What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 667 Typhoon Season

Zhao Hande was just joking; it's too early to say anything about it affecting the petrodollar.

He doesn't believe that oil production in the Spratly Islands can continue to soar to that level, and secondly, the value of the US dollar is not solely measured by oil.

The biggest reason why the empire uses the dollar for oil is that their own demand is enormous, with an annual import demand of more than 5 million tons. If they cannot control the pricing power of oil, an energy crisis may break out at any time.

However, Chu Zhen said very seriously:
"Director Zhao, even if we cannot export in large quantities, I think the country may not need to import oil for at least the next 5 years."

The oil fields in Nansha are completely different from those in China. The newly built oil production facilities are basically production trees. To put it bluntly, all the oil wells in Nansha are flowing wells. They don't need to be pumped out because of the excessive pressure. I have never seen such a large-scale and rapidly growing flow of wells.

An annual production capacity of 5000 to 7000 million tons could indeed be achieved before 2000; this is not an exaggeration, but a reality that is about to unfold.

Zhao Hande's eyebrows finally furrowed:
On the surface, this is a good thing. Even if oil prices dropped sharply in 98, importing more than 4000 million tons a year would still cost several billion US dollars, which would save a lot of valuable foreign exchange.

—If all this oil can safely reach land.

The actual situation is completely different. First, there is shipping. Ideally, based on the future production capacity plan of Nansha, about 7 to 10 20-ton VLCCs would be needed to continuously transport crude oil. However, considering the impact of weather such as typhoons, about 15 ships would be needed, which would be even more if converted to ordinary oil tankers.

These oil tankers were all purchased by the Ministry of Petroleum from shipyards. They did consider going to Geikin, but Geikin's tanker technology was unexpectedly outdated and not very economical.

Currently, there are only 6 second-hand VLCCs in the country, and only 1 is available. At present, we are relying on a fleet of large and medium-sized oil tankers to make up the gap. It will definitely not be enough when production increases.

A small portion of the crude oil is transported to the Echeng area, while the majority is shipped north to refineries in the Jiangnan and Shandong regions. This presents a serious problem:

The shipping route starts from the Spratly Islands, passes through the vast South China Sea, and crosses straits, making the shipping extremely unsafe.

Even if we take a step back and assume that the Imperial carrier battle group causes trouble in the Spratlys for a month, disrupting shipping lanes, what should we do?
Although the oil reserves can certainly fill the gap, no one can ignore this hidden danger, not to mention that the resulting fluctuations in oil prices should not be underestimated.

The higher-ups have already realized this problem. This year, not only did they take out a loan to buy the super-United States, but they also took a technological risk by simultaneously starting the construction of Project 891. The Navy must safeguard this lifeline on its doorstep.

Submarine oil pipeline?

This is merely a long-term vision. Laying thousands of kilometers of pipelines in the geologically active South China Sea, where the water is thousands of meters deep, would probably require a much larger investment than buying ships for the navy.

The importance of self-sufficiency in oil goes without saying, but at this juncture, the cost of building a powerful navy through militarism cannot be ignored, especially given that the Empire is expected to intervene in the future.

Even if the Empire doesn't intervene for oil, three aircraft carriers will still cause trouble, but if they don't build aircraft carriers, they worry about Imperial intervention... It's an unsolvable chain of suspicion, and even knowing the consequences, they have to grit their teeth and jump in.

OPEC is a minor issue; a loss of 4000 million tons of oil is not a big deal, and it can be easily covered up.

"How come something that's clearly a good thing brings so much trouble?"

Zhao Hande was genuinely confused, while Chu Zhen beside him nodded repeatedly:
Petroleum professionals at Southeast University never imagined that high-quality light oil self-flowing wells like the Liletan Oilfield actually existed. But when it actually happened, they avoided it like the plague. Almost all the veteran experts who participated in the geological survey of Nansha back then suffered academic setbacks, and everyone in the geological community was in danger.

The two looked at each other, and both of them thought of a certain person at the same time, and sighed.

"Director, Director, it's a big deal!"

Secretary Chen spoke first before banging on the half-closed office door, looking extremely anxious.

Feeling a little thirsty, Zhao Hande calmly picked up his teacup:
"What happened? Why are you in such a panic?"

"Geigin is going to sell two battleships to At!"

"Pfft...cough cough cough, cough cough..."

"Director Zhao, are you alright...bend over, bend over (sound of forcefully patting his back)!"

……

Nansha
At noon, a sightseeing plane converted from a B-25 landed on the runway before being overtaken by dark clouds. By the time it came to a stop, it was already raining heavily outside.

Tang Wen hurried to the terminal and had just changed his clothes when he saw through the rattling windows a torrential downpour, like a high-pressure water gun spraying rain, with a dense, pattering sound as it hit the buildings.

The dense rain was so heavy that it made it impossible to open one's eyes, and visibility was reduced to only a few meters. Forget about construction conditions; even if someone just wandered around the dock, they might be blown away.

"Wow, no one said a strong El Niño phenomenon is this strong!"

"Mr. Tang, we have to stop work, we really can't continue!"

Ge Xuan, soaked to the bone, wiped the water from his face. He had just been transferred from Feixin Island.

"The good weather of the first half of the year is over. Weather experts say that no work can be done throughout the summer and autumn because the waves will be at least three meters high!"

Last year was actually a relatively peaceful year for Nansha. There were only less than two months of work stoppages due to typhoons. The rest of the time, we worked overtime to keep up with the work, but the main reason was that construction conditions still existed.

But this year is different. The strong El Niño has thrown the world into chaos, with dry forest fires in Bassin and Wawa, floods in the Yangtze River, and constant storms in the South China Sea.

Meteorologists predict that the southwest winds and typhoon season will affect the area from June to September, with some calm periods of 3 to 4 days interspersed during this period. There is no point in starting work, so the only option is to stop work and evacuate all personnel.

Tang Wen was actually prepared for this; although the sand filling was suspended, the system's ships remained unaffected.

His strategy was to have the large caisson ships used for island reclamation sink during the storm to demarcate the land, so that when construction resumed in October, the progress would be much faster and would not have a significant impact on the island building operation.

The freed-up construction workers also have a place to go. Natuna happens to be in the dry season of the southwest monsoon from June to September, which is actually very suitable for intense work. Construction workers not only do not have to stop working, but can also receive an extra overseas allowance. Therefore, Ge Xuan is not worried about not having work during the off-season.

The problem lies in oil.

During this period, oil shipping to and from the Spratly Islands also had to be suspended, resulting in approximately 800 million tons of oil production capacity being unable to be transported out, while the local area certainly could not accommodate the excess.

If Geigin goes to build oil tankers, he will certainly not be affected, but doing so might make outsiders think that Geigin also has a storm fleet!
However, if production is halted, approximately $7 million in revenue will be lost, which is not worthwhile.

But he had no other choice but to appease Ge Xuan for the time being:
"There are still two weeks left in May, so let everyone pack their things and prepare to go to Natuna. Everyone here, except for the stationed personnel, should be evacuated."

"No problem, brothers, we're not afraid of hard work."

Ge Xuan patted his chest and agreed. Gai Jin was an extremely rare client in this era who could pay 50% of the project cost upfront and settle accounts directly after each phase was completed.

Construction companies across the country were vying for the bids, and many tried to steal business by offering low prices. However, Gaijin clearly stated that the bid price was more than 10% higher than the normal price and prohibited malicious price suppression.

Tang Wen had his reasons for doing this. Usually, withholding funds is either for transit or to prevent accountability for construction quality issues later on. However, his requirement for Nansha was simply to meet the system standards.

Ge Xuan naturally kept such an epic benefactor in mind at all times, and seeing Tang Wen's unpleasant expression, he roughly guessed the reason. The daily profits from the Nansha oil fields were no joke; he had privately estimated the daily oil production, and a shutdown would result in substantial losses. However, he could only offer Tang Wen words of comfort:
“This oil grows in the ground and won’t run away. You can develop it for a few months at a time without any impact.”

The latter simply nodded casually, then after a moment's thought, suddenly asked:
"Tell me, how difficult would it be for me to build a pipeline from here to Guangdong Province?"

Ge Xuan: "..."

"You might as well try looking for other oil wells in the nearshore area. Building a pipeline from here would be at least 1300 kilometers long and would have to be submerged to a depth of more than 1,000 meters. That would be easier than building a bridge."

What islands in the surrounding waters might produce oil?

Tang Wen shook his head. Of course there are many islands in the near sea, but they do not meet the system map definition (see Chapter 75 for the setting). Those desolate islands a few kilometers away from the mainland are not considered potential choices for naval bases.

After excluding these, other islands, though closer than the Spratly Islands, are still heavily affected by storms and not worth paying attention to.

However, since Ge Xuan brought it up, he opened the map again and glanced at it casually... Hmm?
There really is a group of islands near my home that can be developed; it's quite large, and there's already some usable infrastructure on it.

Dongsha Islands.

Located only 200 kilometers from land, although it is also significantly affected by the storm, the gap period is longer, making transportation much less difficult.

It might be a little difficult to contract for oil development in the Dongsha Islands.

However... when Tang Wen looked back at the map at this time, he realized that Dongsha's geographical location was really good. If it were used as a base, it would be the eastern gateway to Nansha and guard the Balintang Strait.

If Natuna controls Malacca and Dongsha and keeps watch over Balintang, the two gateways to the Spratly Islands will be firmly grasped, and the area will almost become an inland sea.

That situation was unimaginable; the island chain would become a joke, and the Pacific Fleet's plans would fail as soon as they were finalized—though they wouldn't last more than a few years anyway.

Although Dongsha was an impossible option at this time, Tang Wen still marked it and kept it in his mind.

Oil extraction may not be possible for the time being, but causing some trouble is still possible.

He sent a message in his mind to Zhenhai, who remained in Goose City:

[Let Gaijin Petroleum officially announce that crude oil reserves also exist in Dongsha, and the reserves are likely to be on par with those in Nansha.]

……

Prism Building
"Ah, what a rare moment of peace."

Johnson remarked as he sat down, and the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff nodded in agreement.

The calm does not mean that nothing is happening in the world. On the contrary, there have been no shortage of hot issues in the world these days. First, the International Court of Justice has decided to issue an arrest warrant for Sharp, which can almost be said to be historic (in the original timeline, the one who received this honor was Millersavich, who was arrested after the defeat).

The subcontinental conflict escalated, and India was determined to fight to regain face and relieve pressure. The big dog quickly paid the outstanding payments and default fees for the batch of F-16s from 93 for his personal henchman and bodyguard. At the same time, he also funded the "FC1 Xiaolong" project. The temporary relief of the mushroom crisis only made the atmosphere more tense.

Although the news of Miler Savage's contact with the Lost Empire was leaked, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Europe, which was already hesitant and afraid of being targeted by the Lost Empire, dared not take action, allowing Miler Savage to seize the opportunity to act freely. The traditional powder keg had already begun to ignite.

Uncle Assam is also secretly stirring up trouble in the Gulf region.

However! None of these things are unexpected for Prism Building and are within its scope of resolution. It can be carried out step by step—unless the B2 is shot down or the Lost Empire causes some trouble.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff's agenda has been much lighter lately. Today's topic is preparations for Operation Desert Fox, which mainly concerns the Air Force, allowing Johnson to slack off again.

The Navy's recent work has focused on two aspects: organizing the retraining of the USS Enterprise and the next-generation "DD21" destroyer. Congress has agreed to form a design team and officially named it the DDG-1000 program, with construction expected to begin after 2000.

The LCS littoral combat ship project is also under preparation, and stealth technology requirements have been added... The results of the Seawolf II sea trial are also very satisfactory, making it a true ultimate nuclear submarine.

But halfway through the meeting, a servant broke the silence.

As soon as the nearest person took the document, they immediately exclaimed:
"Itamar has declared a state of emergency in Pakistan and seized supreme power?!"

Recently, Rams asked:

"Is it a rebellion?!"

"No, the intelligence says that the AS350 helicopter Enrique was traveling in crashed. Itamar was still in the north at the time and flew back overnight!"

Rams breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed unlikely to be a premeditated murder. Well... he would have to put in some effort to deal with it.

But the next moment his heart was no longer at peace.

"There's one more thing. The newly appointed Minister of Broadcasting, Aveiro, has released... evidence of the Divine Retribution plan's malicious burning of 50 square kilometers of rainforest, and there are witnesses present!"

"what?!"

……

Rio de Janeiro

Even after Itamar sat on the throne he had always dreamed of, he still couldn't believe it was real.

Enrique is dead, but this really has nothing to do with him.

At the time of the incident, the "Brothers of Justice" were still discussing plans and how to deal with the Empire when news of Enrique's plane crash suddenly broke.

The specific events were as follows: forest fires also broke out in the south, threatening the city. Enrique boarded a helicopter intending to establish a public image, but the helicopter crashed and he died.

While Itamar was rushing to the capital to take over power, Aveiro got the answer from the crash site:
There were two helicopters at the time of the incident: a police AS350 helicopter and a television station Bell R44 small helicopter. The latter was responsible for filming, while the former was responsible for transporting Enrique for his show.

Survivors on the R44 told them that Enrique wanted the AS350 to get closer to the fire to take a good shot, and apparently had an argument with the pilot, eventually losing control and crashing as he got close.

The R44 pilot believed that the unstable airflow near the fire had a significant impact on the helicopter. It is highly likely that Enrique insisted on his own way and the pilot had no choice, and then, unsurprisingly, an accident occurred.

The whole thing seemed like a complete coincidence, but the "Brothers of Justice" remembered what the Emperor had said.

Could it be that the lost empire is secretly helping them?

(End of this chapter)