Chapter 18 The Great Leap Forward (2)

By early October, with the French US$100 million in place, United Petroleum already had nearly US$170 million in cash assets on its books, and its valuation reached 500 million. Although United Group's shares were inevitably lost in the process Diluted from 100% to 65%, but still has an absolute controlling position.

Of course, these are all algorithms on the surface, and the outside world behind the business is unclear: Standard Oil and Texaco Petroleum, which were the first to drive up market prices, received large orders for exploration services, drilling rigs, oil pipes, mechanical equipment, etc., worth More than $20 million. The United Group not only sent orders for oil field facilities in Algeria, but also sent orders for Libyan oil fields and even Soviet equipment.

In other words, although these two companies ostensibly spent more than 60 million US dollars, more than 20 million of them were offset by their respective companies' products and services. The actual payment was not so large, but after going full circle, the capital It looks very good in the market - United Petroleum's valuation has increased, the value of the shares of the two shareholders has increased, and the orders obtained have made the annual financial statements of these two companies look much better, and their own valuation has also increased.

This is the principle of everyone carrying the sedan chair. Of course Contini and Antonio will choose this win-win model.

Although the French oil company did not get an order, because its shares are backed by the three major French banks, it must obey the instructions of the three major banks. This is the secret of the French financial oligarchs controlling the lifeline of industry. French industrial and commercial enterprises There is almost no escape from this fate.

The French banking community got the result they wanted: United Group borrowed an additional US$100 million with an annual interest rate of 5%, using oil field shares as collateral. At the same time, it purchased more than US$15 million in machinery and equipment from other industrial groups controlled by the three major banks. A small part of the United Group will be used for its own use, and most will be exported to the Soviet Union. The problem of insufficient equipment that Zakaria was worried about was solved under this system.

The United Group, which received the loan, also has the spare capacity to repay the interest and principal to the New York banking community. The loans for the US trip are almost one year old, and they need to repay part of the loan and the interest totaling more than 6 million US dollars a year. After receiving the interest and part of the principal, Wall Street was of course very happy, which showed that United Group's finances were completely healthy and sustainable, so it quickly renewed the loan, and part of it was pledged with appreciated stocks - a year later , these stocks continued to rise, and bankers agreed to increase the size of the mortgage, partly with the United Oil shares that United Group still held as collateral.

By mid-October, with the suspension of negotiations between Shell Oil and Anglo-Iranian Oil, most of the shares held by the United Group had been mortgaged to the US and French banking systems, in exchange for more than 200 million US dollars, a quarter of which As soon as the order became stuck in the country where the loan was issued, three-quarters of it was sent to the United Bank by Contini, preparing to return to the country for help. Due to the large-scale construction and expansion of infrastructure investment, the United Group's losses by October exceeded 400 million lire ( (almost 20 million U.S. dollars). In addition, there are a lot of loan interest and bond interest that need to be paid, and at least 30 million U.S. dollars need to be spent.

Fortunately, with this loan, coupled with the cash on United Petroleum's accounts, and after excluding various interest and expense holes, Contini still has nearly 250 million on hand, which is unprecedentedly abundant, which provides sufficient funds for the construction of the Sanheng Railway. Sufficient funds.

However, behind these good news, there is also bad news: another task of the three major French banks, to open up the railway connection with Algiers, the laying of oil pipelines and the expansion of dredging in Algiers port have encountered resistance - the French government It’s not that they disagree with these projects, but they took the opportunity to ask for very high tolls, privilege fees and construction fees. The first negotiation was reported to be asking for 30 million US dollars, and the second round of negotiations was asking for 5% of the transit crude oil volume.

"Have you asked the director? Do you have any questions?"

Antonio explained: “He secretly told me in private that there were two reasons. First, due to the large scale of the oil field and its considerable economic value, the French government was dissatisfied with the last allocation ratio of 62:38 and wanted to get more, but it was hard to get enough. This restriction was put forward for appropriate reasons; secondly, the British are colluding with other French consortiums and want to use their eagerness to get a piece of the pie to erode our interests. "

"What is the attitude of the three major banks? They also have shares in it!"

"The three major banks hinted that we should make some concessions to the French government, such as giving up another 2 points and paying a symbolic payment of US$5 million, and they can operate."

"I think there's something fishy."

"There must be some tricks. The attitude of the three major banks is very ambiguous. On the one hand, they are shareholders and have the desire to seek benefits for themselves. On the other hand, they are inextricably linked to the French government and need to give the government some sweetness; on the other hand, they are inextricably linked to the French government. On the one hand, they don’t want the British to interfere with France’s oil base.”

"The attitude of the British is not entirely for economic interests..." Contini sneered, "The British originally controlled the European oil supply, but the joint oil discovery and the introduction of Baku crude oil caused us to be separated from the European oil supply system. A huge gap was opened. The leader told me that they had received reliable information - the British sent people to Libyan tribal armed forces to incite trouble, and also sent people to Algeria to incite trouble. In short, they hope that the two main production areas of United Oil will not start smoothly. , even if it starts, it will not be able to supply crude oil on a large scale!”

"This Great British shit stick!" Antonio cursed angrily, "Algeria is beyond our reach for the time being. Why don't we entrust the three major banks to unblock it? Two points can still be given up, but if it doesn't work, three points."

Contini shook his head: "Uncle Antonio, I can't afford it... The Algerian Petroleum Company can extract nearly 2 billion barrels, 2 points is 40 million barrels, 3 points is 60 million barrels - these are at least worth it. A big deal of 50 million US dollars. If I let it go out at 2-3 o'clock casually, believe it or not, the French Army Ministry will come to your door tomorrow and ask for benefits on the grounds of helping us eliminate Algerian armed forces and maintain security in the oil fields. Today's Come on, that one will come tomorrow, how much can we let out?"

"But..." Antonio was stunned for a moment, "Didn't you agree to additionally sponsor 2 points of funding for the Italian Army and provide bonuses for their operations in Libya?"

Covered up in the noise of Algeria, the Libyan mining contract was also signed with the Italian government a month ago. The two parties allocated crude oil output in a ratio of 60:40. The United Group provided an additional 2% of crude oil for Libya's anti-bandit funds. At the same time, Musso Rini received 60 million lire of original shares, and everyone in the United Group, Mussolini, and the Ministry of War were happy. As the forces of all parties weighed and competed with each other, Fascist veteran Attilio Truz became the governor of Libya and will lead two divisions to reinforce Libya.

"Italy is different. This is our own army, and it will be my army in the future. It doesn't matter if you give these rewards early or later..." Ciano spread his hands, "But I don't want to give them to the French. I will pay for them." Is it a stupid idea to update equipment and improve combat effectiveness to threaten Italy in the future? "

Antonio was speechless. Now the young master is talking about my army - as if he must be the Prime Minister of Italy in the future. He feels very funny, but if he thinks about it more carefully, the young master is probably the only one who has the confidence to shout, right?

"What about Algeria? Without laying pipelines, dredging ports, and building railway lines, how can we transport the extracted crude oil out? Using trucks will go crazy. No matter how many trucks there are, there won't be enough!"

"Of course we can't use trucks..." Contini smiled, "We still use pipelines and ports, but in a different direction."

Antonio watched, dumbfounded, as Contini pulled out a map and sketched an oil pipeline across the Algerian-Libyan border and then north to Tripoli.

"You mean, go from Libya and then leave from Tripoli?"

"I considered transportation issues when delineating the mining blocks, so the blocks are all concentrated near the border between Algeria and Libya. Of course there is one road to Algiers, but there is also another road to Tripoli. The distances of the two roads are almost the same. I think the cost is about the same. If the French are not willing, we will leave from Tripoli." Contini laughed, "Do you remember what the agreement we signed said about port delivery, but it didn't specify which port. The French only thought it was Algiers - this is their misunderstanding. Who told them they must go to Algiers? "

Antonio was filled with admiration: It would be much easier to take the Libyan route - it's just a matter of words. Even if you have to pay money, it's a symbolic meaning. The young master will definitely take out his left pocket and right pocket theory.

"There is another advantage: after 30 years, the mining rights expire. If the French want to continue to produce oil, they will still have to use the Libyan pipeline. At this time, they will have to weigh whether they should pay us to use the existing pipeline or start a new one. ?”

Antonio nodded in agreement.

"Actually, there is another hidden benefit..." Contini tapped on the map in a low voice. "The data shows that there are oil fields below this area. After the port route from Algeria to Tripoli is completed, this oil field can be directly If we connect it to the existing pipeline and take the Tripoli line, the oil output will be very fast! At that time, the oil in Sirt Bay will take the Benghazi line, and other areas will take the Tripoli line... You said, I will take these two Is it an exaggeration to build a port into a 70,000-ton berth?”

Antonio was filled with admiration and raised the last topic of concern: What would happen if Britain and France incited the tribes to cause trouble? He is not very optimistic about the combat effectiveness of the Italian army.

"I will form an army and expand the establishment. The leader will agree when the time comes. As for the personnel..." Contini smiled, "Someone will come to talk to me tomorrow and the day after tomorrow."