Signed Manuscript Documents - Moreni Oil Ventures - Investment Contracts of British Investors with Romanian Engineer & Inventor Richard Von Sickle by John Venn & Sons - Public Notaries - 1911

London, 1911. London, 24 February, 1911. Three (3) Signed Manuscript Documents defining contractual agreements between Romanian engineer and inventor Richard van Sickle of Campina, and the Anglo-Moreni Oil Syndicate Limited, for gaining lucrative investments in the rich Moreni oil fields. An unusual bilingual document, made in both French and English, in adjacent columns. Folio double leafs, 8 pages combined, on the letterhead of public notaries John Venn & Sonns, watermarked paper made by W. King of Alton Mill in Hampshire, measuring approximately 21 x 34 cm. Each with the signature and stamp of the Consulate General of Romania, the signature of his vice-consul, the embossed stamp of the company, original signatures of 2 directors and the secretary, and a revenue stamp. Very good condition. Uncommon original manuscript documentation of British activity in the Romanian oil industry, these pertain specifically to the procurement of deeds and contracts in Moreni, some 100 km north-west of Bucharest, where in the spring of 1910 an extremely rich well had been struck, thus drawing foreign attention. Resident of Campina, then a center for oil extraction and processing, Mr. Richard van Sickle, is singularly being entrusted with a great deal of authority over the company's affairs. Each document is signed in the original by the company's directors, Harry Seymour Foster and Bertram Egerton Foster, as well as the secretary, Edward William Fellgate of Kent. Of the three documents, one appoints Mr. Sickle the title of General Representative of the Company "who shall represent [the company]... under the commercial code in respect of all the acts that the company shall do in Roumania." Another puts him in charge of all deeds, and further elects him to make application to the Roumanian government for a satellite office in their kingdom. In the third agreement, the Board of Directors transfers to Sickle all rights over "contracts of concession and lease, which were transcribed in the Special Register of the Tribunal, Prahova, Romania," the latter of which are listed by registration number. In 1910 the Royal Dutch fields in the Moreni area were producing approximately 1,500 tons of oil daily, and still anticipating prolific increases. However, methods and equipment for refining in particular, but also deep well boring, were in need of improvement in Romania at the time. Interestingly, a few months after these agreements were signed, on 16 December 1911, the Romanian engineer applied for a patent for a "boring process for deep wells." Patent US1065409-A was granted to him 24 June 1913. Romania as a pioneer city in the oil industry: Modern petroleum exploitation in Romania began in 1857 when the first commercial well was drilled. In 1857 Romania was the first country in the world with its petroleum production officially registered in the international statistics Bucharest was the first city in the world to be illuminated with kerosene, beginning on 1 April 1857, with oil supplied by Teodor Mehedinteanu and his brother Albeit operating by means of rudimentary manual equipment, some consider the refinery built circa 1856 by the Mehedinteanu brothers near the city of Ploiesti, in the historical region of Wallachia, to be the world’s first In 1861 Moreni became the first place in Romania (and third in the world) from where oil was extracted Between 1897 and 1898 Câmpina was the site of the largest oil refinery in Europe Romania was the first country in the world which exported gasoline, in 1900 In 1904 the first world's School of Driller Foremen was founded at Campina In 1914 there were over 100 companies Romania extracting and processing oil product, together producing 1,783,947 tones of oil, and making Romania one of the most important registered oil producers in the world As the center of oil production, Ploiesti was the most bombed city by the Allied Troops during Tidal Waves Operation in August 1943 The Moreni oil field is located in Dâmbovita County. It was discovered in 1890 and developed by Petrom. It began production in 1900 and produces oil. The total proven reserves of the Moreni oil field are around 800 million barrels, and production is centered on 3,000 barrels per day.. Very Good. Manuscript.