and have some fun. [;)]