America: My Time

Chapter 794 Foolish Hesitation

Chapter 784 Foolish Hesitation
"Riko-nee!" When John and Hitomi Kuroki arrived at the party, they saw Riko. Hitomi Kuroki went up to greet her, but Riko was obviously a little surprised. In her opinion, it should have been Naoko who accompanied John.

Seeing Riko's surprise, Kuroki Hitomi explained, "Naoko has to take care of Martin, so she doesn't want to attend. I'll have to attend the party instead!" Kuroki Hitomi wasn't too concerned about the party anymore, since her identity was no secret in Japan. It was just that Naoko didn't want to show up, so she had no choice but to.

John paid no attention to Riko and Hitomi's conversation, because at that moment he saw Akio Morita walking towards him. It seemed that these Japanese guys were really getting anxious. He had arrived on time, thinking it was already early, but upon closer inspection, there were already quite a few people at the party, and most of them were people from the oil industry, as well as some Japanese government officials.

"John, let's talk over there!" Upon seeing John, Akio Morita immediately invited him to a corner where there were many people, which was clearly a gathering place for Japanese officials and people from the Japanese oil industry.

When they saw John approaching, the Japanese guys breathed a sigh of relief. As long as John was willing to step forward and sit down to negotiate with them, the problem could be alleviated. As for how much of a share they could get, that would depend on their abilities and skills.

“Mr. John, we’re old friends, so there’s no need to beat around the bush. The main reason I invited you here today is to discuss the oil issue. The outbreak of war in the Middle East has caused oil prices to rise sharply, which has had a significant impact on Japan. If it were just the price increase, that would be one thing, but the main problem is that we can’t buy oil even if we have the money. We’ve negotiated with the Middle East more than once, but without much success. You have a lot of oil reserves in various parts of Asia, enough to supply your refineries for at least a year. I wonder if you could sell some of them to us to alleviate Japan’s oil shortage?”

“I’ve heard about the situation in Japan. In the first place, there would be no problem in helping them. But now I’m not only receiving requests from you, but also from South Korea and Taiwan. So now I’m in a difficult position. Even other Southeast Asian countries are making similar requests. As you know, I can’t just ignore them.”

Understandable. How could these guys not understand the situation John is facing now? With the war in the Middle East, who wouldn't hurry up and stockpile crude oil? Otherwise, when the war breaks out again, who knows how high the price will go.

“We understand, and if possible, we would appreciate it if Mr. John could help us with our urgent needs.”

"Gentlemen, is the situation in Japan really that difficult? You have already completed your crude oil reserves, so why are you still under such pressure? Normally, you should be under the least pressure. In comparison, the situation in South Korea and Taiwan is much more difficult."

Upon hearing John's words, Akio Morita had no choice but to speak up: "Although Japan has completed its crude oil reserves, they are for emergencies, strategic reserves that will only be activated in the event of a disruption in the external supply environment. They cannot be activated just because of this sudden outbreak of war in the Middle East. Moreover, these reserves were completed over several years and cannot be used unless absolutely necessary."

"I see. If you've all come to this point, then I don't have many options. At most, I can only sell half of Japan's reserves to help you through this difficult time, but the price will have to be discussed."

"Price is not an issue. We just need something to solve our immediate problem and give us time to negotiate."

"Are you all really that short of crude oil? Don't you have long-term contracts with the Middle East?"

Long-term contracts exist, but not all companies sign them. Most companies purchase crude oil through the futures market, but currently, crude oil futures are nowhere to be seen, and short-term crude oil orders have disappeared. "We're desperately short of it. If Mr. John has a way to help us solve this problem, please lend us a hand!"

At this moment, these guys remembered how good John's relationship was with the Middle Eastern tycoons. Just because they couldn't do something didn't mean John couldn't. If John asked, they might have a chance to buy crude oil from the tycoons.

“Such large-scale commodity transactions all involve long-term supply agreements. Western Energy is an example of this. It’s difficult for you to make purchases temporarily right now. Even if I offered, it wouldn’t be of much use. If you really have a shortfall, then you’ll need to sign a long-term contract. A contract that’s too long would be very disadvantageous for you, but the other party certainly won’t accept anything less. How about two years? If you can agree to sign a two-year contract, I’ll help you negotiate with them. After all, we’re old friends, and I don’t want to see you suffer too much loss. Two years is my limit. You know, I also sign long-term contracts with Middle Eastern tycoons, all for ten years.” At this point, John directly handed the choice over to the Japanese guys. Helping wasn’t the problem, but the timing was. Whether these guys could accept it was up to them.

Seeing their hesitation, John smiled calmly and said, "There's no need for you to rush into a decision. You can go back and discuss it. After all, no one knows what might happen. I'll inform Japan to allocate half of their crude oil reserves to you. As for other matters, we'll discuss them later. South Korea and Taiwan urgently need my attention. I'll go to South Korea tomorrow to negotiate their crude oil reserves. These guys, like you, are eyeing my crude oil reserves there, and the same goes for Taiwan."

How could they not be anxious? It would be a problem if these guys weren't anxious. If they did nothing, the consequences would be severe. Moreover, Japan's crude oil reserves were just a drop in the ocean for them; they needed much more. In their eyes, John's words were a veiled refusal to negotiate. Two years was the deadline; he couldn't do more. So the pressure was entirely on them.

Although these guys wanted to accept, they were worried about a drop in oil prices, which would leave them at a significant disadvantage. After all, oil prices were high at the moment, and signing a two-year contract was a considerable burden for them. Of course, they all understood that this was the nature of commodity trading; short-term contracts were practically nonexistent. Ultimately, it was the Japanese guys who were in a hurry, not John. If they didn't take advantage of these guys now, it would be a waste of their carefully laid plans.

"Actually, you all don't need to be too anxious. This is just an unexpected event that happened suddenly. Nobody wants to accept such high oil prices. You can wait and see how the situation develops. You should be able to hold on for a month or two. It's not too late to make a decision then!" John seemed to be thinking of the Japanese guys, but that wasn't the case. Two months later would be the peak of crude oil prices. After all, Europe's crude oil reserves were even lower, and two months was their limit. At that time, the price of crude oil would be even more attractive, reaching as high as $42.

If those guys in Japan really drag it out until October, John will be very happy and will arrange a beautiful two-year contract for them, making them pay a huge price. And this isn't John forcing them to sign; they're begging John to sign it. Even if oil prices drop later, they won't have anything to say.

Hesitation was palpable among the Japanese at that moment. They were unsure whether to accept John's offer and wait a while before deciding on such a collaboration. After all, the two-year contract was already putting pressure on them. Of course, if they were to negotiate with Middle Eastern tycoons themselves, the contract would be much longer than two years, and John's two-year offer wasn't meant to be difficult for them.

It was precisely because John wasn't making things difficult for them that they were even more perplexed and didn't know what to do. Now they were begging John for help, but they didn't want to pay too high a price. So these guys were now in a dilemma. They had originally hoped to get more shares of crude oil from John, but now it seemed difficult, as there were many people who needed it.

Suddenly, Akio Morita spoke up: "John, you also have a lot of crude oil reserves in China. Could you share some with us to relieve our pressure and give us more time to prepare?"

Good heavens, Akio Morita really dares to think this way and actually dares to make such a request. However, he doesn't know that this is also part of John's plan. Even if Akio Morita hadn't spoken up, John would have given them this opportunity on his own. Otherwise, he would have had to slowly digest the crude oil reserves he had stored. Moreover, giving Japan this opportunity would make it the easiest way for them to continue to postpone the contract negotiations.

However, now that it was this old fellow Akio Morita who spoke first, John needed to carefully consider his words to avoid arousing suspicion about his 'good intentions'. John frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and said, "I need time to discuss this over there. After all, everyone is short of crude oil right now. If they need it, I can't help them, since the crude oil reserves are in China, and they should have priority in selling it. If you are really desperate for crude oil, it would be easier to transport some from Southeast Asia, but it will take longer, and you'll need to arrange your own tankers for transport. I don't have the time or the ability for that. To be honest, I've had to suspend my trade with the Russians. The rise in oil prices has forced me to stop cooperating with them, and I'm having a real headache."

(End of this chapter)