Chapter 76

The next morning, Park Jae-cheon called, his voice trembling with excitement as he said, "Boss, they've sprouted, they've sprouted! The seeds you planted last night have all sprouted this morning, already growing to a height of one or two centimeters. Oh my God, this is simply amazing..."

Jifeng was in a good mood that morning, having finally broken through to the intermediate level of the second layer of the Body Strengthening Formula after days of hard work. The enhancement of his abilities brought greater confidence, and even if he had to fight with anyone nearby, Jifeng felt it wouldn't be a big deal. After all, he was a mobile weapon comparable to a nuclear bomb, and it was uncertain who would come out on top in the end.

Now, hearing this good news, Jifeng was even more delighted and laughed heartily, "It's great that they've sprouted. The seeds need a special nutrient solution. Prepare a few large tanks and send them to my cargo ship. I'll come back to fill them up later."

"Okay, boss, I'll arrange it right away. Can we use the tanks that store oil?"

Jifeng smiled and said it was fine, but then heard a new call coming in and immediately disconnected Park Jae-cheon's call. Seeing the number displayed, Jifeng answered somewhat reluctantly, "Mayor Jin, how did the negotiations go yesterday?"

Although he had left everything to the administrative and energy departments, Jifeng still wanted to know the outcome. However, he also knew that such matters couldn't be resolved in a day and would involve some exchange of interests. Especially with the massive amount of oil discovered in the waters around Jeju Island, it was impossible for the surrounding countries to have no intentions.

According to the news last night, Japan was the first to come, followed by South Korea, China, Taiwan, and even North Korea, all sending representatives to the island, all aiming for the new oil field. Besides wanting to divide the "Feiyang Oil Field," both North Korea and South Korea proposed that the Jeju Energy Group help them explore their own waters.

The northern oil field, being the closest to Feiyang Island, was named the Feiyang Oil Field. Jifeng had already received an email from Jin Tonghao early this morning. The first shallow sea oil drilling platform of the Feiyang Oil Field had completed its initial preparations, and thanks to its fully automatic pipe-laying and well-locking technologies, not a single drop of oil leaked during the entire process.

The first drilling platform, with a diameter of 680 millimeters, showed astonishing data after completing the drilling preparations. Even with conservative drilling, the daily production could reach 108,000 tons, meaning that if no oil tankers came to collect the oil within two days, the massive 200,000-ton oil storage tank and the platform's own storage tanks would be filled.

If full-scale drilling were to be carried out, the daily production could exceed 300,000 tons. However, to avoid causing more trouble, Jin Tonghao strictly limited the production to 30,000 tons per well, which was still a very low output, not far from the world's highest single-well production.

Jin Tonghao was worried that once this information was made public, it would attract the military of South Korea, Japan, and other countries to come and seize the oil. Given the current defenses of Jeju Island, he had no confidence at all; it was more like a coast guard than an army.

However, Jifeng was somewhat dissatisfied with 30,000 tons. After all, his platform's oil pipelines were several times thicker than others, and it was unreasonable to hide the production so much. He then called Jin Tonghao and agreed to set the daily production of a single well at 80,000 tons, or about 560,000 barrels. They would also announce a reserve of 1.55 billion tons.

According to Jin Tonghao, he planned to apply all eight shallow sea oil drilling platforms to the Feiyang Oil Field. In this way, even a daily production of 700,000 tons of crude oil would not be unacceptable, given the number of drilling platforms they had.

What does 700,000 tons of crude oil mean? At the current international price of $105 per barrel, it would mean a gross profit of over $500 million per day for the Feiyang Oil Field. Even after deducting the almost negligible production costs, the net profit would still be over $400 million.

However, this profit margin was enough to make any neighboring country consider military action against Jeju Island, as it was too tempting.

Jin Bingli's voice trembled as he said, "Boss, among the five delegations, China, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan all want to develop the oil field with us, but we have already refused, claiming that we do not lack funds or technology, and that the first offshore drilling platform has already been installed and will soon start producing oil."

"After reviewing the crude oil quality report from the energy group, they finally agreed to purchase the crude oil directly from us. President Jin said there will be nine offshore oil wells in the future, so the final distribution is: China gets three, South Korea gets two, Japan gets two, Taiwan gets one, and North Korea gets one, and they will completely allocate our crude oil products."

"The North Korean representative also proposed that we cooperate to explore oil in North Korean waters. President Jin said he needs to consider it and may not have reported it to you yet."

Jifeng's lips curled into a smile. Although South Korea had no oil domestically, they had several oil fields overseas and were not short of oil. However, having high-quality crude oil right at their doorstep, especially heavy crude oil, naturally made them want to save on transportation costs.

"Proceed according to the results of your negotiations. As for exploring oil in North Korea, forget it. We have other seas to explore, and we don't have the time to cater to them. Unless they allow us to take at least 80% of the shares." North Korea's petrochemical industry was not great, but if they accepted, Jifeng was not against exploring there. No one hates money, and he could buy a world oil field distribution map from Thomas to get started.

"Okay, boss, I will continue negotiating with them today. Boss, the five delegations hope to meet you again and discuss the future economic development of Jeju Island with you."

Jifeng lit a cigarette and smiled, "It seems my comfortable life is coming to an end. Fine, I'll sign the final agreement, as I am also the owner of the energy group. Have them send someone of equal status."

Since he had decided to show up, Jifeng was no longer dragging his feet. Of course, if he was to sign, the other party must also send someone of equal status and position, or it would be too degrading for him to attend a signing ceremony with just anyone.

Hearing Jifeng finally agree, Jin Bingli immediately responded happily and reported a few more things before ending the call.

Sure enough, just a few minutes after hanging up, Jin Tonghao called to report the progress of the negotiations and his plans. Since there was no suitable place nearby for refining the oil, he decided to sell it all. Jifeng naturally agreed, as Jeju Island would not develop any polluting industries, and a heavily polluting chemical plant like a refinery had no place there. Jifeng planned to set up the refinery in the Natuna Islands. After the wireless station on Jeju Island was completed, the demand for fuel would drastically decrease, and occasional shipments from the south would suffice.

When the five delegations learned that Jifeng would attend the signing ceremony and sign personally as the owner of the energy group, they all happily reported this news back to their respective countries or regions. Although this was a purely commercial contract, the amount involved was so large that many people who were bored started analyzing Jifeng's character, saying that he was still a relatively simple nouveau riche, with economic interests being his top priority, etc. Jifeng found this amusing and almost laughed out loud.

The signing ceremony was tentatively scheduled for the 10th. On the 7th, Jifeng went out to sea and returned with the six large water tanks on the 10,000-ton cargo ship filled with space lake water.

On the morning of the 8th, Xu Xian brought out a set of locally produced suits she had bought for Jifeng, dressing him up handsomely and tying his tie herself. Looking at the handsome man in front of her, especially the elite aura he exuded in the suit, she felt a slight flutter in her heart.

"Honey, you look the most handsome in a suit. You usually don't pay much attention to your appearance," Xu Xian's face was flushed with a charming red, but her smile had a hint of infatuation.

Jifeng moved uncomfortably and frowned slightly, "Wife, I really don't like wearing suits. They are too stiff. Maybe I should just wear my old clothes." Since graduation, Jifeng had rarely worn suits, partly because his job didn't require it, and partly because he simply didn't like them.

Xu Xian shook her head and said, "That won't do. Today is your first public appearance, so you must look your best. My man must be the most handsome."

Today was the start of the Jeju University campus sports meet and the launch of the Jeju TV station. Jifeng decided to attend the opening ceremony of the sports meet, which he had proposed, and also to represent Jeju Island as it entered the hot sports season.

All residents of the island, or foreign citizens who had obtained residency permits, could sign up for the first Jeju Island All-People Sports Meet, and the winners would be decided in half a month and would participate in the autumn Asian Games in Incheon. Jifeng had already instructed Jin Bingli to handle the relevant matters, and the Asian Games Organizing Committee had responded that Jeju Island could participate as an independent region, though their tone was somewhat unpleasant. However, they had no objection to Jeju Island's participation, as they had already received sufficient public relations fees. If you want to come, you can come.

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(One day, a driver, who had just bought a new Mercedes for the boss, went to a colleague's wedding in the business department. The brand new Mercedes, which had been in his hands for less than a week, was scratched on the hood, making the boss furious. In the end, he said, "This guy will be eliminated in the year-end evaluation...")

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