Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 959: Going Upstream (First Update, Please Subscribe)
In recent days, Nanyang Petroleum Corporation has undoubtedly been the darling of the news. From the oil exploration rights in the Surtir Basin in Libya to the offshore oil exploration in the Persian Gulf, it is undoubtedly good news for the market.

Nanyang Petroleum's overseas oil resource reserves naturally became the focus of market attention. As the stock price rose, newspapers naturally paid more attention to it.

However, for Hermann, the general manager of Nanyang Petroleum, he does not care about the attention from the outside world. Whether there is media attention or not, it is not important at all to Nanyang Petroleum, just like he never cares about the rise and fall of the oil company's stock.

That evening, Hermann had dinner with an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and took him to his club, which was one of the high-end clubs in Chang'an. Only the rich or the noble could enter this club.

Although Hermann had received a promise from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, that kind of promise was always just a promise and could not completely solve the problem.

In order to solve the problem, information from other aspects was also needed. The reason for inviting Chen Dehua to dinner was actually because he worked in the Economic Intelligence Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Although Herman had learned about the internal turmoil in Saudi Arabia from Ma Baoguo, he still hoped to know more information.

As the head of the intelligence department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chen Dehua was obviously his most important channel to understand Yemen. At this moment, Chen Dehua was sitting opposite Herman in the room, with confusion on his face.

Hermann told him the truth, but he said nothing about Saudi Arabia. He only talked about Yemen, but he exaggerated its role.

"Although we don't know whether there is oil there, we still need to give it a try. Let's be frank. The current diplomatic differences between Yemen and Saudi Arabia make it difficult for us to decide whether to enter Yemen, so..."

After a pause, Hermann asked.

"I want to know whether the territorial disputes between Yemen and Saudi Arabia will be further expanded."

Chen Dehua understood everything. A smile appeared on his serious face and he said.

"There is indeed a territorial dispute between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, but it will not develop into a war. Mr. He does not need to worry about this."

Hermann asked curiously.

"Oh? Why is that?"

"The reason is simple. It's about strength. Compared to Yemen, Saudi Arabia can earn hundreds of millions of dollars from oil every year. Although this amount of money is not much, it is enough to support Saudi Arabia to build a relatively modern army. In addition, a few years ago, the United States and Saudi Arabia signed the Mutual Defense and Assistance Agreement and the Dhahran Airport Agreement. Saudi Arabia agreed to extend the lease of the Dhahran Air Force Base, which was built in 1946 and leased to the United States, for five years. In exchange, the United States will provide Saudi Arabia with weapons and equipment and send a military delegation to train the Saudi army. Although Saudi Arabia's relationship with the United States is average, the Saudi army's training and equipment are far superior to Yemen's."

After thinking about it, Chen Dehua added.

"And what about Yemen? Their equipment is relatively outdated. In the three or four years of war, Yemen was defeated by Saudi Arabia with tanks and armored vehicles. Now, they only have some old tanks and armored vehicles. In this situation, Yemen is almost impossible to risk going to war with Saudi Arabia. Even if they regard the Taif Agreement signed with Saudi Arabia as an unequal treaty, Saudi Arabia's strength is something Yemen cannot challenge. The world is completely built on strength. If nothing unexpected happens, the two sides will just engage in a war of words in diplomacy, so Mr. He does not need to worry about this at all."

As a diplomat, Chen Dehua certainly knew what these companies were worried about. They were just worried about the local situation. So all he needed to do was tell them that there was no security problem there.

"It's really hard to make a decision,"

Herman said,
"If you are not careful when investing overseas, you may end up losing everything. You have to be careful!"

Although there is a guy in Egypt waiting for their help, Hermann has learned about organizations like the "Free Officers Movement". They are mostly nationalist. Cooperating with them is undoubtedly like fighting a tiger. After all, the king may not necessarily nationalize the oil fields, but the "Free Officers Movement" is very likely to do so because their own stance is nationalist and anti-colonial.

Deal with people like this...unless you have no choice.

Therefore, in Herman's opinion, the best choice is still Yemen - taking advantage of the conflict between Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Of course, Hussein was also someone he wanted to use. After all, what he needed was not a winner, but a Saudi Arabia caught in a civil war.

But this is unknown, as now, they have cooperated with the Black Knight Company and have begun to deploy in Yemen.

Who would have thought?
They are now going to destroy a country!
To overthrow a country. Or to destroy a country.

In short, this was hard to imagine in the past. Who could believe that a company could do this?
However, they are now achieving this goal step by step.

“Indeed, there are too many political risks in overseas investment.”

Chen Dehua said as he looked at the general manager of Nanyang Petroleum Company who was in the limelight in front of him.

"However, compared to Yemen, I think you need to worry more about Saudi Arabia. After all, you already have investments there, and the Persian Gulf is very popular recently."

Herman wondered. "Oh? Why worry about Saudi Arabia?"

"Free Officers Organization!"

Chen Dehua wiped his hands with a napkin and said.

"After the war, military coups launched by nationalist officers dissatisfied with the status quo were common in Middle Eastern countries. After Nasser of Egypt successfully seized power in 1952, Nasserism spread among the people of Arab countries, especially in the military. Currently, an opposition group called the "Free Officers Movement" has also emerged in the Saudi military. They are trying to imitate Egypt's overthrow of the king's rule and establish a government similar to that under Nasser's rule in Egypt."

He should know the situation in this regard. Chen Dehua looked at Hermann who was silent, and thought to himself that these companies must have done some homework, and now they just want to know more details.

"If they succeed, they will certainly confiscate the oil company's mining rights and nationalize the oil. By then, you will probably suffer great losses! Although their previous actions have been disrupted, who can guarantee that they will not continue to act in the future? Moreover..."

Chen Dehua added specifically.

"Based on the current situation, the nationalization of oil in the Middle East will be inevitable in the future. After all, no country is willing to allow foreign oil companies to use pumping rigs to drain away their wealth."

In fact, in terms of traditional education, Chen Dehua is against colonialism and against these foreign companies seeking huge profits in other countries.

However, as a diplomat in Southeast Asia, Chen Dehua also needs to safeguard the interests of his country's companies. In his opinion, his country's companies that have invested abroad should be protected.

Well, people’s positions are sometimes so strange. When he was young, Chen Dehua was a person who firmly opposed colonialism.

But now?
All we can say is that the situation has changed and the position has also changed.

"Indeed, judging by the current situation, it is only a matter of time,"

Hermann asked, grinning.

"The question is, what will the authorities do when the time comes? If they want to tear up the agreement, will the authorities just sit back and do nothing?"

“It will basically remain silent!”

Chen Dehua's answer made Herman open his eyes slightly, and there was a hint of strangeness in his eyes.

"If Western countries start a war over the 'nationalization of oil' in those countries, or even use force to protect the interests of their own companies, they will actually be helping the Soviet Union. Nasserism itself is against imperialism and colonialism, and they are closer to the Soviet Union than the West. If those oil-producing countries all turn to the Soviet Union, who knows what troubles they will cause to Western countries in the future."

Chen Dehua thought for a while and said.

“So, the possibility of state intervention is almost zero!”

This is the most realistic problem in post-war international politics, and it is also inevitable. The fundamental reason why small countries can survive and jump between big countries is the special international environment under the Soviet-Soviet Cold War.

Now the diplomatic community in Southeast Asia is gradually adapting to the diplomacy under the Cold War environment.

"So you also need to adapt to this change."

Faced with this well-intentioned reminder, Hermann smiled.

"Yes, we are now adapting to this change little by little."

Although his answer was adaptation, only he himself knew what he meant by adaptation.

In the end, the two of them just kept chatting about Yemen, Saudi Arabia and oil.

Soon, dinner was over. Hermann escorted Chen Dehua out of the restaurant and put him into a taxi. Then he looked at the car going away and talked to himself.

“We just think differently…”

(End of this chapter)