It is the first time that the main stages of life and activity of one of the leading experts of the middle of the 20th century on issues of oil potential of the Arctic and Siberia, geologist Nikolai Gedroits, have been highlighted in the article. Information on his contribution to organization of oil reconnaissance
in the North of West Siberia in the 1930s–1950s and assessment of oil potential of this region is given. Being a bearer of the Geological Committee traditions, Nikolai Gedroits did not only become the discoverer of the Ust-Yenissey gas-bearing region, but was also the first to suggest oil exploration in the north of the West Siberian Lowland in the Tazovsky Region. Also, little-known facts of organization of oil exploration in Siberia in the 1930s–1940s are highlighted.

This study has been undertaken in order to attract attention of the scientific community to the challenges of oil exploration in the south of the Tyumen region in the mid-1950s and in order to fill the gap in the overall picture of “black gold” exploration in the 1950s and 1960s, formed in the Russian historiography. Based on the comparative analysis of records of the State Archive of Social and Political History of the Tyumen Region, introduced into the scientific discourse for the first time and reflecting the results of one of the major oil exploration expeditions of "Tyumenneftegeologiya" – Pokrovskaya/Ishimskaya, the article describes the challenges of oil exploration in the south of the Tyumen region in the mid-1950s.

The article is devoted to the little-studied period in the biography of one of the greatest founders of oil and gas industry in Siberia, Viktor I. Muravlenko, namely, to the period of his life in the Far East. The article shows how rises and falls experienced by the young leader of different brunches of the Far East oil industry during the war years made his character harder and contributed to gaining life experience, which later allowed Viktor I. Muravlenko to become successful in organization of Siberian oil and gas exploration.

The main goal of the article is to reveal the names of the first leaders of the Tyumen region oil and gas industry in the initial phase of its development and to highlight the main features of their biography, the level of education and professional experience based on the data received from the records of the
Tyumen region archives (Gosudarstvennyi Arkhiv Tyumenskoi Oblasti (GATO) and Gosudarstvennyi Arkhiv Sotsialno-Politicheskoi Istorii Tyumenskoi Oblasti (GASPITO). It is noted that the Khanty-Mansiysk Okrug was the main territory of their activity. In those days, the Okrug was referred to as National, not Autonomous. It was the place where the basis of West Siberian extractive industries was formed.

The relevance of the article is due to the poor study of separate episodes of the biography of one of oil discoverers in West Siberia, Farman K. Salmanov. In his life full of active oil searching and discovering oil and gas fields, there was a place for the most popular game in the world – football. Since he was a child Salmanov had been delighted with this game, thus, it had an impact on his character traits and became one of the most favorite games among Tyumen exploration geologists. Farman K. Salmanov played a significant part in making this game one of the leisure activities of geologists and also contributed to the development of football in the Tyumen Region. It allowed stimulating geologists’ interest in active leisure, which was beneficial to their health in severe northern conditions. Football legacy left in Siberian settlements by Farman K. Salmanov continued to exist for many years. On the provided basis professional sport started to develop in the Tyumen region. It is present in the Russian football today. The purpose of the article is to analyze Farman Salmanov’s contribution to football development in the Tyumen Region. New facts obtained during preparation of the article will complement the facts already known about one of the legendary Soviet and Russian geologists, the versatility of his personality and his role in the history of our region.

The article analyzes the contribution of Azerbaijanian specialists to the development of the West Siberian oil and gas province. Pursuing the social and anthropological approach consistently, the author characterizes the crucial role of a number of its representatives in development of oil exploration in the Middle Ob and in discovery of the country's largest hydrocarbon fuel deposits, which formed the basis for its stable economic and geopolitical situation as well as the safe defense potential. The productive activity of Azerbaijanian oil workers is characterized against a look back analysis of the Azerbaijani migration to Russia during the second half of the twentieth century. The reasons of increased migration in 1980s–1990s are noted, the forms of labor and economic activity of migrants from Azerbaijan
are analyzed. In the article, special attention is paid to the study of the work of Siberian cities’ authorities on development of cultural and national autonomy of the Azerbaijanian diaspora and support of the leaders of its
communities in preservation of ethnic consensus and harmony in the region.

The relevance of the article is due to the foreign policy situation in which our country currently finds itself, as well as to the Russian Federation interest in emerging into the Arctic and, what is more, in harnessing its resources. Due to these complex international conditions, studying of the experience of creating
a new branch of industry under the conditions of economic pressure of Western counterparts is necessary and beneficial. In the article an attempt is made to show the dynamics of improving production and assembly of gas transmission equipment for the West Siberia pipelines. The author has proved that the Soviet industry was able to construct a sufficient number of gas pipelines under the conditions of increasing gas production rates, which is due to the improved technology of production of functioning elements and installation. The author has also identified such negative trends in the Siberian gas industry development as its partial dependence on imported equipment and getting loans in exchange for gas. The article is intended for those studying history of the West Siberian Oil and Gas complex.

The purpose of the article is to analyze positive and negative influence of oil producers on organizational, technical and design solutions under the conditions of upgrading the Middle Ob departmental roads in the late 1970s – early 1990s. Data on the stretch of year-round and seasonal roads of repair and construction divisions of “Surgutneftegaz” and “Yuganskneftegaz” are introduced for the first time. The article also expands on the departmental interests of oil producers, their influence on the design, construction and
operation of the basic public road network in the late 1980s – early 1990s after putting a part of the departmental roads onto the books of the RSFSR Minavtodor. The author traces how the state of urban and interfield roads influences on operation of departmental and public transport under the conditions of accidence risk growth in the Middle Ob region.

The purpose of the article is to define the role of oil as a natural resource and a transformer of nature management patterns in the north-taiga zone of West Siberia in the second half of the 20th century. The Northern Taiga of West Siberia is a region, which in the 20th century went a long way from the commercial and agricultural development of the territory to the continuous industrial development of the natural and geographical space within an unprecedentedly short time by historical standards. The relevance of the
article is due to the need to comprehend the historical experience of the state nature management in the north-taiga zone of West Siberia. The development of the Soviet North occurred from the top down, such state structures as central ministries and departments, territorial bodies of the Soviet and party power were the main actors in this process. Their opinion in the development of the region was the most important. The article presents an analysis of such over-centralized state approach. It determined the main sources of the research: the fund of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR, regional and local bodies of the Soviet power and the CPSU committees.
The development of the USSR North was based on the industrial standard. In the 1920s–1950s the industrial standard of the development of the North, relying on the use of biological resources with the native population of the North being the main creator of the material benefits could not be implemented. There was a need to rely on resources with a more powerful transformation and modernization potential. Such resources were hydrocarbons: oil and gas. Since the 1960s, the pattern of natural resource management in the North has been reoriented towards the extraction of minerals. Active market conditions and a large export potential of oil allowed solving not only economic but also ideological problems. This led to tremendous economic results and equally serious social and environmental problems. Such historical experience of the Soviet development of the north-taiga zone of  West Siberia should be taken into account in further development of the region and its natural resources.

In the twentieth century urban development increased sharply and became an important environmental factor. The north of West Siberia began to develop rapidly in the form of industrialization in the second half of the twentieth century. The article considers the consequences of active industrial development of the north of West Siberia. In 1960–1970s creation of the West Siberian oil and gas complex (ZSNGK) was the major event in Siberia. But despite high rates of urban development, there were such serious
problems as uncomfortable living environment, natural and climatic conditions of the region, environmental consequences of industrial development of the region.

The relevance of the study is in the fact that the West Siberian oil and gas complex has a special significance for the economy and politics of our country. Studying the history of the oil and gas complex development has been relevant for many years. Urban development of the northern territories has been part of it. The history of development of Yamal towns and cities in the Soviet period has remained insufficiently studied by modern urban scientists. The purpose of the research is to find out the features of design
and urban planning of Novy Urengoy in 1970–1980s. The article dwells on the analysis of urban development of the Tyumen North in the second half of the twentieth century. The city of Novy Urengoy in the first decades of its industrial development is used as an example. The article is written based on reference documents and documents of management and record keeping of the city-planning enterprises (orders). These documents contain detailed information about the issues related to construction of housing and commissioning of social and cultural facilities in the city. Conclusions are drawn of the mistakes made during the construction of the basic city, as well as those of the spontaneous nature of urban development.

An attempt was made to look at the history of oil industry development in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Ugra (KhMAO) from the very start of the project to its implementation. A decision making technology for the development of the Okrug economy is analyzed, its structure change as a result of industrialization is considered. Particular attention is paid to wrong solutions in settling social issues and to the reasons of technological advances retardation. It is explained how the state and the region authorities substituted a long-term perspective of the northern Okrug development with current interests during the crisis of 1970s–1980s under the lack of time and resources. Mutual interaction of national and regional political and economic interests and processes is demonstrated.