What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 315 There's one more thing
Levi was terrified by Chu Zhen's seemingly insane behavior and quickly asked Wells:

Is there anything strange about this?

Wells shook his head:

"Generally speaking, if data is obtained without actually drilling wells and then analyzed using supercomputing, there may be discrepancies in terms of reserves, oilfield distribution, and depth, or even completely opposite results."

However, in shallow, high-quality oil fields like this, unless there's a particularly serious error, the problem would be detected during a cursory observation.

"Let me give you an example. Given the current situation, the pressure in the oil layer on the seabed is very high. Theoretically, there should have been records of spontaneous oil gushing out in the past 100 years, and the islands and reefs here will also be slowly pushed up by the pressure."

But Dai Ying had been circling around for half a century; theoretically, he should have made some discoveries… No, I need to have someone check records from decades ago; someone must have missed something.”

Chu Zhen was going crazy because the Nansha Islands were re-surveyed in China in the 80s, and this discovery undoubtedly proves that the original survey had absurdly high distortions.

Wells only had a general understanding, which made it easier for him to accept.

At Chu Zhen's request, the survey vessel was fully armed and set out that afternoon to prepare for a new survey.

This will take at least a few days to complete, and then the data will need to be sent back to Beijing by plane for analysis using supercomputers.

Prior to this, the two had been monitoring the flow meter of the main pipeline, trying to make a rough judgment by observing changes in flow input.

But something strange happened. From morning until dawn, the internet traffic remained as stable as if it had been frozen.

Wells initially sampled every two hours, and later every hour.

However, regardless of the time, the flow rate remained precisely at a little over 1.6 cubic meters per minute, which can only prove one thing:

A daily production of 2000 tons is far from the limit of this oil well; its actual potential should be over 5000 tons.

Both expedition teams found it difficult to accept and continued to send people to keep watch and collect samples. Finally, a turning point occurred on the morning of the second day:
"Traffic volume is fluctuating wildly!"

The team member guarding the instrument shouted, but the oil worker passing by remained calm, as if he hadn't noticed.

The experts have gotten used to these eccentric workers; they're practically like NPCs—they can't get any information out of them.

Chu Zhen and Wells immediately rushed to the scene and measured the new data:

The flow rate increased from 1.7 to 1.75 cubic meters.

It wasn't a fluctuation, but rather it stabilized immediately after reaching this data point; it was more like a sudden jump.

Tang Wen was the first to know what had happened. The system calculated the area based on 0.1 square kilometers, and the usable area had just jumped from 0.4 to 0.5 square kilometers, increasing the daily output to 2500 tons.

Praise be to the great Earth God Cult.

He pretended to be unaware and rushed over with Levi's, only to find the experts collectively silent and deep in thought.

After a long while, Chu Zhen stood up. He was even more hunched over than he was yesterday, and the wrinkles on his face were more pronounced.

"Mr. Tang, could I borrow your seaplane? I need to get a few more people over to analyze this place; the layout seems a bit unusual."

"no problem."

Tang Wen readily agreed, saying that the more people who come, the better.

And it just so happens that he and Levi's won't be staying here for long; they'll be flying back to the mainland today.

Shortly after the Type 2 large boat took off, another P3C aircraft lingered over Gongzhen Reef.

……

Great Bay.

As soon as Tang Wen landed, someone was waiting for him.

It's Zhao Hande.

"You're really going to cause a huge uproar!" Tang Wen said with some surprise, "You're making such a fuss by flying around all this time. Just send someone over."

"I really don't trust anyone else. Do you know that the Ministry of Petroleum is in complete chaos right now?"

In fact, the Ministry of Petroleum has been reorganized into a company for several years, but due to its special nature, its functions have hardly changed, so it still sounds more like the Ministry of Petroleum.

Zhao Hande also said with a hint of schadenfreude:
"Professor Chu said that the data from the last South China Sea survey was falsified, and a world-class high-grade oil field was missed. Now they have taken over the entire supercomputer of the Institute of Computing Technology to recalculate the data."

Tang Wen said somewhat uncertainly, "Maybe... their algorithm is outdated. Actually, we also used a supercomputer to calculate the existence of a large oil field, but we didn't really believe it at the time."

"I heard that a single well can now produce 2000 tons per day?"

"That's right, and it will soon be increased to 1 tons. My goal is still 5000 million tons per year."

Zhao Hande's eyelids twitched:
"If it really is such a large-scale oil field, CNOOC will probably drill wells in the surrounding area as well."

His subtext was implying to Tang Wen that the oil exploration rights granted to Gaijin were an exception, and it was unlikely that they would be taken back, but it was inevitable that some people would try to take advantage of the situation.

However, Tang Wen didn't care. He was fine with anything, not just the surrounding area, but even if it was right next to Gongzhen Reef.

He didn't continue on that topic, but instead brought up the fact that Levi's had invited him to the United States.

Zhao Hande was taken aback, then immediately said:

"I came here for this very reason. The ambassador is expected to be replaced in China between the 15th and 20th, and I wanted to take this opportunity to organize a trade delegation to discuss China's accession to the WTO. I'd like to invite you along as well."

Tang Wen immediately agreed:

"No problem, but how many people can I bring?"

"Well... actually, these kinds of delegations are usually limited in number based on budget. If you can pay for it yourself, then of course it doesn't matter."

Tang Wen immediately understood that at this time, various official overseas trips often turned into purchasing groups, with each person having a quota of several thousand US dollars. However, with a large number of people, the amount allocated would be very small.

“Then we’ll handle the foreign exchange ourselves, since we have more people.”

Dollars? With oil as a backing, he could just open a Citibank credit card and spend it however he wanted; he was confident of that.

Tang Wen was not against going abroad. Firstly, his current image was that of a fool with lots of money, eagerly sending money to American companies and saving a large company that was about to be acquired.

Secondly, China's international image is roughly on par with India's; it's poor, poses no threat, and isn't a target.

In fact, according to the current trend, the weaker you are, the better your interpersonal relationships are, and the easier it is to succeed in high-end transactions.

For example, the US can sell the original or even enhanced version of the F-16 to major buyers, but if it's the Koreans, the avionics have to be downgraded. When it comes to domestic products, they not only use the most basic version, but even the turbofan engine is downgraded to a turbojet engine to fool people.

Having an innocent-looking face now actually provides more security.

Moreover, Tang Wenxin knew that Lao Mi should have already discovered the sand filling and island building in the Spratly Islands, but he deliberately covered it up, which must have a deeper meaning.

There are still at least 10 days before departure, so we can make a lot of preparations.

"And one more thing."

Zhao Hande continued:
"It's like the military is asking you for a favor. Go to the US and ask Boeing if you can continue to discuss the reverse engineering of the CH-47, and if you can negotiate a lower price."

Tang Wen was somewhat puzzled: "I've already sent Changfei a CH-47C and two engines, and I've also given them a lot of data. Can't they replicate it?"

"They said it's a complex issue, involving basic industries..."

Seeing Zhao Hande humming and groaning, he understood that the domestic helicopter industry was still in its infancy.

Therefore, the current American opinion that China is so bad that even if given the homework, it cannot be copied is a completely reasonable and objective judgment.

(End of this chapter)