Mineralölkommando
 

Found a chart with this unit on it. What did it do in Italy?

https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/thread...4#post-1999924

Re: Mineralölkommando
 

Petroleum Command. I could only find this additional reference: See war diary of Mineralölkommando Estland/Gruppe Arbeit.

Re: Mineralölkommando
 

You can extract oil from certain rocks such as alun shale/slates

No idea what it looks like in Italy, but my guess is that the more desperate Germany became
for oil the harder they tried....

Cheers
Stig

Re: Mineralölkommando
 

Yes strange it is for this front. But fuel was a great problem. Never encountered this kommando before
How about the commanders name?

Re: Mineralölkommando
 

Another reference in German.


Das Kaukasus-Öl – Ziel der Deutschen Wehrmacht im Zweiten Weltkrieg
Bruno W. Koppensteiner & Hermann Häusler


Berichte der Geologischen Bundesanstalt, ISSN 1017-8880, Band 140, Wien 2021


A portion of a document appears in the text with the following stamp: Stempel des motorisierten Technischen Bataillons Mineralöl
11 in einem Bericht vom 16. Oktober 1944 sowie Stempel des
motorisierten Technischen Bataillons Mineralöl 33 und des
Kommandeurs der Technischen Truppe Mineralöl (beide von
Berichten vom August 1943). Unterschrift von Major Hans L AAD als
Kommandeur der Technischen Truppen Mineralöl vom April 1944.

Re: Mineralölkommando
 

Snautzer,

Take a look at this link. Should be helpful on the nature of the unit. Take a look at P.78 for the nature of the outfit.

https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/BerichteG..._0007-0104.pdf

Regards,

Clint

Re: Mineralölkommando
 

A search for the word at the Bundesarchiv site gives 28 hits in the “military” category but only two of those are digitised.

Re: Mineralölkommando
 

Thanks Clint.

Re: Mineralölkommando
 

As I read it.
"Mineral oil Command in Italy (Hptm. v. Hammer). Location of refineries, 2 in Trieste, one each in (Fiume), Marghera bei Mestre, La Spezia. The Livorna refinery dismantled by Dr. Kuppinger. Sept. 1943-May 1944."
Looks like the last attack (by Fifteenth AF) was July 13 1944 (Trieste) though there were still oil targets in Germany, Austria, Rumania, Poland, Hungary, Czech., Albania and Yugoslavia.


Nick

Re: Mineralölkommando
 

Interesting stuff here: "Estimated Petroleum Refinery Output in Axis Europe during 1943"
https://www.fischer-tropsch.org/Tom%...20Item%207.pdf


Halfway down you'll find "Italian Refineries"...

Hans K

Re: Mineralölkommando
 

Thank you. Very intresting

Re: Mineralölkommando
 

Italy was getting oil from Libya. In Germany, I.G. Farben, the world's largest chemical cartel at the time, was making Leuna-Benzin, which included synthetic lubricants.

Re: Mineralölkommando
 

(a) Oil drilling in Libya didn't start until 1959 apparently (I had to Google it) and exports begain in 1961.

(b)Producing oil by hydrogenation was enormously expensive according to Adam Tooze's excellent book on the German econonomy, The Wages of Destruction. It's not always easy reading but it explains a lot about how the Germans were able or unable to fight the war.

Re: Mineralölkommando
 

Thank you, Nick, regarding oil from Libya.


I think people underestimate the German ability to produce synthetic fuel and lubricants. Since the treasuries of occupied countries had been looted, monies gained were diverted to other projects.
A bit harder to pin down is the smuggling of various things into Germany from countries that were neutral during the war. Tungsten from Spain and Portugal was one item, even though both countries were bringing it in through regular channels.

Re: Mineralölkommando
 

Italy has significant deposits of oil shale.

Re: Mineralölkommando
 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kontinentale_%C3%96l

Kontinentale Öl AG (Konti Öl) was a German oil company during World War II.