Chapter 163 Refinery

While Constantine was worried about the Greek shipbuilding industry, the manager of the Purple Robe Foundation he had appointed, Yaakov, returned to his home after a busy day.

After chatting with his family, he entered the study with his younger brother, Gad, and wanted to consult the scholar, who was currently studying for a doctorate at the University of Athens, about some knowledge about petroleum.

Yakov's 29-year-old brother, Gad, came up with the idea of ​​going to university to continue his studies after his family regained a foothold in Athens, and entered the University of Athens to continue studying chemistry.

After obtaining the consent of the Nobel family, the Purple Robe Foundation will invest its main funds in oil-related projects for a long time.

Although Yakov is a senior practitioner in the banking industry, he has not been exposed to the oil industry and does not know much about this emerging energy source.

So far, in the cooperation between the two parties, as the main investor-the person in charge of the Purple Robe Foundation, Yakov is responsible for the finance of the oil company in the cooperation, while Nobel has been responsible for other aspects of the cooperation.

"Gader, you are currently studying chemistry at the University of Athens. I would like to consult you, a professional, about some petroleum knowledge." Yakov looked at his younger brother Gader and said seriously.

After all, up to now, the royal family has invested 20 million drachmas in the Purple Robe Foundation, most of which has been invested in oil companies. This behavior is very irrational for a fund of the size of the Purple Robe Foundation. Under normal circumstances, out of risk aversion considerations, fund investments should be diversified as much as possible to avoid putting eggs in one basket.

However, so far, the fund's investment has only been in the oil company, a decision made personally by Crown Prince Constantine. Whenever he advised Constantine out of professional ethics, he should not invest heavily in the oil company. At that time, Constantine always shied away and asked him to just do it.

He knew very little about this industry and was always uneasy. He was also worried that he would fail the crown prince's expectations, mess up the foundation, and anger the royal family.

Looking at his worried brother, Yakov said: "What aspects do you want to ask?"

"Gader, from the perspective of your professional knowledge, what do you think of the prospects of the oil industry? Is it worth investing in?"

Gad is a Ph.D. in chemistry, but after all, he is also from a banking family. Although he chose natural sciences in college out of interest, he is very familiar with financial common sense and naturally understands himself. Brother Yakov is worried about something.

"The oil industry is an emerging energy source. As for the prospects, you can refer to the current situation of the coal industry." After speaking, Gad looked at Yakov and said.

Since the industrial revolution, the use of coal has increased dramatically, and the status of coal merchants has increased. Coal merchants in various countries are extremely wealthy, and coal is also called "black gold."

"However, coal-burning steam engines can be seen everywhere, and the current large-scale applications of oil are limited to lighting. There is no comparison between the two?" Yakov asked.

"Due to its liquid nature, petroleum has many advantages that solid coal does not have. For example, the recent internal combustion engine is a good example, isn't it? For example, a gasoline engine can be made very small because it uses liquid gasoline as fuel. , this is something that a steam engine cannot do.”

“Can you imagine a motorcyclist driving with a shovel and adding coal to the engine?”

"Moreover, since the emergence of the internal combustion engine, some people have been studying the use of internal combustion engines as power for trains or ships."

“In the current industry, this is a very promising industry.”

"Although at present, the application of oil is not as good as that of coal, the prospects of the oil industry are very good. Yakov, you can safely and boldly cooperate with Nobel."

Gad said this, Yakov let out a sigh of relief, and finally felt some peace in his anxious heart.

"In other words, Crown Prince Constantine is really optimistic about the oil industry. There is no reason why he is so confident in the oil industry."

After that, he said to Gaade: "Gaade, since you are so optimistic about the future of the petroleum industry, why not come to our company for an internship for a period of time? It just suits your research direction."

Because he does not understand technology, almost all technical positions in current oil companies come from the Nobel side, which makes Yakov a little worried.

"In the recent period, our company will build a refinery with an annual refining capacity of 80,000 tons in Ferry, Albania. Hellenic Petroleum Company has invested 12 million drachmas, which just needs a lot of engineers." Yakov Invited to his brother.

"I will be on a business trip tomorrow afternoon. Together with Mr. Nobel, I will take a boat to Ferry City."

Hearing Yakov's words, Gad was indeed moved. He was still very interested in the research on petroleum refining catalysts. As one of the cutting-edge research topics of organic chemistry in the current scientific community, it is very popular in European universities.

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On March 6, Gad, Nobel Jr., Yakov and more than a dozen accompanying persons came to Albania to supervise the construction of the refinery.

This is an important factory of Hellenic Petroleum Company and cannot be ignored.

After disembarking in Vlora, the group took a train all the way to the city of Ferry.

As a key oil industry city in the planning, Ferry has built a train. Ferry is located between Vlora and Tirana, and the railway line connecting the two places just passes through Ferry.

When the group arrived at the refinery construction site on March 10, they could see from a distance that the refinery had just been built, with more than a dozen silver-white metal towers and chimneys, which were particularly eye-catching.

When approaching, Yakov saw a busy scene on the construction site, various construction equipment were running in an orderly manner, and carriages carrying construction materials came and went.

"Mr. Nobel, how long will it take to build such a factory?" Yakov, wearing a safety helmet, looked up at the construction site on the aerial scaffolding and asked.

The construction team on the site was almost all construction workers hired by Little Nobel from the Caucasus. The Nobel family relied on the refinery to make a fortune, so building a refinery was naturally a piece of cake.

"Mr. Yakov, this is a plant with an oil refining capacity of 80,000 tons. The whole project will probably take at least two years to complete," replied the young Nobel standing nearby.

As a descendant of the Nobel family, if he can perform well in this cooperation with the Greek Petroleum Company, he will have more say in the family company in the future, and naturally he will do his best.