Chapter 697 Oil Industry Layout

The discovery of oil in East Africa finally made Ernst breathe a sigh of relief. All things are difficult at the beginning. Only by completing the first step can the future energy security of East Africa be in its own hands.

At least East Africa's energy security will be guaranteed for the next few decades. First of all, there is coal, which is enough for East Africa's own use. The coal resources in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana are not bad compared to those in Europe. Now that oil has been discovered, although the reserves are still unclear, after 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 has really no foundation in this regard. Before, East Africa's refined oil was 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 Heixingen Foundation, and at the same time, it requires East African students studying abroad to return to their home country to lead relevant theoretical research work.

Cooperation between the Hexingen Group and East African governments is common in East Africa. The two jointly shape the industrial landscape of East Africa, and this time is no exception.

"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. Although Turkana Province is also a border province, it is blocked by the Abyssinian Empire to the north and the Ethiopian Plateau and mountains. Therefore, the oil fields in this location are very conducive to our continued secrecy."

The East African military attaches great importance to the oil fields, and as a result, the automobile industry, internal combustion engine industry, national defense industry and other industries closely related to the oil industry have been upgraded to a higher level.

After all, East Africa used to rely on imports for its oil, and there was a risk that the import routes would be cut off by countries outside the region. The main routes for East Africa’s oil imports were the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

In the past, Yemen demonstrated how to take advantage of its geographical location to hold the world's most important trade route hostage.

East Africa's domestically produced oil solves this problem, so the military must ensure the safety here from the perspective of energy security.

This is related to the future development of the army. The emergence of automobiles has allowed the military to see endless possibilities. Once oil is guaranteed, the East African military can completely bet on this aspect.

"Very good. It's not just for energy security considerations, but also for the technical level. We also need to accumulate. First of all, we need to rely on local oil resources to build refineries. In addition to being an energy source, oil is also an important chemical raw material. We need to increase research efforts in this field to break the American monopoly, and this takes time. Now we are the pursuer, so technical research needs to be kept confidential to continue to paralyze competitors."

The US oil industry has been developing for several decades, while in other regions, only the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Hechingen Consortium in Eastern Europe have built a relatively basic oil processing industry chain in a relatively short period of time by relying on the talents and technology accumulated by Germany and Europe.

“We will first gather a group of experts to Turkana Province to study the origin of the oil field and derive a theory. After that, we will continue to increase the intensity of surveys in Turkana Province.”

"At the same time, we will transfer some of our workers from Austria-Hungary and Romania and let them prepare themselves. In the future, they may have to stay in the country forever. Let's transfer their families and industries to East Africa!"

"The most important thing is the machinery and equipment. We need to quickly place an order in Germany, purchase it in the name of the Romanian oil field, and then ship it to East Africa."

Fortunately, East Africa does not have to worry about technical problems in this field. After all, Ernst has already made relevant arrangements in Europe.

"Your Highness, there is another problem now, which is the problem of oil transportation and urban construction. You know, the environment in the southern part of Turkana Province is not very good, so if we want to invest and build there, there will definitely be difficulties."

The climate in Turkana Province is relatively extreme. Due to the uplift of the Ethiopian Plateau, the northern part has abundant rainfall and a humid climate, while the southern plains are just the opposite.

This time the oil field is located in the southern part of Turkana Province, so we have to overcome the disadvantages in climate and environment. The second problem is transportation. The entire Turkana Province, like the Somalia region, has a certain position in the East African economy, but there is no railway.

According to von der Leyen's idea, it would be better to build a railway directly, passing through the oil fields and 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, further expand trade between East Africa and the Abyssinian Empire and accelerate the local economic development of Turkana Province.

"Okay." Ernst agreed without much thought.

Because the northeastern region really needs such a railway, just like the Dodoma-Bujumbura railway was built in East Africa to transport rubber resources from the inland to other areas of 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 be launched immediately. Among the same type of industries, that is, among emerging industries, the oil industry is a relatively latecomer, not to mention that the oil industry in East Africa is still in a "zero" state.

"We need to 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 area. Even the daily necessities and food are worse than those in the east. Although Romania and the eastern part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire are not developed regions, it is certain that the conditions there are better than those in northern East Africa today.

So we should also improve the local living environment and at least ensure that necessary living materials can be transported to Turkana Province at a faster speed." Ernst said.

Wherever there is oil, there is basically no shortage of supporting living facilities, and it is easy to form industrial clusters. Relying on oil can also drive the development of a large number of upstream and downstream industries. Therefore, in the future, Turkana Province should be able to achieve good development by looking at the oil dividend.

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.), Somalia, etc.

It seems that several major desert areas in East Africa are rich in mineral resources, and the development of mineral resources requires railway construction. So far, East Africa has not built railways in the desert areas, so building a railway in Turkana Province now is also a good choice.

Another important reason is that the population of Turkana Province is not small, which is very different from several other regions. East Africa has a relatively early history of developing Turkana Province, and later actively developed 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)