Chapter 1093 Natural Gas Pipeline
"I just think ultra-deep water areas are more likely. After all, nearly three hundred exploration wells have been drilled in the Santos Basin, and there is still no large-scale oil.
So I'm not very optimistic about it. ”
Xu Liang nodded.
During this period, in addition to information on major oil companies, he also read information on the past development of Petrobras, and even asked Andrew to collect geological information on Brazilian petroleum exploration areas.
The purpose is to see if I can stimulate my memories of Brazilian oil from my previous life from these materials.
Even a little bit.
After briefly flipping through the information in his hand.
"When will the bidding start?"
"November 5th! The venue is the Auditorium of Rio de Janeiro City Hall."
"How many oil companies are involved?"
"37 companies, including international oil giants such as ExxonMobil, Petroleum, Shell, ChevronTexaco, and some Brazilian oil companies."
Xu Liang nodded clearly, "Do you plan to take all three ultra-deep sea blocks?"
"No, it's too risky.
We can bid on a piece and try our luck. ”
Xu Liang pondered for a moment and shook his head decisively.
"No, if you want to take it, take it all.
Otherwise, others will drill oil wells from ultra-deep water areas, but we will not.
I would regret jumping into the Atlantic Ocean. ”
Andrew nodded quickly.
As the CEO of Unocal Resources, he certainly doesn’t mind investing in a few more blocks, so that the probability of oil production is greater.
"How much money is needed to win three ultra-deep sea blocks?" Xu Liang asked.
“Although there are many oil companies interested in the three deep-sea blocks, no large oil fields have emerged in Brazilian oil exploration.
The deep water area is developed for the first time, so the price will not be too high.
Two to three billion US dollars is enough. ”
At present, Brazil's pre-salt oil exploration boom has not yet broken out, so the price of oil blocks in ultra-deep sea areas is naturally not high.
But after winning the block, the bulk of the investment will be in later exploration and development costs.
The rent for a semi-submersible drilling platform that can explore 2,000 meters deep sea is US$400,000 to US$500,000 per day, which is close to US$200 million per year.
The price of buying one is 500-700 million.
For deep-sea drilling, beyond 300 meters, the average cost per meter is US$10,000 to US$30,000.
This does not include labor, equipment depreciation and other expenses.
Therefore, oil exploration is a game that only national oil companies and multinational oil giants can play.
The state-owned capital of some small countries has no money to play with.
Brazil also has to transfer risks because the cost of exploration and development is too high.
"Where's the contract?"
Xu Liang continued to ask.
"Standard mining tax sharing contract.
If there is oil, we will get a 35-year concession for three blocks.
During the operation, the Brazilian government must pay a mining fee of 2~8%.
1.5% land owner cost, 25% corporate income tax, and 10% to 15% resource tax.
In addition, if we can discover large oil fields and obtain huge profits, we will also need to pay land use rent, which is about 10 to 5,000 reais per square kilometer.
There is also a franchise participation fee, that is, a special compensation paid by the franchise holder, which depends on the company's profitability and is generally between 0.2% and 1.5%.
Royalty is the amount paid by the concession holder for the oil resources it holds. The concession holder pays 5% to 10% of the production at each stage. ”
After listening to Andrew's words, Xu Liang couldn't help but frown.
Although Brazil currently implements the internationally mainstream mining tax system contract, rather than the later product sharing contract.
Foreign oil companies could be allowed to obtain all property rights in oil fields, instead of the 30% shareholding that Petrobras had to hold later, but this indirect tax is too cumbersome and too high.
A simple calculation shows that even if Unocal can find oil fields here, half of its future gross profits will have to be paid as various taxes.
But there is nothing you can do about it. You are a migrant and you have to exploit resources on other people's land.
"Give me a copy of the information you prepared.
Get the exploration department ready to start mining as soon as the bid is successful. ”
When it comes to exploration, Xu Liang is somewhat grateful to those former executives who made a desperate move and decided to let Unocal go to the ocean.
Although the 2,000-meter deep sea area is the crown jewel of the oil exploration industry, it is still not a problem for Unocal’s offshore exploration team.
"Yes!"
Andrew nodded respectfully.
He glanced at the big boss's face.
"BOSS, I have another project here that suits Unocal's taste."
"The investment in a project that allows you to take the initiative is not small."
Andrew smiled and handed over the information he had prepared in advance.
"Gas pipeline?"
"Yeah."
Xu Liang opened it and looked at it.
Inside is information about two natural gas pipelines.
First, the Bolivian natural gas pipeline.
From Santa Cruz, the main natural gas producing area, to Campo Grande and Sao Paulo in Brazil, the main pipeline is 2,093 kilometers long, with a total length of 2,415 kilometers and a total investment of US$3.7 billion.
Second, the Colombian natural gas pipeline.
From the main natural gas producing areas on its eastern coast to Bogota.
It then continues south from Bogota to Brasilia in Brazil, Santa Fe in Paraguay and Buenos Aires in Argentina.
The main pipeline length is 3,381 kilometers, with a total length of 4,380 kilometers and a total investment of US$7.5 billion.
"These two horizontal and vertical natural gas pipelines are part of Enron's ambitious "Grand Cross Plan", which is intended to control the South American natural gas sales market and become a true market hegemon.
However, Enron’s so-called ‘Grand Cross Plan’ was more about boosting stock prices than investing money in construction.
Investment in these two natural gas pipelines is limited. Later Enron went bankrupt.
Of the two natural gas pipelines, except for the Bolivian pipeline project, which has been built for less than 100 kilometers, the Colombian pipeline project only remains on paper.
Now Brazil, Colombia and other South American countries hope to build these two pipelines, so they took the opportunity of this oil bidding and sent invitation letters to all oil companies present. ”
Unocal does have a pipeline business. In addition to the West Asia Atug Pipeline that has been sold, they also operate the Myanmar-Thailand natural gas pipeline with a length of nearly 200 kilometers.
Xu Liang put down the information.
"Do you think we should get involved?"
"We can participate in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. As for the others, it is best not to participate." Andrew said.
Xu Liang understood what he meant.
Enron's Grand Cross project required climbing over the Andes Mountains and passing through huge tropical rainforests.
The geology is complex and the security is chaotic.
No one would invest here unless they were stupid.
In contrast, Brazil and Argentina are all located in the flat Pampas grassland, with low construction difficulty and relatively developed economies.
It would indeed be a good business to be involved in the pipeline project here.
……
The next day, because the oil bidding date was November 15th, there was still a week left, and Andrew was watching, so he didn’t have to worry too much.
When Xu Liang came to the famous Rio de Janeiro for the first time, of course he wanted to take a good tour.
After putting on makeup to hide his original face, Huo Gang was left with a resentful face and took Zhang Hongwei out of the house.
"Boss, where are we going?"
"Go to the beach first, taste local food at noon, and then go to Loaf Mountain and Monte Cristo in the afternoon."
If you come here once in a while, you should always visit the landmarks.
Zhang Hongwei naturally had no objection.
The villa Andrew prepared for him was not far from the sea, so it didn't take much time in between.
The urban planning of Rio de Janeiro is comparable to that of the third brother.
The villa area where the rich live is separated from the slum area by a road.
On this beautiful seaside beach, in addition to tourists and wealthy people, adults and children in slums are also lazily enjoying the beautiful beach and warm sunshine.
The end of October is already a cool late autumn for people in the northern hemisphere.
But for Rio de Janeiro in the southern hemisphere, it’s spring and summer.
In addition, it is located on the Tropic of Capricorn, so the temperature during the day is basically around 29 degrees, which is the time to wear T-shirts and shorts.
Xu Liang and Zhang Hongwei bought a pair of beach shorts, and without looking for any cover, they took off their clothes and changed them.
There were a lot of naked women here, and no one came to see the two men.
"Boss, what are we playing?"
"Of course it's a motorboat."
When he was on land, Xu Liang never raced because he was worried about his own life.
But when he came to the sea, his favorite sport was always motorboats.
The two of them put on their clothes, and after enjoying a fast and furious time on the sea, they lay down on the rented beach chairs nearby.
While drinking Bing Kuo Luo, my eyes looked at the beautiful Brazilian woman who was walking back and forth, with her nose and back curled up.
Comfortable.
I haven't felt so relaxed in a long time.
Sudden.
An old football flew from nowhere and hit his left arm with a bang.
Zhang Hongwei, who had always been concerned about his safety, changed his expression, stood up like lightning, and looked into the distance with wary eyes.
A group of half-grown children ran over.
"I'm sorry, we didn't mean it!"
The boy who spoke was about twelve or thirteen years old, with a dark complexion and faint traces of sweat on his naked upper body.
After patting Zhang Hongwei on the shoulder, he signaled him not to be too nervous.
Xu Liang bumped the football that was already prickly in his hand.
"Were you playing beach football just now?"
"Yeah."
"Can you take one with me?"
"Take you?"
The little guy looked at him in surprise.
"Why, can't it?"
"Of course not. ...But there are only eight of us."
He pointed at his companion who was watching here not far away but had not come over.
"Isn't this just right? With the two of us, it's an official beach soccer lineup."
Xu Liang pointed to Zhang Hongwei next to him.
The little guy looked back at some of his friends hesitantly, and after some discussion among themselves.
"Okay, but you have to obey the rules."
"Of course."
"Mr. Xu..."
Seeing Zhang Hongwei's hesitant expression, Xu Liang understood what he was thinking.
"Don't worry, no one knows us here."
Patted his arm.
"It's rare to come out, so relax. After today, I won't have a chance to rest."
Zhang Hongwei nodded.
Xu Liang: "Let's go, don't keep people waiting."
"Yeah."
(End of chapter)