Chapter 2319 - Go South!

The group of Senators was dazzled by Zhou Wei's extravagant roadshow, one after another expressing willingness to "invest" in this plan like eager financiers. Seeing the tremendous effect, Zhou Wei immediately produced sketches and explained his calculated investment-return projections one by one. He specifically mentioned the acquisition cost of grain in Vietnam and oil in Brunei—"almost negligible."

"I won't belabor Vietnam's situation—everyone has seen plenty of reports. Suffice to say there's much to be done. Water and heat conditions there are superior year-round, unlike here with constant floods and droughts." Zhou Wei knew these people weren't particularly interested in grain, so he glossed over Vietnam's advantages and went straight to the main attraction: "Brunei's oil."

Petroleum was hailed as the blood of industry. In truth, it wasn't just about providing fuel for power—its greater use was in chemical production. Whether petroleum or natural gas, both were important raw materials for the chemical industry, especially organic chemistry.

The Senate's petroleum industry was very weak. It wasn't that technology was insufficient or the Planning Commission was stingy—there simply was no ready-made industrial chain for oil supply to utilize in this spacetime.

As long as a resource had been utilized in this spacetime—such as iron, coal, sulfur, lime, tin, copper—there was more or less a certain industrial supply chain. Whether through trade or organizing mining themselves, obtaining it was relatively easy.

Petroleum didn't have this advantage. Though there were scattered records of mining and use, no commercial mining existed in the 17th century yet. From exploration to equipment to worker training, the Senate had to do it all themselves—the initial investment was enormous.

So far, the petroleum resources the Senate could mine and use were limited to some shale oil and oil produced in Taiwan. The mining cost of the former was huge, and the output of the latter was very small. The petrochemical industry, apart from some rudimentary oil refining equipment, could be said to have almost nothing.

This had also been a chronic ailment of the chemical industry sector for a long time.

"Brunei's oil, according to data from the old timeline, is mainly produced in the Belait District." Zhou Wei deliberately repeated it in English to reflect his "professionalism"—though he didn't know how much error there was in reading this Malay word with English pronunciation.

"This area is very small—less than three square kilometers, located in Brunei's southernmost part. Brunei's oil and natural gas exploitation are concentrated here."

The Senators present all knew the famous name of the Brunei Oilfield; some had even encountered Brunei crude oil in their work. But few understood how this oil was actually produced. Zhou Wei captured their attention in just a few sentences.

"Everyone may know that Brunei's most famous oilfield is called Seria Oilfield..."

Petroleum exploration near Brunei in the old timeline had begun in 1899, starting closer to the vicinity of Bandar Seri Begawan—roughly in the later capital city area. It had gradually extended to the country's southwest. Exploration in the Seria area was carried out by the British in 1926. The first commercial well produced oil in 1928, and formal commercial production began in 1929. Later, oil exploitation in the Seria area was monopolized by Royal Dutch Shell, lasting until the 21st century.

"I remember Brunei oil is offshore mining. If it's offshore extraction, then there's no hope." Someone asked.

"The main oil wells of the Seria Oilfield were onshore wells before the 1960s, and the primary wells were all in areas along the coast. They're shallowly buried—easy to mine—and don't require us to invest too much strength going deep inland."

Zhou Wei summarized the Brunei oilfield's advantages:

1. Shallow burial, early development. The earliest exploration began in 1899; commercial oil production was in 1928. And reserves were relatively large—it could produce stably from the 1920s through D-Day.

2. The oilfield area is relatively small, and the coordinates are quite clear.

3. The crude oil produced by Seria Oilfield is high-quality light crude oil—currently relatively suitable for their utilization level. After all, the Senate's industrial capacity could only perform simple atmospheric distillation now. Catalytic reforming and such were basically lifetime goals.

4. The oilfield area is right on the coast—convenient for shipping. In the old timeline, a light railway was built from the oilfield area to the port near Bandar Seri Begawan because of the construction sequence. If hydrological conditions in the oilfield vicinity were found suitable in this plane, building a new port directly on shore might be considered. Before the new port was completed, small boats could be used for lightering.

His remarks were no small matter—the chemical industry Senators nearly boiled over. Such superior conditions had been left unused for so long! Let alone mining—not even exploration had been done. What exactly were these "Executive Committee"—no, "Thieves of the Senate"—doing?!

Whenever people felt unhappy, they naturally wanted to find a culprit. Unfortunately, since the Second General Assembly, the big target of the Executive Committee had disappeared, and Senators more or less all participated in politics. To say who specifically was most hateful—no specific person could be singled out at the moment. Specifically regarding Wu De of the Planning Commission and Zhan Wuya of the industrial sector—their favor and prestige in the industrial sector were very high. Whether from reason or face, it would be unjustifiable to attack them.

In the end, Ma Qianzhu was unfortunately shot again and saddled with the hat of "Thief of the Senate." Though Ji Tuisi had also long coveted the Brunei Oilfield, current emotions showed a tendency to spiral out of control. Since "thoughts were unified," there was no need to let things explode further, so he signaled everyone to stop at a suitable point. Moreover, if they blindly dug up old accounts, he would be suspected of being "Ma Qianzhu's Black General."

"We're holding a seminar here—the focus is on solving problems in chemical production. As for resources, it's fine for everyone to discuss, but don't expand infinitely, and definitely don't engage in personal attacks." Ji Tuisi had led the chemical industry sector for a long time and maintained its operation under extremely difficult circumstances, possessing considerable prestige. "Since Comrade Zhou Wei made such a good suggestion, we should conduct discussions around petrochemical construction."

"If we can mine Brunei's oilfield, our petrochemical project in Danzhou will have to be modified—at least the oil shale plant won't be necessary." Someone suggested. "Isn't that low-level repetitive construction? Wouldn't it be better to use the saved resources directly for petrochemical projects?"

Everyone expressed agreement. Oil shale was a resource that petrochemical enterprises would avoid if possible. Its mining cost was too high. In the old timeline, unless the oil price exceeded sixty dollars per barrel, there was almost no profit to speak of—and this was the cost suppressed only after the US adopted new fracking technology. In this spacetime, the only way for the Senate to mine oil shale was to dig the ore directly and then refine it. Apart from the huge transport cost, it severely polluted the air, produced large amounts of waste slag, and the yield wasn't high.

Seeing the heated atmosphere, Zhou Wei winked at the Two Zhangs. Zhang Xiao interjected: "No need to get too excited. The oil shale in Danzhou and Maoming is at least real. Just transported slower and in smaller quantities. This Brunei crude oil hasn't even started yet—who knows in which monkey year and horse month it'll fall into our hands?"

"Speaking of which, it's still Ma Qianzhu playing tricks, choking us at every turn!" Someone said.

"I think it's not just Ma Qianzhu's problem alone. A bunch of people in the Senate are afraid of going south—I don't understand what exactly they're afraid of! The moment overseas resource mining is mentioned, they immediately list a pile of unfavorable factors!"

"Afraid of what? Afraid of our industrial sector turning the sky over." Zhang Hao whispered behind people. "Otherwise how would they reflect the importance of their administrative leadership?"

These words made the Senators explode again because they struck at the heart. Almost all industrial Senators harbored this fear. Administrative Senators held increasing power, gradually gaining the strength to govern overall situations. Except for a few, although every industrial Senator was appointed as an official with various titles, without exception they were all technical cadres. No matter if you were a leader in your industry or a technical elite—when it came to specific projects, you depended on the whims of administrative bureaucrats.

Many people had been very disgusted with this phenomenon in the old timeline. But in the new spacetime, as the Senate grew continuously, it was appearing again—bureaucratization seemed to be an inevitable consequence of organization. Industrial Senators almost universally had experiences of "running to ministries," "finding people for approval," and "using connections."

"No! We can't be at others' mercy like this anymore!" Zhou Wei stepped forward at this moment, waving his arms and speaking excitedly. "We endure these hardships and difficulties in this spacetime, working 607 day and night. Ultimately, isn't it for the Senate's Great Cause? Now being ignored to such an extent that we can't even get raw materials for work—what is this for?!"

Zhang Xiao also jumped out at the opportune moment: "We can't be tool people anymore! We must propose our stance to the Senate! Laymen commanding experts—this blind command cannot continue!"

The dozen or so Senators at the seminar boiled over instantly, as if someone had finally spoken the doubts in their hearts for years. Some recalled past events during the Maid affair and were immediately stirred. It seemed the hot blood from the beginning had returned to their bodies.

Just at that moment, Zhou Wei shouted the slogan: "Go South! Go South! The South is the Senate's future!"

The Two Zhangs immediately followed with applause, leading rhythmic chanting with Zhou Wei: "Southbound! Southbound! Southbound!"

Under their agitation, the seminar Senators were swept up, rising to applaud and shouting the southbound slogan together.

Just as Zhou Wei was shouting excitedly, he noticed Ji Tuisi also applauding—but he wasn't shouting anything. Catching Zhou Wei's glance, a trace of a smile appeared at the corner of Ji Tuisi's mouth.

(End of Chapter)