Chapter 697 Petroleum Industry Layout
Oil was finally discovered in East Africa, which made Ernst relieved. Everything is difficult at the beginning. Only by completing the first step can the future energy security of East Africa be in his own hands.
At least in the next few decades, East Africa’s energy security will be guaranteed. First of all, coal mines are enough for East Africa’s own use. The coal resources in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana are not bad in Europe, and now oil has been discovered, although the reserves are not yet clear, but as soon as there is the first oil well, there will be a second one, and there will be more and more in the future.
What is more important now is how to utilize this oil. East Africa really has zero foundation in this regard. Before, East Africa’s refined oil products were basically imported from Austria-Hungary, Romania and the United States.
Therefore, there is basically no oil industry in East Africa, which requires the help of the Hechingen Consortium. At the same time, East African students studying abroad need to return to China to lead relevant theoretical research work.
Cooperation between the Hechingen Consortium and the East African government is common in East Africa. The two jointly structure the industrial structure of East Africa, and this is still the case this time.
“Your Highness, the military has taken over the oil fields in Turkana Province. We will try our best to keep this news within the country. Moreover, although Turkana Province is also a border province, Abyssinia is in the north. Empire, as well as the Ethiopian plateau and mountains as obstacles, Therefore, the oil field at this location is very conducive to us continuing to keep it secret.”
The East African military attaches great importance to the oil field, and the automobile industry, internal combustion engine industry, national defense industry and other industries closely related to the oil industry have been promoted again. up a level.
After all, East African oil used to be imported, and the imported oil routes were at risk of being cut off by foreign countries. The main routes for East African oil imports were the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
In the previous life, Yemen demonstrated how to use its geographical advantage to hijack the world's most important trade route.
Domestic oil in East Africa solves this problem, so the military must ensure the safety here from the perspective of energy security.
This is related to the future development form of the military. The emergence of automobiles has allowed the military to see endless possibilities. After oil can also be guaranteed, the East African military can completely bet on this aspect.
“Very good, not only for energy security reasons, but also for technical reasons. We also need to accumulate. The first is to rely on local oil resources to build refineries. In addition to being energy, oil is also an important chemical raw material. , we need to increase research efforts in this field to break the monopoly of the Americans, and this will take time. Now we are the catch-up, so technical research needs to be kept confidential and continue to paralyze competitors.”
The U.S. oil industry has been developing for decades now, and in other regions, only the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Hechingen Consortium in Eastern Europe have built relatively rudimentary oil companies in a relatively short period of time with the help of German and European talents and technology accumulation. processing industry chain.
“First, we will gather a group of experts to Turkana Province to study the origin of the oil fields and deduce theories. After that, we will continue to increase our exploration efforts in Turkana Province.”
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"At the same time, we will transfer some of our workers from Austria-Hungary and Romania to prepare them. They may have to stay in the country forever in the future and move their families and industries to East Africa!"
"The most important thing is the mechanical equipment. We need to place an order in Germany as soon as possible. We will purchase it in the name of the Romanian oil field and then transport it to East Africa."
Finally, East Africa does not have to worry about technical problems in this field. After all, Ernst had already made relevant arrangements in Europe.
“His Royal Highness, there is still another problem, that is, oil transportation and urban construction. You must know that the environment in southern Turkana Province is not very good, so if we want to invest and build there, it will definitely be difficult. Indispensable. "The climate environment of Turkana Province is relatively extreme. Due to the uplift of the Ethiopian Plateau in the north, there is abundant precipitation and a humid climate, while the plains in the south are just the opposite.
This time the oil field is located in the southern part of Turkana Province, so it has to overcome the disadvantages of climate and environment. Secondly, there is the transportation problem. The entire Turkana Province, like the Somali region, has a certain status in the East African economy, but there is no railway. .
According to von der Leyen's idea, it is better to build a railway directly, passing through the oil fields and directly reaching the border of East Africa and the Abyssinian Empire.
After all, the Abyssinian Empire is East Africa’s largest land trading partner. This will not only facilitate the transportation of oil to the south, but also improve transportation in Turkana Province, and further expand East Africa’s relationship with Abyssinia. The Xinian Empire's trade accelerated the local economic development of Turkana Province.
"Okay." Ernst basically agreed to the matter without much thought.
Because the Northeast really needs such a railway, just like when East Africa built the Dodoma-Bujumbura railway to transport rubber resources from the interior to other regions in East Africa.
In addition to this, railways can greatly improve local living comfort. The oil industry is closely related to the second industrial revolution, and electricity, automobiles, rubber, etc. in East Africa are all emerging industries.
Now that oil resources have been discovered in Turkana Province, the layout of the oil industry in East Africa should also start immediately. The same type of industry, that is, the oil industry among emerging industries has appeared relatively late, let alone now The oil industry in East Africa is still at "zero" status.
“We must ensure the quality of life of experts and oil workers. After all, the oil industry is an emerging industry all over the world, and the northern region is not as livable as the plateau region, in terms of daily necessities, food categories, and It is worse than the east. Although Romania and the eastern part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire are not developed areas, it is certain that the conditions there are better than those in northern East Africa.
So we should also improve the local living environment, at least. This will ensure that necessary daily supplies can be delivered to Turkana Province at a faster speed," Ernst said.
In any oil-producing area, there is basically no shortage of supporting living facilities. It is easy to form industrial clusters. Relying on oil can also drive the development of a lot of upstream and downstream industries, so in the future Turkana Province Looking at the oil dividend, we should be able to develop well.
However, this also has certain difficulties, that is, overcoming the arid environment of deserts and semi-deserts. However, Ernst believes that this can also accumulate experience in building railways in desert environments in East Africa.
Because East Africa has millions of square kilometers of tropical desert climate areas, especially the resource-rich northern Nile Province (South Sudan’s oil resources), Southwest Africa (Namibia’s oil, coal, iron, uranium mines, etc. ), Soma area, etc.
It seems that several major desert areas in East Africa are rich in mineral deposits, and the development of mineral deposits is indispensable for railway construction. So far, East Africa has not built a railway in the desert area, so now Turkana Province is building one Railway is also a good choice.
Another important reason is that the population of Turkana Province is not small, which is very different from other regions. East Africa has a relatively early history of developing Turkana Province, and later Actively exploring trade with the Abyssinian Empire, this railway is obviously profitable and can also solve the historical lack of railways in northeastern East Africa.
(End of this chapter)