The American Kill Line: I Can Predict the Future

The midterm elections began the following day.

The stock market experienced a rare period of calm, with light trading.

Ron also took advantage of this break to handle some trivial matters.

"Sir," Assistant Fang Wei said, bringing over several documents that needed to be signed.

"This is the expenditure for the Eagle Beach project in Texas last month and the budget for next month."

Ron reviewed the budget carefully and signed it with satisfaction.

This is the benefit of spending a lot of money; compared to last month, 12 new wells were added this month, and 10 were fractured.

Although development costs increased to $4500 million, daily production increased to over 8000 barrels.

The cost was also reduced to $62.

At this rate, production will break below $30 a barrel by the end of the year, with daily output exceeding 20000 barrels.

Ron thought for a moment and said, "Fang, have Bill, the head of Texas, come up with a fracturing technology upgrade plan. Tell him that money is not a problem. I have only one request: see costs below $20 and daily production of no less than 40,000 barrels by March next year."

The current cost can only guarantee a small profit, but it still falls short of expectations.

Only when costs are reduced to below $20 and daily production exceeds 4 barrels can this oil field officially enter "money-printing machine" mode.

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough money back then, and CNOOC had already reached an agreement with Chesapeake.

The company invested $21.6 billion to acquire a 33.3% indivisible interest in Chesapeake Energy’s Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas project.

60 acres! That's ten times the size of Ron's.

He couldn't even imagine how much he would earn a year from now.

Conservative estimates put the figure at no less than $8 million per month.

When oil prices soar, it could be worth a billion dollars.

That's billions in cash in a year.

Damn it, Ron got angrier the more he thought about it.

A phone call to his brother: "Arthur, how's the deal with that sand hill in Brady?"

"Ron, are you sure you want to buy this land? I had someone look at it, and there's no high-quality sand on this plot right now."

"I know, but it doesn't matter. We're keeping it for ourselves."

Ron couldn't explain why this sand dune contained high-quality sand that had been mined for over 30 years and had an annual output value of tens of billions of tons.

He missed the chance to snatch CNOOC's deal, so how could he easily give up fracturing sand now?

This is true "white gold," an essential "food" in shale mining. Fracturing fluid relies on it to open up the cracks in the rock strata so that oil and gas can flow out.

Don't tell me that others don't know that there is a huge amount of fracturing sand hidden underground in this area.

Ron was also looking through the family histories of the shareholders last month when he had nothing else to do.

While reviewing information on Texas energy billionaires, I inadvertently stumbled upon a prediction that I could learn from in my own future plans:

In 2012, Pioneer Natural Resources discovered that the Brady brown sand reserves in McMullen County are sufficient to be mined for over 30 years, with an annual production capacity of up to 100 million tons.

"Alright." Arthur didn't ask any more questions and said directly, "Currently, this mine is owned by Cames Industrial Sands Company, a multinational corporation. I've spoken with the person in charge here; his name is Hoddle."

Mentioning this person, Arthur immediately became indignant: "He's a greedy guy. He knew there were no good mines on this land, yet he still asked for $3 million."

"They are indeed very greedy."

Ron frowned. Including the surrounding ranches, it was only 2000 acres.

$3 million is indeed an outrageous demand before any high-quality sand has been discovered.

"You've really gone through a lot, Arthur."

Ron knew his brother wasn't good at this kind of thing.

But it doesn't matter, Texas is his home base, a foreign company is nothing to him.

He dialed David Koch's number and said directly, "David, I need you to do me a favor."

Ron briefly explained his desire to buy the sand mountain, emphasizing that it was for his own use.

After listening, David scoffed, "I know this company. They even use our transportation for their sand. It's just a broken sand dune. They haven't extracted anything good from it in all these years. They dare to make such a huge demand, aren't they afraid of breaking their teeth? Just wait and see, I believe they'll be happy to sell."

"Thanks, David," Ron said. "I need to trouble you with something else. I'd like to borrow your mining team to help me build a sand quarry."

"Ron, no need to thank me for such a small thing."

Compared to the money Ron and his brothers earned, this was just a small favor.

After ending the call, Ron pondered who to find to take over.

This sand dune will not only control the source of fracturing sand in Texas in the future.

More importantly, it reduces the cost of oil field development.

Moreover, oil prices cannot rise indefinitely; there will always be times when they plummet.

These fracturing sands were one of the assets that helped him weather the period of losses.

Another issue is pipeline transportation.

Although the conditions are not right now, Ron will certainly not give up if a suitable opportunity arises.

Therefore, the selection of personnel for the sand plant should be someone who is good at communication and understands human nature.

After much deliberation, Ron decided to give up on his brother Arthur and let him stay with their father.

Arthur is too honest and not good at dealing with this kind of thing.

My uncle will help look after the oil field, while old Hunter will mainly be in charge of the Texas connections.

After thinking for a while, Ron decided to ask his good friend for help.

"Robert, are you free tonight?"

"My billionaire, I'm always available as long as there are young models."

"Damn it, why didn't I drain you dry last time?!" Ron couldn't help but marvel at how damn good his buddy was in that area.

Twenty young models were still able to go to work as usual the next day.

Afterwards, the agency reported that things went quite well.

This is just fucking ridiculous.

Hearing his good friend's insults, Robert laughed triumphantly:

"Haha, my brother, even though you're a billionaire, there are some things about you that show you're just a commoner."

This is probably the only area where he's better than his best friend right now.

Even if he was on drugs, twenty young models in one night would be enough for him to brag about for a lifetime.

"Fuck!"

Ron was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Annie."

"What?"

"Anne Hathaway, I mean, I've met her, she's really beautiful, and she has a sweet smile."

"Fuck you!!!" Robert instantly erupted in fury: "Don't tell me you didn't even spare my Annie? Tell me, this isn't true, is it?!"

If Jessica was Ron's former goddess, then Robert was Anne Hathaway's most loyal dog fan.

She's the kind of person who'll fight anyone who says anything bad about her.

Now it was Ron's turn to feel smug. He smiled and reassured her, "Don't worry, she's not my type, and your Annie is really nice."

Ron recounted what happened that day, including how Anne Hathaway rejected him.

There's nothing shameful about talking about these things in front of your good buddies.

"It seems she's really in trouble."

Robert's first reaction wasn't to despise his brother, but rather to feel worried for his goddess. He then said, "Ron, if possible, you can help her without affecting you in any way."

"Are you serious? My good brother, this industry isn't as simple as you think."

"OK, I get it, it's just a dirty power-for-sex deal, isn't it?" Robert said with utter contempt. "But compared to others, like that fat pig, I'd rather it was you."

"You're fucking devoted." Ron was speechless. This kind of simp behavior was truly one of a kind.

What else is there to say? Just because of his good brother's entrustment, even if she's not his type, Ron decided that if he had the chance in the future, he would definitely be deeply in love with her.