Abstract

" Negotiating new rules for a new market in a new country: Emergence of the oil business in Finland before IIWW"

Sara Matala, Chalmers University of Technology (matala@chalmers.se)

Historically informed oil research in Finland has traditionally focused on oil production and the role of oil fueling car traffic. From this perspective, Finland entered the oil age only after the IIWW, when the number of cars increased rapidly, and the first domestic oil refinery opened in 1956. This paper argues, however, that the transformation of Finland into a petroculture started already in the 19th Century. Suppose we want to understand emergence of the oil markets. In that case, we need to look beyond the refineries and fuel stations to the gradual processes that replaced the domestic energy sources with exported hydrocarbons introduced new technologies in illumination and lubrication, and invited new companies to expand their networks to the northern periphery of Europe.
Because Finland lacks oil deposits, the emerging oil market was dominated by foreign companies from the beginning. Alongside the social transformation from an energy-self-sufficient agrarian country into an oil-importing country, there was a drastic contextual transformation when Finland became an independent country in 1917 and had to build up new policies for foreign trade and the security of supply.
Through archival sources from company archives (including Finnish Shell and Esso), this paper examines the emergence of the Finnish oil market before IIWW, focusing on the interaction between the companies on the one hand and the interaction between the business and the state on the other hand. While illuminating the Finnish side of the prewar competition, it also adds nuances to the picture dominated by large Western companies because of the original impact of Russian oil.