Comments by "Nicholas Conder" (@nicholasconder4703) on "Could Libyan OIL have solved the Axis oil crisis of WW2?" video.

Funnily enough, the crude from Balikpapan was so good they could actually fill their warships directly from the oil fields - no major refining required. Which is why in 1944 the Japanese fleet was stationed at Tawi Tawi in the southern Philippines rather than at the Home Islands.
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@z000ey Which would have been another reason for the Axis to make invading Egypt a priority in 1941.
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It would have given the Axis more reason to capture Egypt and the Suez Canal, though. And a local supply of oil would have made this a bit more feasible.
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It probably didn't help that some Italian cartographers made up terrain features. I remember reading an account written by the Long Range Desert Group who discovered the non-existence of a "mountain range" by driving through the perfectly flat terrain it was located in. In other words, the cartographers "created" the mountains to fill in some blank spaces on their maps.
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Lack of the proper adhesive?
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@matthewbadley5063 Which then begs the question as to why the Axis never invaded Malta (Operation Hercules). Another in a long line of stupid oversights.
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@schnoodle3 But I think that most crude oil has impurities in it (other hydrocarbons) that will affect things like injectors. Gasoline in a diesel engine does wonders, and vice versa. The Indonesian oil was usable as a replacement for the usual bunker oil with very little if any refining. Of course, this oil was also somewhat more explosive due to these impurities/other hydrocarbon fractions as well.
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@TheImperatorKnight I agree. And Parabellum's additional information is somewhat illuminating as well. Good work by both of you.
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Oil wells themselves would have been difficult targets to hit. The Germans tried this during the Battle of Britain, taking down the British Radar towers in England. More lucrative targets would be attacking the refineries and tankers transporting the oil, and commando raids on the pipelines. These would be much better targets to aim for.
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@TheAngelobarker Probably not the ones in Libya.
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@stevewatson6839 Which then raises the question of why there were still maps showing non-existant mountain ranges. And these "peaks" all had names attached to them as well, as I recall.
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@stevewatson6839 I have no problem with that. It is unlikely the Italians would have travelled into the central or southern areas of the Libyan Desert around Kufra. Since these maps were being used by the Long Range Desert Force, they would be heading into those areas, and less into the more travelled northern regions.
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@wititorac One of the Axis' biggest problems was lack of fuel. This would not have been an issue with fuel available in situ. It would also facilitate the presence of more trucks to transport ammo and men, facilitating larger offensives. With a ready supply of fuel, you wouldn't need to use up precious cargo space to move it, enabling you to field more men and equipment.
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Probably not. Hitler had a pathological hatred of the Soviet Union, and North Africa didn't provide the agricultural land they wanted, nor the other resources they needed.
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