Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1066 The Second Chess Piece (Third update, two in one)

From ancient times to the present, any craze will eventually ebb, and after that, only a mess will be left.

Once upon a time, as Libya amended its mining law to pave the way for foreign investment in oil, hundreds of European and American oil companies flocked to Libya in a short period of time. They believed that there were large amounts of oil in the Libyan desert. From a geological point of view, this judgment seemed scientific.

As a result, European and American oil companies spent huge sums of money to purchase exploration rights, and then sent their best drilling teams to Libya. In order to find oil, they drilled in one area after another, but the cruel reality slapped them hard in the face. Although they brought the most advanced drilling equipment, there was still no oil and gas reaction when the drilling reached 5600 feet, or more than 1700 meters.

In the following period, one company after another found that they were too optimistic - even when their wells were drilled to 8000 feet, or more than 2400 meters, there was still no oil and gas response, and the decision makers of these oil companies could no longer sit still.

Every foot of drilling now feels like a dental drill drilling into the root nerve of oil companies in Europe and the United States. If the drilling fails, it is certain that a big hole will be drilled in the value of the company's stock.

The oil companies thought that they had spent too much money and that further drilling would be futile and difficult to extricate themselves, so they hastily called off the operation and sentenced Libya's oil frenzy to "death."

"Although Libya has oil geologically, the reality is often so cruel - there is no oil here!"

For a time, with the withdrawal of European and American companies, only a mess was left on the ground.

An oil craze just receded quietly!

The March sun baked the Libyan sky into a white blaze, and the ground, which was about to catch fire, was dry and cracked into pieces of broken soil. Most of the people in the camp had already left, and the dozen or so who remained were tired like dogs, working every day from the first light of day until the last trace of flames retreated long after the horizon.

After European and American oil companies withdrew, the South Pacific Libyan Oil Company did not withdraw.

"The National Pension Fund has invested 2500 million yuan here! This is equivalent to every Nanyang citizen investing more than 4 cents!"

Once again, under the drilling platform, Wang Hongqi, with a cigarette in his mouth, stared at the well and talked to himself.

"All of our retirement savings are in here!"

Although there are not many people retiring in Nanyang, everyone knows that their retirement pensions need to be paid by the National Pension. How does the National Pension pay for retirement pensions? In addition to the pension insurance they pay, there are various investments of the National Pension. Among Nanyang’s overseas investments, the National Pension accounts for about 50%. It can be said that this oil field is closely connected with all the people of Nanyang.

This is also the reason why Wang Hongqi mentioned pensions, because it is indeed related to their vital interests.

"It's not just the pension, but also our company's stocks. If we can't produce oil, our employee stocks will become waste paper and worthless..."

For a moment, everyone fell silent. They smoked silently, and their expressions became more and more solemn. Everything was closely related to their own interests, whether it was the national pension or employee stocks.

The cruel reality before them made everyone breathless for a moment. They all frowned, worried about themselves and the future of the company. Looking at the desert before them, they had only one thought in their minds - can oil really be produced here?
"What did the company say? When I went to Tripoli a few days ago, I heard that another French oil company had withdrawn."

"What do you say?"

After taking a look at Li Tao, Wang Hongqi said.

"If we withdraw now, we will lose tens of millions of dollars! The company will go bankrupt..." Since the company decided not to move the rig, progress has been despairingly slow. It is too late to change their minds now - money is flowing out of their hands every minute - but their disappointment is as bitter as the sand that has penetrated their clothes, food and bedding.

Haram VI has drilled to 8000 feet!

After Shell Oil drilled to 8300 feet, faced with the reality of no oil or gas response, Shell Oil once made a disappointing prediction: not a drop of oil will be found in damn Libya!
Shell then abandoned its attempt in Libya.

Now they have reached this depth. Every foot they drill down is a torture for them. They expect to make some discoveries, but disappointment awaits them every time. They no longer even collect samples carefully.

If they strike oil, they strike oil. If they don't, they don't. That's what it is - God decides.

Whether or not oil can be found, the rock specimens are not of much help.

Soon the drilling rig that had been silent all night started working again. These frustrated guys who had been tortured by wind, sand and despair started the drilling rig again and slowly drilled deeper and deeper.

Thinking that no more oil could be drilled out, they smoked while working and had no awareness of fire prevention at all.

"8100 feet!"

"8200 feet..."

On this day, they drilled through a reported 8300 feet!

That was the "death penalty standard" announced by Shell Oil. That night, they bought a sheep from a nearby herdsman as usual, roasted the sheep, drank wine, and got drunk.

The next morning, the company turned on the phone.

"continue!"

Then go ahead!
Wang Hongqi and his colleagues continued their work absent-mindedly as usual.

From morning to noon, from 8300 feet to 8500 feet. As the drilling rig worked, finally, after adding a drill rod, it only drilled a few dozen centimeters, and Wang Hongqi shouted.

"8600 feet!"

They once again broke through a limit - this is a well more than 2600 meters deep!
At this moment, a sound that they had heard of came from the air. This sound they had heard of but had never heard with their own ears!

A low rumble came from the center of the earth along the well stem. After this rumble came other rumbles, which mixed together and gathered into a continuous thunder.

"Oil, oil is going to spray, oil is going to spray..." Wang Hongqi shouted.

They shouted madly, and at the same time, the sound of being squeezed came out from the ground like thunder.

And then it came out.

oil.

It gushed out of the ground in fountains that shot hundreds of feet into the air. Thick, sulfur-smelling petroleum just gushed out.

There are nine wells in this area that have exceeded 8000 feet, and each one has produced oil since they broke through 8500 feet. The flow rate is good. The oil field pressure is still very high.

The oil field is producing oil!
What those who gave up didn't know was that if they only had to go a little deeper, the pressure underground would have been enough to push the oil to the surface.

"Oil! We've struck oil! We--"

"Oh my God, we found it! I knew there must be oil here—"

Now cheers go to those who persevered!

When the oil decides to burst forth, it burst forth. When the people who are trying to make it happen try to stop it - well, sometimes it's hard to tell which is harder.

For seventeen days the oil gushed out unstoppably.

These people who had tried their best to make the oil gush out had tried and worked, but their efforts were all in vain. The oil was gushing out of the ground so fast that nothing could cover the well except a landslide.

Then, they quickly turned their attention to the next task: building a reservoir large enough to hold the oil. But this was almost impossible to accomplish with only a dozen exhausted men on the rig, and although they worked all night, they made little progress until the next day.

Soon, the desert was filled with men from nearby tribes at an alarming rate, led by the tribal chief, Muhammad Ali. Hearing the news, he rode in to inspect "his" oil well - according to the agreement reached between the oil company and the tribal alliance, he could get 50 cents for every ton of oil extracted!

Even Wang Hongqi didn't need to say anything. As long as he saw the flowing oil, Ali knew that it was not oil that was flowing away, but his money. Following the chief's order, the men immediately got busy. At this time, no one worked for reward.

They worked because the sand valley was full of oil, and everyone knew that it was wealth flowing, and it was their wealth.

When the news reached Nanyang, Hermann, the manager of an oil company, was silent for a moment and then spoke.

“It turns out that if you persist, you will really gain something!”

The reason why he felt this way was because... as early as two months ago, he had wanted to give up staying in Libya, but after communicating with Your Excellency about this issue at the official residence, he had no choice but to continue at Your Excellency's request.

Once again, Hermann came to the huge teak door of the mansion, and when it opened, he walked in.

"Congratulations, the company has discovered a large oil field in Libya!"

As soon as he saw Hermann, Li Yian congratulated him.

"Sir, it's just like you said - if you hold on a little longer, you may get unexpected rewards. Those who give up will never see this day!"

Herman had a smile on his face.

"So the company has bought their mining rights?"

Li Yian's mouth curled up slightly, his expression full of pride. When Herman asked to withdraw, he not only opposed it, but even asked him to increase investment and acquire the mining rights of other oil companies. This is the benefit of standing on the shoulders of historical giants. After learning that European and American oil companies announced the death penalty for Libyan oil, he saw an opportunity. There was no other way. Who made Colonel Ka so rampant? Without oil, what would he be so arrogant for!

Therefore, he has been insisting on oil exploration in Libya. This is not only because Libya has oil, but more importantly, Libyan oil is his second chess piece - the chess piece regarding oil, the first chess piece is the Persian Gulf.

Now, the Persian Gulf oil field is under their control. The annual output of that oil field in the future will not be much... only 200 million tons. As for Libya, the annual output was more than 100 million tons at its peak. After mastering these two pieces, Nanyang has an oil production capacity of nearly 400 million tons, which means that Nanyang no longer needs to worry about oil issues.

"Yes, sir, now 80% of Libya's oil exploration rights belong to us! Those oil companies that gave up would never have thought that they were only a few hundred feet away from discovering oil!"

Then Herman talked about how he instructed his subordinates to set up small companies and then negotiate with each of them to acquire the exploration rights and land use rights of those oil companies.

"Sir, if it weren't for your persistence, I can hardly imagine that we could have persisted and achieved such a rich return. At present, 112 of our 72 drilling platforms in Libya have discovered oil. According to the estimation of our company's experts, Libya's oil reserves may exceed 20 billion tons. It is the largest oil field closest to Europe. The company can save tens of millions of yuan every year just in transportation costs."

Looking at Hermann who was full of joy, Li Yian seemed very calm. He knew that this might be the last large oil field under his control. Are there other large oil fields that have not been discovered?
Yes...in Daqing.

There is definitely no chance that Nanyang will ever get to exploit oil there.

No, where else except Daqing?
Iraq, there are also large oil fields in Iraq!

There is also Persia. Although we can’t pick up bargains like we do now, we can at least increase the oil field reserves of the Nanyang Petroleum Company!
It's not just about oil reserves. To a certain extent, by controlling these oil fields, Nanyang will not only have a stable supply of oil, but will also control the world's oil valve to a certain extent. Nanyang can turn on the oil valve at any time if it wants.

They can manipulate international oil prices at will just like the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries!
Manipulating international oil prices... It's not impossible to do this, but if we don't do it, how can we promote the development of electric vehicles?
But if oil prices are high, will the Soviet Union still reform?
Thinking of Big Brother's fate, Li Yian couldn't help but sigh, and then he put all these thoughts behind him. After all, all this was just the beginning. After thinking for a while, he said:
"Well, although Libya has oil, its oil reserves cannot be compared with those in the Persian Gulf. In January, we signed an oil exploration agreement with Iraq. The next step for the company is to set up a new company to explore for oil there. Now that winter is over there and it is spring, we can start by investigating Iraq's geology."

When mentioning Iraq, Li Yian couldn't help but glance at another envelope on the table. It was a letter sent from Iraq...

(End of this chapter)