When the oil company negotiations broke down, about 500 kilometers east of Garden City, the capital of the Sultanate of Najd, the Umbrella Company designated this area of 5,000 square kilometers as a military restricted area, prohibiting anyone from entering.
"Under our feet, we have the largest oil field on the planet. If we control this area, we will own the whole world." Ted, professor of geology at the University of Nyasaland, chief consultant of Adan Company, and special commissioner of the Ministry of Land and Resources of Southern Africa, pointed at his feet
The land is so proud.
The location of Ted is the oil field just discovered by the Sultanate of Najd. Preliminary estimates indicate that the oil field's reserves exceed 10 billion barrels. If fully developed, the oil field at Ted's feet alone can supply 50% of the world's supply.
The above oil supply.
This oil field is the famous Ghawar Oil Field. In another time and space, in 2005, the remaining recoverable reserves of the Ghawar Oil Field were approximately 70 billion barrels.
The Garhwal oil field was discovered in 1948 and exploited in 1952, so the 70 billion in 2005 was the 70 billion after 50 years of exploitation.
You must know that before that, the annual output of the Ghawar oil field was as high as 280 million tons.
It is tons, not barrels. When converted into barrels, it is about 2.0524 billion.
“Don’t worry, Professor, we will have a troop stationed here to patrol 24 hours a day. Even if a mouse gets in, we will dig three feet deep.” Shen Hou, senior director of the Umbrella Company, was pouring coffee for Ted.
Southern Africa attaches great importance to elite talents. Elite talents here do not include officials and businessmen, but refer to scientific researchers, expert professors, outstanding medical workers, teachers, engineers, etc.
In southern Africa, elite talents are paid very high salaries. Even in resource-poor environments like the desert, Adan Company will provide Ted and other explorers with the most complete logistical services possible.
In the fleet sent by Adan Company, there are Ted's special nanny vans, dining cars specially designed for cooking, and RVs for staff to rest temporarily. The staff can even take a shower every day when working in the desert. A team of less than a hundred people
The work team has to send more than a dozen water trucks to transport the domestic water and drinking water consumed every day.
At least it doesn’t cost money to refuel Adan’s fleet anyway.
Ted's team has a total of 98 people including security personnel.
Although the working environment is a bit harsh, the logistics service provided by Adan Company is indeed good. The huge parasol is held up. Ted and Shen Hou are sitting on the lounge chairs. When Shen Hou pours the coffee, Maya brings an ice pack to Ted.
, and then she fanned Ted obediently next to her. Maya was a maid specially provided to serve Ted. Adan's company hired her in Persia for 15 rand.
It’s really employment. How can it be possible for slavery to exist in Southern Africa?
“What we need to worry about is not rats. Rats will not leak information. What we need to be careful about is people.” Ted was in a bad mood. Adan Company’s confidentiality work was still not good enough, otherwise the information about the oil field would not be leaked.
"Haha, without our permission, no exploration team can enter the Sultanate of Najd." Shen Hou smiled. Since the establishment of the Sultanate of Najd, except for Adan Company, no oil exploration team from other companies has been able to enter the Sultanate of Najd. , can enter the Sultanate of Najd through official channels.
As for those who enter without permission, I'm sorry, this situation is equivalent to an invasion. Whether discovered by the Najd Sultanate troops or the Umbrella Company, they can be destroyed directly.
In the desert, it is not easy to destroy corpses and eliminate traces.
Ted nodded slightly. It was impossible to completely block the news. It was pretty good that the Umbrella Company could do this.
There are actually too many oil fields around the Persian Gulf, and the Elizabeth Oil Field is already shocking enough. In recent years, a large number of oil fields have been discovered in the Mesopotamia and Mesopotamia, and the reserves are still very high.
Coupled with the newly discovered Ghawar oil field, the most important task of Adan Company now is not to extract oil, but to block the news of these oil fields. Compared with the oil fields in the Persian Gulf region, the so-called "super oil fields" in the Gulf of Mexico, that is, Compared with Romania's oil fields, it is considered "super". In the Persian Gulf, Mexico's newly discovered oil fields are its younger brother.
Of course, as an oil practitioner, Adam Company will not ignore the oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico. Even if it is not interested, it can still cause some trouble for the Seven Sisters.
After all, the higher the cost of Seven Sisters, the lower the competitiveness, and the greater the advantage of Adan Company.
At this time, the transport convoy arrived at the temporary camp. There are no roads in the desert, and all the cars are wheeled and tracked vehicles. The carrying capacity cannot be compared with that of container trucks, so a lot of cars are needed.
In order to reduce the logistical burden, the exploration team did not use hired laborers. Those who unloaded the trucks were mercenaries and Ted's assistants. Maya also went over to pick and choose, and soon brought a plate of fruit to Ted and Shen Hou.
Not dates, but freshly picked grapes and cherries
There is ice under the fruit. Under the hot sunshine, the ice cubes emit faint water vapor. This is the effect of the liquefaction of the water vapor. The grapes and cherries taste better after being chilled, especially in an environment like the desert.
“Sir, this is yesterday’s newspaper.” The convoy brings more than just food, information is equally important.
"Thank you" Ted politely thanked him and opened the top copy of The Times. The headline on the front page was "Oil company negotiations broke down yesterday, and the Warring States Period has officially arrived!!!"
The editor did not take it too seriously to see the excitement and expressed his excitement with three exclamation points.
What's the point of trusts and cartels? It's better to fight them!
Without fighting, where would the news come from?
“If we publish the true information about the oil fields, will other oil companies surrender?” The assistant who delivered the newspaper was still naive.
“It’s impossible. On the contrary, they will jump over the wall and maybe incite the government to use state power.” Ted was speechless. If you can’t defeat them, then join? That doesn’t exist.
Shen Hou laughed loudly, and his mood was similar to that of the editor of The Times.
There is really no precise data on the reserves of oil fields.
Taking the Garhwal Oilfield as an example, the information obtained by the Seven Sisters is one billion barrels. The known reserves of Adan Company are 10 billion barrels. The real reserves are far more than 70 billion barrels. Who do you think you should listen to?
"Your Lordship is still too kind. He should increase his efforts to dump the market at low prices, completely defeat other oil companies, and then completely monopolize the oil market!" Shen Hou is even more radical. If he follows the rhythm of Shuang's article, this is indeed what he should write. .
The reality is not true after all. No matter how powerful the Seven Petroleum Sisters are, OPEC can still emerge. Even if the British royal family owns shares of Adan Company, it will not allow Adan Company to completely monopolize the market.
Owning shares is not a controlling stake, and Adam is not a British company. What about the United States? Can the U.S. government allow Adam to annex Standard Oil?
I’m afraid that if there is such a sign, the U.S. government will raise the stick of sanctions even if it continues to pursue free trade.
Anyway, Americans have mouths, so Americans can interpret it as they like.
“It’s not that easy” Ted is not familiar with this either, but he knows it’s not that easy.
“Otherwise, we can acquire the stocks of other oil companies and directly achieve the level of controlling shares, and we can still monopolize the oil market.” Shen Hou seemed to have been thinking about this issue a lot.
“Hehehehe, Shen, how do you think the economic crisis came about?” Ted is more experienced in this area.
As a professor, Ted has a good income, and it is normal for him to invest in the stock market.
However, stocks are not guaranteed to make money. The economic crisis that occurs once every decade almost always starts with the collapse of the U.S. stock market, causing European investors to suffer heavy losses. If you say there is no human factor in this, the Wall Street tycoons will laugh.
“Hehe, that’s what I said, you eat the grapes slowly while I go on patrol.” Shen Hou was not angry even if he was hit. These are things that big shots worry about. Shen Hou’s mission is to do his job well.
Ted was also serious and responsible, and continued working after a break, and the uneaten grapes and cherries were given to Maya.
Maya was of course smiling and would not eat alone. Instead, she called the nurses from the medical team to share the meal with her.
Although this exploration team is not large in scale, it has everything it needs. Even though it is a small team, it has all the internal organs.
While the exploration team was working hard, O'Connor walked down the ramp at Port Elizabeth Airport wearing a short-sleeved shirt and a suit jacket on his arm. Compared with Pretoria, Port Elizabeth is indeed a bit hot.
It is winter in Pretoria in August, with the average daily maximum temperature not exceeding 25 degrees Celsius. In Port Elizabeth, the maximum daytime temperature may reach around 50 degrees Celsius. This kind of weather is simply torture for people.
“It’s too hot. Every time I go to Port Elizabeth for a business trip, I feel like I’m in hell,” O’Connor complained as he walked. This time he came to Port Elizabeth with the purpose of investigating Adan Company.
Southern Africa has always attached great importance to intelligence work. The oil field information of the Sultanate of Najd is classified as top secret. Since it was accidentally leaked, someone must be responsible for it.
"Port Elizabeth is okay. You have never been to North Africa. I worked in Cyrenaica last year. God, you don't know how hot it is in Cyrenaica. The thermometers are all hot." O'Connor's new partner is also from Marcus of Nyasaland.
"The thermometer has warmed up, so why are you still alive?" O'Connor walked quickly into the terminal. A gust of cold wind blew over. O'Connor shivered comfortably and stayed at the entrance of the terminal, refusing to leave.
As we all know, the air-conditioning at the door is always the most adequate.
“Because there is air conditioning. Air conditioning is the greatest invention in human history. I rely on air conditioning to save my life every year.” Marcus laughed.
The security guard on duty at the entrance of the terminal noticed Marcus and O'Connor and immediately felt like they were facing an enemy.
Marcus and O'Connor have both taken off their suits, and the gun holsters hanging clearly under their armpits are really eye-catching.
Marcus rummaged through his pocket, found his ID and waved it to the security guard. The police badge on it was extremely eye-catching.
