Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 104 Saudi Arabia
In the Middle East, there is a country that was recently established deep in the desert, Saudi Arabia.

Coming down under the flying sand, Zheng Yi couldn't help but feel a little dazzled.

"Sir, I'm wearing sunglasses."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yi quickly took the sunglasses from Li Lili and put them on. He couldn't help but complain, "Saudi Arabia in 1933, the sand is really fucking huge."

Zheng Yi had been to Saudi Arabia in his previous life, and even stayed here for more than a year to work on a project. When he came here in his previous life, there was no such a large amount of sand here.

It feels like I'm eating sand even when I breathe.

Is this really a place suitable for human survival?

"Hey, Zheng, my dearest partner, how are you?"

As soon as they got off the plane, they saw a figure coming to pick them up in the distance. After seeing who it was, Zheng Yi also immediately went to greet him warmly.

"Mr. Henry, oh my god, how could I be so worthy that you, the president of Shell Oil, actually came to greet me in person."

"Of course, of course. Come on, get in the car. Oh my God, did you get a new secretary? God, you are so beautiful, beautiful lady."

Behind him, Li Lili was obviously confused and could only smile and gesture at Henry politely.

"Never mind, Henry, she doesn't understand English."

Then he turned around and said, "He praised you for being beautiful."

Li Lili: "Oh, thank you, thank you very much."

Henry: "Oh, okay."

But I was a little puzzled as to why Zheng Yi wanted to hire a woman who couldn't speak English as his secretary.

Especially when working abroad.

There should be many Chinese people in Southeast Asia who can speak English.

Zheng Yi was also helpless. After all, Qian Qiwen now had several jobs and a lot of things to do. In fact, she was usually busier than him. He couldn't bring her out with him.

Ever since Li Lili became his secretary, she has never been assigned to do any serious work. To be honest, she is the only idle person in the company.

It would be a bit unreasonable not to bring her here at this time.

As for not knowing English, what can I do? Just learn it myself.

Zheng Yi didn't say anything. He didn't need a translator anyway. He just wanted someone to take care of his daily life and help him with his shortcomings. It didn't matter whether he could speak English or not.

But Li Lili, who was following behind Zheng Yi, couldn't help biting her lips. She understood what Henry meant from an unintentional glance.

For a moment, I couldn't help but feel a little inferior.

She grew up in an orphanage and a dance troupe. It was not easy for her to read and write, and she certainly couldn't speak English.

Not only did she not know English, she also knew nothing except singing and dancing. She knew that if it were not for her parents' consideration, she would never be able to do the secretary job with her abilities.

However, she was also a strong-willed person. She followed behind and said to Zheng Yi, "Don't worry, sir. I will definitely learn English soon. I also want to learn Malay and become a qualified secretary worthy of you as soon as possible."

Zheng Yi, who was walking in front, was stunned for a moment, then smiled and waved his hand, saying, "It's not that serious. It's a good thing that you're willing to learn, but there's no need to force it."

As they were talking, Zheng Yi took Li Lili into the car. After driving for about forty minutes, they stopped at a place that was not much better than an ordinary northwestern town. He pointed to a small four-story building and said,
"This is the hotel we're staying in. This is the standard in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Zheng, thank you for your hard work."

Zheng Yi: "Nothing, it's fine now."

As they were talking, several people got off the car. A middle-aged white man who was unfamiliar with them, a little fat, came out to greet them warmly and said:
"Hey, this must be Professor Zheng Yi. I've heard so much about you. You're a legendary scientist, Mr. Zheng. The life and death of our entire company depends on you."

Henry: "Professor Zheng, this is Mr. Frederick Davis, the vice president of Standard Oil of California" (Aramco, which was renamed in 1940. I made a typo earlier).
Zheng Yi: "Hello, Mr. Davis, you are truly famous, a household name."

"Professor Zheng, we've specially prepared our local specialties, lamb and pilaf. Come, please, let's eat and chat, please."

"Thank you, Mr. Davis. I believe that we will have a very pleasant cooperation." Zheng Yi came here this time with the clear intention of making money, or even withdrawing money, that is, to help Davis and Standard Oil Company find oil in the Saudi desert.

This Davis was the most important president of Standard Oil, or its successors Aramco and Chevrolet, but he is still the vice president now.

This guy is one of the top geologists in the United States and even in the world. When he was on a business trip to Bahrain, he accidentally saw Saudi Arabia across the sea and concluded that there must be oil there.

The Saudi king of this era was still a country bumpkin who had never seen the world. The Saudis lived in the desert by raising sheep every year. Their lives were very difficult and hard. He didn't even know what oil was.

Davis gave the Saudi king a total of tens of thousands of dollars. Saudi Arabia immediately told him that he could extract as much as he wanted, but if he found any water, he had to tell him. Oil was not a big deal.

Then Davis led a large team of engineers and geographers to search in the Saudi desert. It took them two years, they drilled nine wells, and spent a full $10 million.

As for the result, it can’t be said that he gained much, but it can also be said that he lost everything.

He drilled nine wells and only one well produced oil. Not long after the oil was extracted, it turned into water. According to the agreement between him and the King of Saudi Arabia, once the water came out, the well belonged to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia did not value the oil, but the water.

Then, that was it.

Ten million US dollars is definitely a huge sum of money for Standard Oil. It may not be a big deal for Standard Oil, but for Davis, the vice president, it is definitely a loss.

If he can't find some fucking oil, he'll be out of here.

The reputation of the geological exploration experts will probably be ruined.

Of course, anyone who has accessed the Internet in later generations knows that Saudi Arabia is not only a place with oil, but it is also the world's oil barrel. It has the highest oil production, the best quality, and the shallowest surface depth in the world.

The Saudi royal family is a world-renowned dog owner.

It is really hard to say whether Davis is lucky or unlucky.

You say he was unlucky, but he discovered the gold mine under the sand of Saudi Arabia.

You say he is lucky. He spent 10 million but still couldn't find any oil in Saudi Arabia.

Even if you dig with your eyes closed in this place, as long as you dig deep enough, it would be difficult not to find oil.

A few days ago, when Penang opened for business, Commissioner Smith brought representatives from Gulf Oil and Standard Oil to congratulate him. Naturally, they also wanted to discuss opportunities for future cooperation. Both companies were quite interested in investing in Penang.

After all, Zheng Yi controls the refinery and downstream businesses, and the two companies also want to invest here to see how they can take advantage of Zheng Yi's opportunity.

While chatting, we inadvertently mentioned Saudi Arabia, a "failed" project that cost 10 million US dollars but saw almost no profit.

With so much money lost, Standard Oil was under great pressure. The silent cost was also there. For the next exploration and drilling, Standard Oil also intended to seek new capital to join in and share the risk.

For Standard Oil, this project was even a bit of a waste of time and a shame to abandon.

Didn’t Zheng Yi copy it?

Zheng Yi said, "Although I don't have an oil well, I do have an oil refinery. Although it hasn't been built yet, the initial investment is 30 million US dollars.

I am quite interested in your Saudi Arabia project. If you are willing to share the risk with the society, how about we have cross-holdings?

Henry happened to be there that day. Seeing Zheng Yi was so interested, he was suspicious for a moment. In addition, Shell Oil did lack a presence in the Middle East and had always wanted to get involved.

The Seven Sisters of Oil are both competitors and cooperators, and their relationship is very complicated. They are all undertaking large projects worth tens of millions of dollars or even more. It is normal for them to sometimes engage in cross-holdings with each other.

As for DuPont, although it is not in the oil industry, chemical industry is originally the downstream of oil, and it has deep cooperation with the Seven Sisters. Seeing that Zheng Yi and Henry are willing to exchange the shares, he certainly has no objection.

The two parties then agreed that Penang Petrochemical and Saudi Oil would swap equity, exchanging 15% of Penang Petrochemical's shares for 30% of the shares in the Saudi oil project. Standard Oil would be responsible for paying all subsequent mining, exploration and other costs of the project.

Win-win.

Zheng Yi, on the other hand, is a guest geological exploration expert this time, responsible for leading this project to find oil wells for them.

(End of this chapter)