It became known that the Western region of Kazakhstan is rich in mineral resources as early as the 18th century. At that time, tsarist Russia directed its scientists and travelers to Kazakhstan and made the study of its underground riches the main goal. Especially, this policy accelerated after the Kazakhs of the Little Hundred “joined” the Russian Empire. After the 50s of the 18th century, the tsarist government, which believed that a favorable period had arrived, prepared for a scientific expedition. Thus, the first scientific expedition was organized in 1768-1774 according to the plan made by M.V. Lomonosov, and its members included well-known naturalists of that time I.I. Lepekhin, S.G. Gmelin, I.P. Falyk, I.G. Georgi, etc. was a member. They studied the distance between the Volga and Zhayik rivers and provided general basic information about the geological structure of the North Caspian. Later, E. V. Eversman, G. S. Karelin, A. G. Humbold, M. I. Ivanin, etc., who studied this interval in the 1820s-1840s. developed the opinions of scientists and determined the presence of oil and gas in the subsoil. Russian travelers and scientists focused their attention on the North Caspian Basin and the Bukhara region of Zhaiyk. During this period, news about the “holy” fires on Bukhar Page became widely known. Although the local Kazakhs have been familiar with sacred fires for a long time, the time when they began to use them coincides with archival data – the beginning of the 19th century. To be precise, Matenkozha in Atyrau region is the first center of the use of “sacred” fires. The settlement of Matenkozha is located 100 kilometers south-east of Kalmykov, between the Byurek and Taisoygan sands near the Oyil River. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Kazakh mullah Maten taught the local people how to use oil. Beyond that, the local Kazakhs used oil as needed. Kazakhs dug wells, took the oil that came out of the ground or water, and used it for their own benefit. However, the local people did not make it a business, but used it only for the treatment of scabies of camels and stomach ache.
Tsarist Russia, having heard about such “holy” fires, was in no hurry to master it. This is because at this time they were “robbing” Baku’s oil since 1806. And despite the fact that the oil region in the Ural region is closer than Baku, its future was uncertain. However, Russian scientists did not ignore this area. In 1857, the geographer, mining engineer N.A. Severtsov and Borshchev, who followed in the footsteps of earlier explorers, reported that there is a lot of oil and gas in the Ural region. In their report submitted in 1860, they warned about the need to pay attention to the western part of the Kazakh steppe. In his book “Geological research” published in 1857, N. Severtsov mentioned the existence of oil reserves in Emby and wrote that it is difficult to extract and transport it.
In 1874, mining engineer D.V.Kirpichnikov studied the North-East coast of the Caspian Sea and salt lakes around the Embi River and expressed his opinion about Karashungil, Imankara, and Dossor. “Especially, among these three mentioned oil fields, Dossor is distinguished by the abundance of oil. But the lack of water and road connections makes it difficult to develop it,” he emphasized. However, DV Kirpichnikov’s work and valuable opinions were neglected. Only 12 years later, i.e. in 1886, the mining engineer K. N. Novakovsky was sent to the Zhaiyk-Embi gap. He inspected the northern Matenkoja, Dossor, Eskene, Karashungil, southern areas of Emby and conducted research on the said deposits.
Industrial exploration of deposits in West Kazakhstan first began with the search for ways to build a railway to Turkestan. Thus, the previous studies of oil fields since 1890 needed to be re-examined. In 1892, an expedition commissioned by the Ryazan-Ural Railway Society and the Geological Committee, under the leadership of geologist S.N. Nikitin, conducted exploration for the first time to determine the construction of deposits. As a result of manual drilling of wells, it was found that 12 oil wells in Dossor, Eskene and Karashungil reach a depth of 7-9 meters. Although oil did not erupt in these wells, only its smell was felt. And this news has reached Russian industrialists.
As a result, in 1892, Dossor, and in 1894, the first statements of business people related to Karashungil were compiled. So, separate business groups started to get involved in this matter, while the government of Tsarist Russia waited for the completion of drilling and exploration.
In 1892, Lebedev made a statement about the abundance of oil in Dossor.
In 1894, the 1st oil company was organized. Its management was entrusted to Leman, and a 3-year contract was signed for oil exploration and prospecting in fields such as Dossor and Karashungil of Emby district. In May of this year, additional land was leased to Lehman for a certain period of time. In 1890, L.N. Lehman began to search for oil and build fields in the Ural region in St. Petersburg. This society first started its work in Guryev in 1898. The main task of the institution was to timely inform the Center of changes in oil fields in the Zhaiyk-Embi region. Fund of partnerships organized by Lehman ½ mln. was som, and this money could not cover all necessary work. Therefore, in the course of increasing his finances, in 1908, Leman joined forces with I.I. Staheyev, an industrialist with a capital of 800,000 soms, and founded the “Embi-Caspian” society. After that, in 1909, Lehmann received from the Russian government the right to transfer oil exploration to foreign nationals. As a result, in 1909, for the first time, representatives of the English company named “Jell” came to Guryev with the initiative of Professor Eastlen and bought a part of the oil district.
Lehman proved that there is a large oil reserve in the Zhayik-Embi district. Under his leadership, on November 18, 1899, an oil fountain erupted from a depth of 40 meters in well No. 7 in Karashungil, and began to produce 12-25 tons of oil per day. This was the first oil fountain in Kazakhstan. In terms of its chemical composition and quality, Karashungil oil is considered to be lighter in weight and more fat than Baku oil. The most important thing is that during the drilling operations, oil began to appear at depths of 37, 109, 126, and 148 meters. The news about the discovery of both shallow and high-quality oil attracted the attention of many business people. At that time, Karashungil was considered the richest and most labor-intensive enterprise in Zhayik-Embi district. When the oil fountain erupted, 89 people worked under N.N. Lehman, 40 of them were Kazakhs. The condition of Karashungil at that time was written by MN Chernyshevsky, the son of NG Chernyshevsky, who joined the expedition to the region. This expedition was organized in the second half of August 1899. In addition to M. N. Chernyshevsky, it included military engineer V. K. Feldt, engineer S. V. Trubetskoy, etc. entered On September 24, they approached the coast of Lake Inder, passed over the settlement of Bai-Monke, Grum-Grzhimailo, etc. He stopped at Koshkar Lake, where the Embi-Zakaspian Union is located. MN Chernyshevskiy wrote in his diary: “We started searching for oil in 1899. 4 Tatar workers and 1 foreman are working in a 2 inch / 1 inch = 0.0254 m/ well,” he wrote. Thus, the member of the expedition MN Chernyshevsky proved that Karashungil is the first oil deposit in the Kazakh steppe.