Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 105 Zheng Yi is simply a god!
In his previous life, Zheng Yi worked on a project in Saudi Arabia. A hundred years later, most of the new petrochemical projects in Saudi Arabia have been snatched away by his former employer.
Apart from the fact that the ending is sometimes particularly annoying, this country has shown an increasingly pro-China attitude in all aspects.

So what Zheng Yi called oil exploration was just to find those big oil wells by comparing them with his memories from his previous life.

To be honest, it is not too easy. Saudi Arabia in 1933 and Saudi Arabia in 2024 cannot be said to be exactly the same, and it can also be said that they have nothing to do with each other.

Zheng Yi could only reverse the direction based on Riyadh and search for the shadow of his previous life in the vast desert.

Fortunately, Zheng Yi himself was not completely ignorant of oil exploration. Standard Oil did send a team of experts with very strong technical skills, and Davis himself was a world-leading technical expert.

With the help of these experts and combined with Zheng Yi's own memories, the group drove a long convoy of cars and spent nearly half a month circling around Riyadh and the coastline several times.

However, it finally allowed Zheng Yi to have a relatively clear overlap of the positions of this Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia a hundred years later in his mind, and found the actual location of the Ghawar oil field.

"This area should be full of large oil fields, and they are shallow oil with relatively low extraction costs, about 200 meters deep. Let's drill."

"Just a simple metal frame will do. It saves trouble, labor, and time. I have other things to do in Penang, so I don't have that much time to waste."

Davis: "Huh? Drilling right now? We haven't surveyed yet."

Zheng Yi: "There's no need to survey. My eyes are my ruler. If I say there's oil here, it must be there. And we don't need to drill too deep, just over 200 meters. We can drill and we'll find it right away. It's very convenient. We can start drilling today, produce oil tomorrow, and then I'll go back to Southeast Asia."

Davis: "..."

This is Zheng Yi, who has the title of scientist. If it were anyone else, Davis would kick him.

Where the hell did this head office find such an uneducated and unskilled scoundrel?

Things like oil exploration, drilling a hole costs at least hundreds of thousands of dollars. You let me drill just by taking a look at it, are you kidding me?

Besides, the nine wells he drilled before were all 4000 meters deep.

He couldn't drill out oil even at 200 meters, and Zheng Yi just said ?

He also knew that Zheng Yi was a great scientist and was indeed a celebrity in the oil industry. Although his Penang design drawings had not been made public, there were always people taking photos of the Penang petrochemical construction site.

Everyone can see that Zheng Yi is indeed skilled.

But oil refining and oil exploration are completely different things. Scientists also have their own specialties.

I heard that Zheng Yi also made great achievements in the field of mechanics, invented the permanent magnet motor, and also has a large number of his own industries in Nanyang.

Davis really couldn't believe that Zheng Yi was so awesome in the field of geological survey that even he, the world's top geologist, couldn't understand what this guy was doing.

Forget about using professional instruments for surveying, he didn't even squat down to feel the composition of the sand!
After all, we are running a business worth millions or tens of millions of dollars. Can you be a little more serious?
Zheng Yi did insist, saying, "You know, I'm not only a scientist, I'm also a city lord. I have a lot of things to do in Penang. I left behind a lot of important things to come here.
I've been out for nearly half a month now. I'll be back in a month at most. I really don't have time to waste with you. Listen to me and prepare for the 300-meter drill. If you can't get any oil, it's my fault."

Davis: "..."

He now has some doubts about whether Zheng Yi is a charlatan.

"Anyway, if we're only drilling a little over 300 meters, the cost should be very low. Trust me this time. What if I'm right? If I'm right, we'll be rich."

The preliminary preparations for drilling 300 meters are definitely different from those for drilling 4000 meters. Building a drilling platform that can drill 4000 meters is no easier than building a building.

This construction cost is also the main cost of oil exploration. After all, this is a broken place with no village in front and no shop behind. It is in the middle of a desert. To build a steel building, you even have to set up a temporary factory to assemble drill bits. How can the cost be small?

But if it is 300 meters, it will be easy. After all, this place is a desert, and 300 meters is not very deep. You can drill down by just setting up some iron frames. The drill needle is so short that you can drill right away. There is no need to assemble it. The exploration team has it ready.

Just like Zheng Yi said, if we start drilling today, we can get the results tomorrow if we are fast.

To be honest, if Zheng Yi had nothing to do, it would be fine if he wasted time. He wouldn't mind just acting and going through the motions.

After all, he knew that what he was doing was not scientific at all, it was pure metaphysics. He still wanted to maintain his image as a scientist and did not want to become a charlatan.

As a scientist, it is normal for Davis to question him.

But who can blame him for being so busy?

There are still a lot of things waiting for him to do in Penang. He is here to make money, and it has to be quick money. He doesn't have the time to wait for you to slowly survey it.

For a moment, the two of them were in a stalemate.

Zheng Yi also knew that it was impossible for him to convince others with reason. The entire exploration team thought he was crazy, so he had no choice but to be unreasonable. He said:
"Before I came here, I made an agreement with you that the leadership of this oil exploration would be mine. I bought this by using my own shares in the Penang petrochemical plant.

Mr. Davis, you've spent $1000 million and gained next to nothing, so this time, you have to listen to me."

As the saying goes, don't expose someone's weaknesses when you insult him. Zheng Yi's words were a complete blow to Davis, making him blush. He is white, so his blushing was particularly obvious.

However, Zheng Yi also knew that it was not a matter of convincing Davis alone. After all, the entire team was from Standard Oil. So he said, "300-meter drilling is not expensive, and the construction period will be very short. I think we might as well give it a try. I can make a bet with you.

"What are you gambling?"

"At this location, if we drill 300 meters, I bet it'll definitely produce oil. How about betting our stocks? I can put 5% of my stock up for you. Of course, you can also send a telegram to your headquarters to inquire."

Davis was stunned: "Really?" Zheng Yi: "Of course."

After all, they are doing business worth tens of millions of dollars, and 5% of the shares is a huge sum of money.

Davis naturally had no say in the matter, so he immediately went to send a telegram. About an hour later, he came back and told him:

"Headquarters agrees to your bet, but not on shares. If you win and oil is indeed found here at a depth of around 200 meters, we're willing to give you a consulting fee of $1000 million."

"However, if no oil is found after 300 meters of drilling, the cost of this exploration will be borne entirely by you, and after the company goes public, the value of your shares will be used to offset the cost."

Zheng Yi smiled upon hearing this and said, "You guys have a good plan. You won't lose out no matter what."

If oil is really produced at a depth of 200 meters, then this oil well is undoubtedly very large, and the consulting fee of only million US dollars is really not a drop in the bucket.

In fact, this is indeed the case. Historically, it was not until 1938 that Davis finally succeeded in finding an oil well worth exploiting in Saudi Arabia. He forgot which well it was, but compared with the Ghawar oil field, it was really nothing.

The Ghawar oil field is a large oil field that was not mined until the 50s. It is the largest oil field in Saudi Arabia and the world. The mining depth is 2200 meters and the total reserves account for 30% of the entire Persian Gulf.
(Mining depth and exploration depth are not the same thing)
Let alone 200 meters, this oil field is unique in the world. Once the location is found, you can dig with a shovel. To exaggerate a little, they used to joke that if you find a dog to come here and poop in the sand, you might dig out oil.

This is a unique advantage that belongs to Saudi Arabia. There is no other such good oil field in the world. God knows how envious these industry insiders were of this big oil field in their previous life. When Zheng Yi was on a business trip to Saudi Arabia in his previous life, he even made a pilgrimage here.

Now that Standard Oil is willing to give him cash, that is of course good. Ten million US dollars would be enough to last him for a long time if he took it back to Penang. There are so many wealthy people in Nanyang who sold everything they had, but still couldn't come up with ten million US dollars.

"Go ahead, I accept the bet."

As he spoke, Zheng Yi asked Li Lili to get him a parasol. He smoked cigars and opened champagne under the parasol, and even found a military book to read.

Davis was naturally dissatisfied and immediately ordered his workers: "Brothers, drill a hole 300 meters deep for fun. Someone will treat us and cover the cost of our survey."

"Oh~~"

The workers and Davis had similar thoughts. They didn't believe that the oil was buried so shallowly, nor did they believe that Zheng Yi was so awesome that he dared to let them drill holes just by taking a quick look without even using any professional testing equipment.

The 300-meter run was just for fun, just to support the vice president. Just drill it, it's not difficult.

Zheng Yi ignored them and continued to concentrate on reading.

After a while, the bulldozer pushed away the thick sand, revealing the limestone underneath.

The workers brought iron frames and nails and began to dig the foundation of the drilling platform.

Ding ding, ding ding, ding ding.

When a worker used a jackhammer to hammer a nail into an iron bar, he saw a large pool of black liquid slowly flowing out from under the nail.

"Is this... oil?"

Turning around, he looked at Davis, who was still directing the workers with an indignant look on his face, and couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

Davis turned around and scolded impatiently, "Tom, what are you doing? Why are you sitting there instead of working?"

"President, I, I was drilling a nail just now and it seemed... it seemed... could you, could you come and take a look? What is this thing?"

Davis walked over to look at it and muttered, "What the hell? It could be rock... rock... rock... Oh my god! Is this oil?"

With a bang, the entire construction site seemed to explode, and everyone gathered around.

"Oil? Really oil?"

"Oh my god, oil is coming out already? How shallow is the oil? How big are the reserves of this well?"

“What’s the quality of this oil?”

Davis was panicked at first, then shocked, and then he couldn't help but feel ecstatic.

So what if he lost 10 million in the bet? He spent 10 million US dollars the last time he came to explore for oil. This 10 million can be regarded as the exploration cost.

It's really oily!
He couldn't even imagine the reserves of such shallow oil.

He quickly grabbed a handful of oil and looked at it carefully, with an incredible expression on his face, and even tasted it with his mouth.

"President, how is the quality of this oil?"

Davis: "Fuck, light oil. It doesn't even need to be refined. You can just add it to the tractor and burn it. The quality is the best I've ever seen."

As he spoke, everyone on the construction site instinctively turned their heads and looked at Zheng Yi, who was calmly reading a book under a parasol not far away, accompanied by a beautiful woman.

This is fucking amazing.

(End of this chapter)