America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 250 Oil Changes Fate

We drove to Old Karl's ranch, where two detached villas, a stable, and a cowshed had a distinctly 20th-century feel. The ranch was neither too big nor too small, covering approximately 35 hectares, 3500 hectares, and 525 acres.

Old Carl bought it from the previous rancher for about $175,000.

The ranch also had dozens of cattle and sheep, which were divided into two enclosures. Old Karl's children would come here to look after the livestock when they had nothing to do.

His son was quite successful; he saved up money and opened a convenience store and a fast food restaurant in the small town.

"It's right here." Old Karl led the way to the flat, sloping land in his backyard, where wooden markers marked off a large area.

Zhang Ailun surveyed the surroundings and location; it was a flat area with varying slopes. He asked, "Are you sure you want to dig a well here?"

"Of course. I had a professional oil surveyor look at it a long time ago, which cost me more than two hundred dollars. He said that drilling a well here would definitely yield oil," said old Carl.

"OK".

Can someone hired for two hundred dollars be reliable?

Seeing how confident Old Karl was, Zhang Ailun didn't say anything. He waved to the Beggars' Sect disciples, and the group drove the platform truck to the location marked by Old Karl. After completing the preliminary work, connecting the drainage pipes, and filling the platform truck with fuel, they immediately started the drilling process.

The drill bit was aimed at the ground, and with a buzzing vibration, the alloy steel drill bit began to drill.

Dirt flew as the drill began to penetrate deeper into the ground.

Zhang Ailun and Old Karl sat on chairs nearby watching. A Labrador Retriever from the ranch led several puppies over and ran around them, occasionally barking wildly at the lambs that had crossed the boundary in the nearby pasture.

"Suck, suck, suck." Zhang Ailun took out a sausage, waved it at the puppies, and threw it out. Several Labrador puppies ran over and scrambled for it.

Seeing this, the leader was very satisfied and asked old Karl, "When will my hunting dogs arrive?"

"It'll only take a couple of days. I contacted my friend yesterday, and he'll pick out a few high-quality hunting dogs for you." Old Karl indicated that he didn't need to rush.

The group chatted and laughed, and Old Karl's son brought over drinks and snacks, creating a very pleasant and relaxed atmosphere.

The drilling work went very smoothly at first, and they drilled dozens of meters underground in just half an hour. The soil began to contain water and mud, which was within Old Karl's expectations. After all, the underground water resources were relatively abundant, and there was an underground river. As long as they drilled through it, everything would be fine.

After a while, the drilling platform went deeper than 100 meters underground, and the Beggar Clan disciples also determined from the extracted underground soil that there was a black substance.

He picked up a clod of soil, chewed it, tasted it, and ran over to report to the leader: "Boss, we found oil at a depth of about 167 meters underground. However, there is still a lot of water in it, and the oil quality is relatively poor, but it still means that there is indeed oil underground."

Old Karl laughed heartily, "Good, good, good! I knew it! There's definitely oil underground, I'm going to be rich!!"

Zhang Ailun remained expressionless and gestured to the Beggars' Sect disciples to continue maintaining order during the mining operation.

Several tens of minutes later, a large amount of mud suddenly gushed out of the drilling rig's pipes. The white mud continued to gush out uncontrollably, and the scattered black oily substances that had previously been attached to it were gone.

When old Karl saw this, he felt a little panicked. After all, the worst thing about oil extraction is encountering a bottomless riverbed, which can easily bankrupt a person!

But he calmly said, "Don't be afraid. We've just crawled into an underground river. After all, there's basically water 200-300 meters underground. We'll be fine once we get through."

I started to comfort myself.

They also called on people to bring out water pumps and pump all the water that was gushing out of the underground river to irrigate the pasture on the other side, making use of waste.

The grazing cows looked up at the showerhead-like pipes. The weather was sunny, but it suddenly started raining, leaving them somewhat bewildered.

210 meters, 250 meters, 280 meters, 300 meters, 360 meters...

Seeing that the water spraying was still not going to stop, Old Karl had a moment of despair. He could only tell his disciples to stop the drilling rig and let it cool down, while he dug up some dry soil from the side to level the ground.

After all, there was too much water flowing out, almost half of the wheel was submerged, which would affect the stability of the platform vehicle. If the tires got stuck, it would be difficult to deal with.

He went to the side, lit a cigarette, and started puffing away.

"That doesn't make sense! We're already 360 meters underground, how come there's still so much water?"

Old Karl's hand, holding the cigarette, was trembling.

After all, it concerned his dream of becoming a multi-millionaire or even a billionaire, so he couldn't help but feel terrified.

Zhang Ailun comforted him, saying, "You're trying to mine 500 meters underground, which is still a long way off."

"you're right."

Old Karl calmed himself down, finished a cigarette, and quickly regained his composure. He returned and instructed his Beggars' Sect disciples to resume drilling. With a humming sound, the drilling rig resumed its underground work.

More than an hour later, the drill bit reached a depth of about 470 meters underground. At this point, the gushing water and mud flow finally stopped, and what was pumped out was soil rich in dark brown substances.

It went from damp to dry and then back to moist. The black soil was rich in liquid, clay-like substances.

Old Karl laughed heartily upon seeing this: "It's here! Liquid gold!!"

Zhang Ailun also picked up a handful of soil, squeezed it tightly in his hand, and smelled it. It did indeed have a pungent smell. The soil color was starting to change, which also indicated that the crude oil content was beginning to increase.

526 meters underground. As the Beggars' Sect disciples attempted to pump the oil again, a clogged tremor first erupted, followed by a spurt of a viscous, muddy substance. Then, suddenly, a torrent of dark brown liquid gushed out, and the pipe was completely clear!

"It's oil!!"

The Beggars' Sect disciple shouted. Looking at the large amount of black, viscous substance gushing from the pipe, which was practically devoid of any soil, he reached out and touched it; his hand was covered in sticky crude oil.

"There really is oil!!"

Old Karl stood there, stunned, his face flushing crimson. He struggled to contain his excitement, his hands trembling, and finally burst into laughter, yelling, "Hahahaha! I'm rich!!"

Zhang Ailun was also somewhat taken aback, never expecting that despite all the setbacks, they had actually managed to extract oil from Old Karl.

He congratulated him, saying, "Congratulations, Karl! You old rascal, you've got incredible luck!"

"So-so," Old Karl waved his hand, barely suppressing his excitement.

The Beggars' Sect disciples stopped wasting oil. Judging from the amount of oil extracted from the pipeline, there were still considerable underground resources, with at least two million barrels of crude oil that could be extracted, and the total market value was estimated to be between $9500 million and $1 million.

One well can provide Old Karl with at least 65-80 barrels of crude oil per day, so there is no need to worry about resource depletion for the next twenty years.

Converted to US dollars, excluding water and electricity costs, it's like having a well sitting there doing absolutely nothing, earning a minimum of $5000 a day, a minimum of $15 a month, and a minimum of $180 million a year.

This is just the income from a single oil well. If two more wells are drilled nearby and pumped 24/7, the production and income will double, with a minimum annual profit of five million US dollars!

This kind of painful life, where tens of thousands of dollars come in the moment you open your eyes, can be enjoyed for a full twenty years.

Holy crap. Oil really does change lives!

Zhang Ailun immediately ordered the Beggars' Sect disciples to remove the alloy steel drill bit and secure the mining pipe.

After celebrating with his son and daughter-in-law, old Karl urgently contacted a nearby mining company and ordered a nodding donkey machine.

Anyway, the existence of oil underground is already a foregone conclusion. All that's left is to install oil pumps to steadily extract the oil, find refineries to cooperate with, and sell it. These things can easily make tens of dollars with just one pump. They'll keep pumping money from you 24 hours a day.

After that, without a doubt, people from oil companies or other channels will come knocking on your door, trying to discuss cooperation.

After all, Old Carl's land has oil reserves of about two million barrels.

Even if someone manages to extract oil from their own backyard ranch, the reserves are usually only a few hundred thousand barrels. But some lucky guys manage to extract tens of millions of barrels of crude oil from underground. And then they end up in court!

You're not lucky with your luck; you really can't handle this! You could easily end up with 27 bullets in your back and die by suicide.

A few hundred thousand barrels of crude oil is already enough to make people envious, let alone a market worth a hundred million US dollars!

After spending some time dealing with the mining site, old Carl installed fences near the mining pipeline to keep hunting dogs and lambs away. He was in high spirits, ready to go and help the chief extract oil.

Old Karl paid to refill the platform vehicle's tank of gas and also paid the Grand Master $4 in mining fees before driving to Green Field Manor Ranch.

Zhang Ailun returned to his territory, took out his phone to check the geographical location, and directed the Beggars' Sect disciples to drive the drilling rig to the coordinate area of ​​125.56 and start extracting shallow oil 160 meters underground.

Old Carl, however, had a different opinion: "What can you find at 160 meters underground? Just groundwater and loose rocks, nothing at all. I'd say we should just drill down to 500 meters!"

The Beggars' Sect disciples also consulted their leader about whether to drill for oil at this location. Zhang Ailun nodded and said confidently, "Right here. I have a feeling there's definitely oil beneath this land."

Seeing that he couldn't persuade the leader's stubbornness, who seemed determined to never give up until he hit a brick wall, Old Karl shook his head. "Even if you have a platform machine, the cost of drilling a well will be at least $4000, or even more. If no oil is found, you'll have to find a way to fill the hole."

"Don't worry, you spent $200 to hire such an unreliable person to locate oil, and you were able to extract oil from the ground. I can definitely extract it too." Zhang Ailun waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to worry.

After all, he hasn't bought oil chickens or oil dogs from professional oil hunters yet.

There's even a dragon-seeking ruler from a great Eastern country, used to find dragon veins and divide gold by observing the winding mountains, with each winding mountain representing a barrier. It's priced at just $9.9 on Amazon, with free shipping.

For most people, finding this thing is like searching for a gold mine—it's all about luck and mysticism. Once you stumble upon it, it's like defying fate! But for the Grand Master, it's already a done deal.

His concern is how to protect the family business and maximize the profits from oil.

He immediately ordered the Beggars' Sect disciples to start drilling a well on the spot.

After completing the preliminary work, the Beggars' Sect disciples started the drilling machine at the location designated by Zhang Ailun and began drilling a hole on the spot. With a buzzing vibration, the alloy steel drill bit plunged into the ground, and soil flew everywhere.

Old Carl and Zhang Ailun waited patiently nearby. After more than ten minutes, they noticed that the mud spraying out of the pipe had changed color.

The Beggars' Sect disciple was taken aback. He picked up a handful of soil and examined it. "Good news! There really is black petroleum in the soil!"

"What?!" Old Karl was stunned for a moment, his expression changing instantly. He hurriedly went over to take a look, grabbed a handful of soil, and exclaimed in disbelief, "We've only drilled less than 60 meters down there, and there's already oil?"

Zhang Ailun's lips curled into a smile. He quickly regained his composure and ordered, "Keep drilling! Drill to at least 160 meters underground."

"Alright." The Beggars' Sect disciple continued drilling. His eyes were constantly on the line, and he was a little nervous.

After all, this is a major event concerning whether the Grand Master can create an oil empire!

Now that the Grand Master is wealthy, would he treat them unfairly?

Old Karl scratched his head, completely baffled. He lit another cigarette. "There's no reason for this. This land doesn't look like it has any oil reserves at all."

"If everyone thought like you, this land would never be developed, and treasures and truths are often in the hands of a few," Zhang Ailun replied.

The drilling platform worked continuously and soon drilled to a depth of 150 meters.

The soil began to turn black at a visible speed, and crude oil mixed with mud sprayed out.

The Beggars' Sect disciples couldn't contain their excitement and shouted, "Boss! It's crude oil! There really is crude oil! There's so much crude oil before we've even reached 160 meters underground!"

"If I really do have oil down there, the quantity will definitely not be less than Mr. Carl's, at least two million barrels, with a total value of at least $1 million. There won't be any resource depletion for at least twenty years. If I directly contract it out to an oil company, I should be able to get $7000-8000 million!"

The discerning Beggar Clan disciple analyzed the oil content gushing from the pipe and deduced the approximate situation. His usually calm and collected face began to flush as he suppressed his excitement. "Moreover, this land definitely doesn't just have oil in this shallow area; there are definitely other oil-bearing areas elsewhere, at least one!"

Old Karl, questioning his own existence, looked at Zhang Ailun, who remained unfazed, and couldn't help but say enviously, "You got a steal by buying land rich in oil assets for only 180 million!"

"So-so." This time it was the leader's turn to wave his hand modestly.

Soon the drilling rig reached a shallow oil-bearing area 160 meters underground. With a buzzing vibration, a large amount of brownish-black oil gushed out of the pipe, seemingly even more abundant than the oil on Old Carl's land.

The Beggars' Sect disciple exclaimed in surprise, "I misjudged! This land contains at least 250 to 300 million barrels of oil! Its total value is at least $1.5 million!"

Is this the allure of oil?

Suddenly he's a billionaire!?

Zhang Ailun was also greatly amazed.

Without hesitation, he ordered the Beggars' Sect disciples to stop extracting the oil, because what was being sprayed out was all money! Each spray was worth tens or hundreds of dollars!

The Beggars' Sect disciples hurriedly stopped the machine from operating.

Old Karl scratched his head, watching Zhang Ailun still intending to direct the Beggars' Sect disciples to move the platform truck, and couldn't help but ask, "Are you planning to continue drilling for oil in other places?"

"What else? When luck comes, you have to strike while the iron is hot!" Zhang Ailun answered without hesitation, instructing the Beggars' Sect disciples to remove the drill bit, reinforce the oil extraction pipe, and install railings nearby.

He directed the Beggars' Sect disciples to fill up the fuel tank, move the platform truck, and arrive at the coordinates 667.22. After confirming the location, they immediately began drilling downwards at full speed! The distance 500 meters underground was marked.

With a buzzing vibration and flying dirt, the drill bit began to descend. About half an hour later, the pipe vibrated and ejected a large amount of broken rock.

The Beggars' Sect disciple hurriedly reported this less-than-optimistic situation to the sect leader, "Boss, we've probably encountered shale and a lot of underground ore below. If there are too many rocks, it could easily damage the drill bit. Should we continue drilling?"

"Don't shale rocks contain natural gas and oil?"

Zhang Ailun and Old Carl went over to take a look and found that the broken rocks didn't appear to contain oil or natural gas. They immediately gave the order, "Keep drilling. Those alloy steel drill bits, worth tens of thousands of dollars each, are meant for breaking rocks. Let's see if the rock is harder, or my drill bit!"

(End of this chapter)