Stanisław Jabłonowski was born in Annopol in Volhynia and died in Lviv. His name was established in the history books of the global oil industry due to the event in January of 1852, when he founded first oil mine in the Empty Forest in Siary, near Gorlice. In 1853, his company was noticed by Antoni Schwarz, a councillor of the Kraków Chamber of Commerce, who was touring six districts of West Galicia. This is what he wrote about Jabłonowski’s property: “As production evolves, there is potential industrial value in the natural resource and oil recently discovered at the Kobylanka property of Prince Jabłonowski for production of a mixture known as asphalt. Jabłonowski obtains a previously purified black liquid from the oil. The liquid burns with a clean and beautiful flame and burns out completely. With progress in production, this liquid could completely replace the purified oil currently used in lamps.”
Countess Jadwiga Straszewska spent her entire life in Lipinki in the district of Gorlice. She inherited land from her parents. The accidental discovery of oil in the water inside a well dug upon her order changed her life. The venture was financed by the members of the newly established oil companies: Straszewska–Fibich and Stawiarski–Straszewska. During World War I, the refinery was destroyed and the deposit was considerably depleted during World War II because of predatory exploitation. It was pretty much all gone by the 1970s. However, before all these events, more than 650 wells had been drilled in Lipinki, which produced a total of more than 500 thousand tonnes of oil. A single heiress, who decided to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the oil boom starting in Poland, was the mother of this success.
Karol Klobassa was born in Drohobych and died in Kraków. He went to study at the Vienna University of Technology. He also studied agronomy at the Agricultural Academy in Hohenheim. Klobassa’s wealth grew considerably thanks to two marriages. His vast orchards provided apples for production of an alcoholic beverage – cider. His breakthrough decision was to let Trzecieski and Łukasiewicz drill on his field in Bóbrka, initially free of charge. Soon, oil became the foundation of his family fortune. Klobassa was also the co-founder of the National Oil Association.