Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 614 Oil Exploration
Since Carlos decided to exploit oil fields in the Persian Gulf region, the Spanish government has immediately begun related preparations.

Oil extraction is not easy. First, you have to go to the Omani colony to explore the oil fields and estimate their size before you can start extracting the oil.

After the crude oil is extracted from the Persian Gulf coast, it needs to be transported back to Spain for processing. However, there is a severe labor shortage in the Persian Gulf region, making it impossible to build a large-scale oil refining industry.

More importantly, the Spanish government absolutely did not want to build oil refining facilities far from its homeland. While on-site processing could save on transportation costs and time, oil refining facilities far from home were not safe and would be directly exposed to the British.

Another important point is that the oil refining industry provides a large number of jobs that Spain currently needs.

Carlo knew that the Persian Gulf coast had vast oil reserves, so he deployed his oil exploration efforts in two directions.

The government-organized oil exploration teams primarily aim to find a large oil field. Once a suitable large oil field is found, the exploration teams will essentially cease oil exploration work and release the message that this is the only large oil field along the Persian Gulf coast.

The oil exploration teams secretly organized by the royal family were actually there to explore all the oil reserves along the Persian Gulf coast. To maintain strict secrecy, all personnel who joined the royal oil exploration teams underwent rigorous investigations to ensure that no foreign spies were infiltrated.

More importantly, after completing their mission, this clandestine oil exploration team will face restrictions on their personal freedom for a long time to come, such as being prohibited from leaving the country and meeting with foreign personnel.

Even their daily lives are subject to surveillance to ensure that information about the large number of oil fields along the Persian Gulf coast is not leaked.

Carlo knew that doing so was somewhat cruel to these staff members, so he significantly increased their salaries and benefits.

Their income is several times that of ordinary oil exploration workers, and they also receive an extra bonus after the oil field exploration work is completed.

During the period when the Royal Security Intelligence Service monitored and supervised them, they received a consolation prize each year until the monitoring and surveillance ended.

When forming an oil exploration team, relevant personnel will communicate with them to ensure that they accept the above conditions before joining the team.

The good news is that most Spaniards remain highly loyal to their country. Upon learning that they were undertaking a top-secret mission, one whose secrecy was crucial to Spain's national security, the selected personnel for the clandestine oil exploration team readily agreed to the conditions set by the Royal Security Intelligence Service.

Although their personal freedom will be restricted to some extent for many years to come, their normal lives will not be affected as long as they do not try to leak information.

More importantly, this job pays several times more than their normal income, and they also receive additional compensation during the supervision process.

The government has already offered these conditions, so what right do they have to complain?
On March 16, 1919, a meticulously assembled oil exploration team set off from Spain to conduct detailed oil exploration along the Persian Gulf coast in search of large, exploitable oil fields for Spain.

A few days later, a disguised oil exploration team also set off from Spain, their destination also being the Persian Gulf coast.

Compared to the previously visible oil exploration team, this second oil exploration team operates much more discreetly.

There was neither a naval escort along the way nor a pre-departure mobilization. The staff simply boarded the transport ship in silence, and then, in complete silence and unnoticed, quietly headed towards the Persian Gulf coast.

Oil exploration is not an easy task, especially since the Persian Gulf coast has vast deserts, which increases the danger of oil exploration.

To prepare for the event, Spain provided the two oil exploration teams with substantial supplies, and the Omani colony would also guarantee their material supply to ensure that the desert would not pose any further danger to the oil exploration teams.

For safety reasons, the heads of the two Spanish oil exploration teams are both renowned experts in mineral exploration.

This is also direct proof of Spain's development; in terms of talent, Spain has essentially closed the gap with European countries.

Whether it's top scientists or pillars of talent in various industries, Spain has ample reserves, and its education system continues to cultivate a large number of talents for the country.

In addition to experienced prospectors, the two oil exploration teams also consisted of a large number of other personnel, such as railway experts, geographers, professional doctors, staff, soldiers, and local indigenous people.

The role of the local indigenous people was to provide free labor for the oil exploration teams. Transporting various exploration equipment and materials required manpower, and these tasks certainly couldn't be done by the experts.

Although the exploration team also includes many ordinary workers, with enough local natives present, these ordinary workers do not need to put in any labor.

The presence of soldiers was to ensure the safety of the exploration team. Besides the inherent dangers of the desert itself, the local indigenous people also posed a threat.

In addition, there are unknown wild animals. The soldiers' role is to ensure the safety of the exploration team in these situations and to ensure the smooth progress of oil exploration. Because most of the land along the Persian Gulf coast is desert, the Omani colony has already established multiple supply points in advance along the routes of the exploration teams to ensure their resupply.

The colony had prepared food and drinking water at these supply points to ensure that the exploration teams could overcome difficulties if they encountered danger.

Both exploration teams were quite large, with the former having a total of over two hundred people and the latter having over five hundred.

This also means that the two oil exploration teams consume large amounts of food and drinking water every day. In an environment surrounded by desert, ensuring basic living supplies is indeed the biggest challenge.

To better ensure the supply of materials, the Omani colony also provided a large number of camels for the two exploration teams to transport supplies.

These camels are not only excellent means of transportation in the desert, but also emergency supplies in times of crisis. Camel hides can be used for warmth, meat can be eaten, and blood can be used as an emergency water resource.

Even if danger occurs, killing a few camels can ensure that the exploration team has enough food and supplies for several days, giving the colony more time for search and rescue.

Of course, all of this is just hypothetical. With adequate preparation and precautions, it is unlikely that the exploration team will encounter any dangerous situations.

After all, the heads of the exploration teams are experts in this field, and they are accompanied by a large number of professionals, so it is virtually impossible for them to make mistakes.

On the surface, this oil exploration team started from Oman, which was also one of the earliest Middle Eastern colonies that Spain began to colonize and develop.

Oman also has a number of oil fields, but compared to countries in the Persian Gulf such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, Oman has fewer oil fields and they are more scattered.

However, given Spain's current oil demand, Oman's domestic oil fields are already sufficient to meet the initial needs of Spain's oil industry.

Spreading the news that Oman has oil fields will not attract too much attention from other European powers.

As for the land in the Persian Gulf that Spain had just acquired from Britain after the end of the World War, it was handed over to the secret oil exploration team for exploration.

The two oil exploration teams were completely separated and hidden under the vast Middle Eastern desert, so other countries would not have known that Spain actually had two oil exploration teams.

Compared to the underground oil exploration team, the publicly known exploration team actually faces a much greater challenge in their work.

Oil fields in Oman are scattered, and it is not easy to find large oil fields that meet Spain's needs.

After more than a month of exploration, the oil well that the oil workers had painstakingly built finally began to spew out large gulps of oil.

When the exploration team saw large amounts of black oil gushing from the wellhead, they could no longer hide their joy.

The exploration team quickly relayed the good news to the colony, which was then reported by the Omani colonial government to the Spanish government.

Although Carlo already knew that the Middle East was rich in oil, he still couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when the survey team brought good news.

The concern is that the exploration team might not be able to find oil in Oman. In that case, they would have to place their exploration efforts further north in regions like Saudi Arabia, which would inevitably expose the rich oil reserves in the Middle East.

If it were only in Oman, there would be no need to worry about these issues. Without unusual news, other countries wouldn't be interested in the vast deserts of the Middle East.

Spain could even secretly extract oil from the deserts of the Middle East, then transport it to Oman, where it would be centrally shipped back to Spain for processing.

The abundant oil resources on this land will bring Spain unparalleled wealth. With these oils, Spain can easily become the richest country in the world, giving it a significant head start over other countries.

Of course, this does not mean the Spanish government can relax its vigilance. Such enormous interests require strong military strength to protect; the richer the oil resources along the Persian Gulf coast, the stronger Spain's military should be.

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(End of this chapter)