Fang Lang, who came from the future, had long been aware of Brazil's oil shortage. Brazil in the future had always been a country with oil shortages. Although the domestic automobile industry was developed, due to the lack of fuel, they had to use alcohol as the main fuel supplement, but all this was just a last resort.
Therefore, when Fang Lang met Richfield Oil Company in the United States, he entered the oil extraction industry. He had originally planned to ensure Brazil's fuel supply through Richfield Oil Company, but he did not expect that Richfield Oil Company alone could not fully guarantee Brazil's supply of refined oil.
Now other oil companies are preparing to plunder Brazil's wealth through refined oil products, which Fang Lang certainly cannot accept. He does not want the country he controls to become a vassal of Western capital again, although he himself can be considered a member of Western capital.
But becoming a vassal of oneself and becoming a vassal of Western capital are two completely different concepts. If we talk about the consortium that controls these oil companies, Morgan and Rockefeller must be behind them. But Fang Lang never thought of using his cooperative relationship with the other party to make the other party give up harvesting Brazil.
After all, the rule in Western capitalist society has always been that business is business and friends are friends. The two cannot be confused, and there is no human touch in business.
Fang Lang touched his chin and thought seriously for a while before he slowly spoke:
“Are refined oil prices already too high now?”
"That's not the case. The price of refined oil in Brazil is already 1.2 times that of the US, and it has been rising quietly in the past two years. If we can't solve the oil shortage problem, the price of refined oil will rise further, which will sooner or later have a serious impact on our auto industry."
“Has the government taken any measures to deal with this?”
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“The government has been busy with the general election recently and has no time to consider this issue. However, we have organized some members of parliament and are preparing to submit a petrochemical industry subsidy plan to Congress.
See if we can use government subsidies to encourage petrochemical companies to increase their supply of refined oil to Brazil.”
Hearing this, Fang Lang looked at his father in surprise. He did not expect that his father's thinking would be so broad now. He thought of using government subsidies to attract petrochemical companies to increase the supply of refined oil to Brazil.
"Brazil's oil shortage problem cannot be solved by waiting. Although Brazil has a huge land area, it does not have any oil and gas fields available for exploitation. Its fuel supply can only rely on external purchases, which is very passive and dangerous.
It will not only affect the development and growth of our automobile industry, but will also have a serious impact on Brazil's national security. We now live in Brazil, and Brazil's problems are our problems, and we must find a way to solve them.
I think it is a good thing for us that this problem was exposed so early. Crisis, crisis, when there is danger, there are often opportunities.
Now that other petrochemical companies are reducing the supply of refined oil to Brazil, this is an opportunity for us. We can establish a petrochemical company with subsidies from the Brazilian government, obtain oil refining technology through cooperation with Richfield Oil Company, and then purchase crude oil directly from the world's major oil-producing countries and transport it back to Brazil for refining.
In this way, as long as we can find enough crude oil, we won’t have to worry about being strangled by others in the supply of refined oil.”
Fang Lang's words made everyone look at each other in bewilderment. After everyone looked at each other, Fang Xinshan finally spoke slowly:
"Lang'er, this is the truth, and everyone understands it. However, most of the oil fields are now controlled by European and American countries. If we want to purchase enough crude oil, we will still be restricted by them. This does not seem to be any different from the situation we are facing now!"
Seeing everyone's expressions of agreement, Fang Lang couldn't help but smiled and shook his head:
"You are right. Most of the oil fields are controlled by European and American countries, but not all of them. At least there are still some oil fields in the Persian Gulf that are controlled by local forces.
More importantly, compared with the sales of refined oil products, the buying and selling of crude oil is freer and not subject to too many restrictions.
Moreover, in addition to those oil-producing areas that are firmly controlled by European and American countries, there are several oil-producing areas that many people have not paid attention to. It is worth investing a lot of energy to develop our own oil fields in the local area. "
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone became excited.
"Oh! Do you know that there are oil-producing areas that European and American countries have not paid attention to?"
Seeing that everyone was interested, Fang Lang smiled slightly and tapped the armrest of the armchair with his fingers.
"Of course, not to mention far away, our northern neighbor Venezuela is the largest oil producer in South America and even in the world. Now Richfield has reached an agreement with the local government and developed the first oil well there.
Given our relationship with Richfield Company, it is most convenient to purchase crude oil from here.
However, Venezuela's crude oil is mainly heavy oil and extra heavy oil, which are difficult to mine and have poor quality, making it unsuitable as our main crude oil supplier.
The most suitable crude oil supplier for us is just across the Atlantic Ocean. The pristine African continent also has rich crude oil reserves. Now most European and American countries are focusing on the Persian Gulf region, which gives us the opportunity to enter Africa. "
"Is there oil in Africa? How come I have never heard of it? Besides, even if there is oil in Africa, it is a colony of European and American countries! If we want to get oil from there, won't we have to conflict with those colonial countries?"
"Of course there is oil in Africa. As early as 1915, the Portuguese discovered open-air oil fields in Angola. Over the years, the Portuguese have made a lot of money from the Angolan oil fields.
In addition to Angola, according to the intelligence I received, the French have discovered oil fields in Congo, and the British have also discovered oil fields in Nigeria. These oil fields are only a short distance away from us across the Atlantic Ocean. As long as we have the opportunity to join the local oil production work, our oil shortage in Brazil can be completely solved. "
At that time, Nigeria, the country with the largest oil reserves in Africa, had not yet been discovered to have oil. However, as a British colony, Britain had sent an exploration team to Nigeria for exploration as early as 1937. It was not until 1956 that Britain first discovered oil in the Niger River Delta in southern Nigeria.
In other words, it would take at least six years for the oil field to be discovered, so it was not too late to start planning now. Nigeria's independence would not come until 1960, but if they could plan ahead, occupy the oil fields in Nigeria in advance, and incite Nigeria to gain independence in advance, it would be a good idea.
They have a very good chance to directly control what will be the largest oil field in Africa in the future.
As for the country with the third largest oil reserves in Africa, it is Congo. Today, Congo is still a French colony. It was nearly ten years before the first oil field was discovered in Congo, and Congo did not truly become independent until 1960.
This means that the only region Brazil can target now is Angola, the country with the second largest oil reserves in Africa.
Apparently, the Fang family had not expected that Africa, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, would have so many oil reserves. After experiencing the impact of oil shortages in recent years, they have all realized the importance of oil resources. Now that they know that the other side has rich oil reserves, everyone is of course very excited.
But at the same time, as Chinese people, we do not have the same bandit logic as the Western world. Although we are very envious of the oil resources here, we do not know how to obtain these resources from the hands of Western colonists, so we can only look to Fang Lang.
However, Fang Xinshui, the gang leader, thought more directly and said:
"Brother Lang, do you mean that we should go there and occupy the territory before the oil resources in Africa attract the attention of European countries?"
Hearing this, everyone in the Fang family couldn't help but look at Fang Xinshui with a look of disbelief on their faces.
Fang Xinshan even directly blamed:
"Xinshui, don't talk nonsense. We are just businessmen. How can we grab the territory?"
Seeing everyone's incredible expressions, Fang Xinshui waved his hand impatiently and said:
"This is the white people's territory. If you don't go and rob it, will they just give it to you? In my opinion, among these countries, only Portugal is easier to bully. Why don't we just attack Angola and drive the Portuguese out, and then we can exploit the oil there."
Fang Xinshui's words caused an uproar among the crowd, and they began to whisper to each other. Although everyone was tempted, they also understood that the Fang family did not have the ability to do so. If they wanted to do this, they could only push the Brazilian government to send troops, but the Brazilian government certainly did not have the courage to do so.
Therefore, Fang Xinshan said directly after hearing this:
"It's easy for you to say that. If you want to attack Portugal, how can you do it? Our Fang family is just a company, and Portugal is a country. You can't let the Whip of God send troops to fight against the Portuguese army!
Not to mention whether we can win, even if we win, will the international community recognize it? Can we rule Angola?"
At this point Fang Xinshui also shut up. It must be said that Fang Xinshan's words hit the point. Even if their Fang family organized the Whip of God Company and went to war with Portugal, even if they won, in the end they would not be able to obtain the same status as Portugal in Angola.
Because the Fang family is always a company, not a country. Even if the Fang family defeated Portugal, it would not be possible for them to gain legal ruling status in Angola.
Not to mention whether the Fang family can defeat Portugal. Although the Fang family is developing very rapidly now, it lacks sufficient historical background and cannot compete with a colonial country with a long history.
Seeing that everyone was silent because of Fang Xinshan's words, Fang Lang smiled and took a puff of cigarette before slowly speaking:
“Everyone is over-complicating things. If we want to obtain Angola’s oil resources, we can do so through commercial means!
First of all, Angola is a colony of Portugal and a Portuguese-speaking country like us. We have a language advantage when we go to Angola to do business.
Secondly, we set up a petrochemical company in Brazil and went to Angola to purchase crude oil. As long as the price is right, why don’t the Portuguese sell it to us? Portugal is not a big country and can’t digest so much crude oil, okay!
Therefore, what we need to do now is to first establish a petrochemical enterprise, and then cooperate with Richfield to obtain the most advanced oil refining technology and develop our own petrochemical industry.
In this way, we can get rid of the control of American capital over our refined oil market.”
Everyone nodded in agreement when they heard this. However, the brothers Fang Xinshan and Fang Xinshui looked at Fang Lang with some suspicion. Based on their understanding of Fang Lang, things would definitely not be as simple as Fang Lang said.
If the oil resources in Africa were only obtained through commercial means, why would Fang Lang pay so much attention to the oil reserves in Africa? Even the French and the British have conducted detailed investigations on the exploration of oil in Africa.
This is not like just purchasing crude oil in the past.
Fang Lang naturally noticed the gazes of the two people, but he did not explain. He just smiled and changed the subject directly:
"We said earlier that someone might attack our industry, and we said we would use cruel means to scare off our opponents. And through media publicity, we would establish a positive image of our Fang family among the Brazilian people.
But this is not enough. We must also have enough friends who can stand by us when something unexpected happens.
Of course, most business friends are not trustworthy, but in Brazil, we have the opportunity to support a group of friends who share the same ideals as us, that is, the vast Chinese community.
My idea is that for a considerable period of time in the future, our Brazilian Development Bank and JPMorgan Chavez Bank will incubate a large amount of Chinese capital in Brazil through financial and technological support.
Then, through the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and hometown associations, all Chinese businessmen are firmly tied to us.
Only when all of us Chinese become one can we ensure that our Fang family's position in Brazil is as solid as a rock and no one dares to attack us.
Because once they dare to attack us, we must be prepared for a crazy counterattack from all Chinese businesses."
Fang Xinshan had no objection to this and nodded affirmatively:
“What you said is very necessary. In fact, even if you don’t say it, we are already doing it. Many Chinese who immigrated to Brazil were businessmen in their hometowns, most of whom were in the textile industry.
Brazil has abundant cotton production, which is like a pillow delivered to them when they want to sleep. In the past two years alone, more than 100 Chinese cotton spinning companies have been established in Brazil.
Most of these enterprises have received strong support from our Brazilian Development Bank. At the same time, in order to sell the products produced by these enterprises, our Chinese Chamber of Commerce has also opened up the European market for them through the relationship with the Global Trading Company.
Now, the entire Brazilian cotton textile market is almost monopolized by us Chinese.”
Fang Lang was shocked when he heard this. He didn't expect that even though he hadn't paid attention to Brazil's cotton textile industry for a while, they had already independently developed to their current scale.
Thinking back to the Dahua Textile Factory that I founded in Natal, after several years of development, it has already become the largest textile enterprise in northeastern Brazil.
He thought this was already quite remarkable, but he didn't expect that more Chinese would enter this industry and now directly monopolize Brazil's textile industry.
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