Bázakerettye-olajkutak - Bázakerettye

"There weren't many Hungarian villages that were purposefully bombed in World War II, but the Bázakerettye in Zala County was thoroughly sprinkled. The village, which can also be considered the cradle of the Hungarian oil industry, had a dense history and fell into the hands of Americans, Germans and Russians within a few years. a unique settlement and wealth, a vibrant life was created during which everyone remembers nostalgically. Bázakerettye was an insignificant village of only a few houses until the mid-1930s, but it quickly outgrew itself after finding the oil. (The oily history of the village was explored in the framework of the Our Countryside project.) In Hungary, oil exploration began as early as the beginning of the twentieth century, but there were not many demonstrable results within the Trianon borders. The state was not very willing to take risks in costly research, so it entered into concession contracts with foreign companies, so the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, and later EUROGASCO, tried. By 1923, traces of hydrocarbons had already been found in Budafapuszta belonging to Bázakeretty, but at that time extraction was not considered assured. In the 1930s, research gained new momentum, trial drilling started in several places at almost the same time, in Mihályi in Sopron County, in Görgetegen in Somogy County and in Inké, but in 1938 oil extraction started for the first time in Keretty. “When they brought in the world’s most advanced steam-powered rotary drill at the time, they divided the inkei team. One half came to Budafa, they started drilling near the end of the village of Lispe. They only found clues, they got into a difficult situation, but with a little fuss, they managed to extort money from the American entrepreneur to continue. It was their luck because Budafa-2 brought success ”