This was the epoch of the world oil trade . The underground black liquid promised entrepreneurs incredible profits and opened ambitious prospects . The only requirements were a large investment and the ability to run the business . These Mantashev had . His chief accountant recalled that not a single document went into effect without Alexander 's resolution , " Asttsov " ( " with God " in Armenian ) . Mantashev , not being afraid of high risk investments , bought ( together with another Armenian colleague , Michael Aramyants ) unprofitable oil wells in Baku that very soon became profitable . In 1894 he created a tentative association along with the other major oil interests in Russia , the Nobels and the Rothschilds , in order to cooperate in the marketing of petroleum products within certain geographical areas . This was in response to Standard Oil 's aggressive marketing policy . In 1896 , during a trip to Egypt , Mantashev met Calouste Gulbenkian who was fleeing the Ottoman Empire with his family as a result of the Hamidian massacres . Mantashev introduced Gulbenkian to the right circles in Cairo , including Sir Evelyn Baring . For refining oil , Mantashev built a kerosene plant in Baku , as well as a lubricant plant and a marine refinery for pumping oil and fuel to vessels . His company owned a factory for the fabrication of canisters for the packaging and storage of oil in Batumi , a mechanical workshop in Zabrat , an oil pumping station in Odessa , and even one hundred freight cars circulating in the southwestern railways of Russia . ( The young Joseph Stalin organized strikes in Mantashev 's Batumi factory and participated in street demonstrations in 1902 . ) In England Mantashev bought two tankers , which supplied oil to India , China , Japan and the Mediterranean countries . In 1899 he created the trading house " A.I. Mantashev and Co. " , opening representative offices and warehouses in the major cities of Europe and Asia : Smyrna , Thessaloniki , Constantinople , Alexandria , Cairo , Port Said , Damascus , Paris , London , Bombay and Shanghai . Mantashev became a shareholder in a number of oil companies , among them the Nobel Brothers . 51.3 % of the total stock of oil and 66.8 % of the oil content in the Caspian Sea was centered on the firm . In 1904 , it was the third largest oil company in Baku , next to only the Nobel Brothers and the Caspian Sea Society of the Rothschild brothers
Hamidian massacres
Hamidian massacres
Alexander Mantashev