Reborn in Hong Kong: The Tycoon Grows Up

The press conference continued, although the second young master set a tone. But the Japanese media may pay more attention to what Mitsubishi thinks. In other words, what achievements did they achieve in Iraq? These are all heroic deeds of Japanese companies expanding abroad. The domestic people want to know and are waiting for their reports.

As for the Xiangjiang media, they basically didn't come over, so Bao Zixuan didn't care. And he didn't want to make too much of the limelight today, lest he overshadow the other two.

After all, one needs to let the world see the style of Iraq's successor and whether he has the ability to govern a country. One needs to let the Japanese people understand the personal charisma of Mitsubishi's future leader and his ability to lead the group to greater glory.

As for Mr. Bao, he no longer needs to prove himself to anyone. Heiyun Group is not a listed company and does not need to disclose financial statements; as long as it does its job well and gives confidence to its employees and partners, there will be no other problems.

The Asahi Shimbun is very active on this matter, and Japan’s domestic economy no longer needs to prove it to the outside world. People instinctively believe that Japanese companies are capable and should expand overseas. Because only in this way can the status of a great country be demonstrated. With Japan's current military strength, it will definitely not do anything; most importantly, it dare not do anything. If you really have such thoughts, you are seeking death.

But this does not prevent the use of economic means to capture high ground. As the most important energy source in the world, oil can be said to be inseparable from people's lives. Now, Japanese companies can obtain mining rights in core energy areas; this is a great victory in itself.

The Asahi Shimbun reporter first asked: "Hello, Mr. Iwasaki! Could you please tell me whether Mitsubishi has obtained the qualification to exploit oil in Iraq this time, and what price Mitsubishi has paid for this."

It is very reasonable to pay a little price to get the benefits. However, asking this question has a sense of exchange, which makes people feel uncomfortable. In fact, it is normal. The Asahi Shimbun newspaper phalanx has always insisted on being oriented to the intellectual class and taking the route of a mass newspaper. Its readership orientation has always taken the line of a mass newspaper that mainly attracts the intellectual class. To this day, the Asahi Shimbun still maintains the color of an "elite newspaper" among Japanese newspapers. That is to say, its readers have the highest academic level, with 33.2% of readers having college or above.

In other words, readers of the Asahi Shimbun want to see the most real side. Readers will not buy it if it is simply deception.

Iwasaki Koki said with a smile: "Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' technology has always been at the world's advanced level in oil extraction and smelting. And I have long wanted to have my own oil fields; but oil is a strategic resource, and there is almost no such resource in Japan."

"So when the Iraqi side invited Mitsubishi to come to Iraq for inspection, I think any company would be moved; the same goes for Mitsubishi. It is our technical strength that has been recognized by the Iraqi side; in addition, because the war has just ended, Iraq does not have much funds for Oil extraction.”

"That's why it was agreed that Mitsubishi would develop an oil field entirely. Of course, Mitsubishi must pay the taxes and other costs in full. However, the Iraqi side does not interfere with the pricing power. In other words, Mitsubishi has independent rights to transport the oil back to the country. Pricing power.”

"I was deeply touched by the Iraqi side's sincerity and determination to reform. It just so happened that Mr. Bao Zixuan of the Black Cloud Group was planning to build a steel plant, a power plant, and a shipyard in Basra. These are Mitsubishi's strengths, and Because of our relationship with United Aircraft Manufacturing Company, I am very familiar with Mr. Bao Zixuan personally."

"He dared to invest, and Mitsubishi certainly couldn't let go of this opportunity. Therefore, he decided to invest together and expand the scale of the project. The two companies work together and work together. I believe that these factories will be able to create brilliant results in the future."

"Furthermore, the Basra Shipyard, in its early planning, only produces oil tankers and natural gas carriers, which can be said to be very in line with the market conditions in the Middle East. As for whether there is any relationship between oil extraction and factory construction, I can tell you that we first went to the oil field to finalize the contract. Later, Mr. Bao Zixuan proposed to build a factory in Basra."

It finally became clear to the media that it turned out that Iraq had no extra funds to invest in oil field exploration; Mitsubishi got a big advantage. In fact, it’s normal to think about it; after all, the Iran-Iraq war was not small in scale, and both sides suffered heavy losses. If we don't think of solutions from the outside, it will be difficult to develop in the short term relying solely on domestic strength.

As for Mitsubishi's so-called pricing power, it is just a trick to fool Japan. The Japanese instinctively feel that Mitsubishi Oil will definitely be cheaper. At the same time, I also believe that Mitsubishi did get a big deal this time in the Middle East.

In fact, this is a bit taken for granted. Oil pricing power involves a very wide range of things. If Mitsubishi Heavy Industries exploits a small oil field, it will not cause any trouble at all.

From the end of World War II to 1972, the world's oil pricing power has always been in the hands of European and American countries. Previously, the world's major oil-producing countries had worked hard for more than 10 years to regain oil pricing power from Europe and the United States, but they all ended in failure.

Europe and the United States rely on their strong military power as a backing, coupled with the huge funds, technology and equipment of their own oil giants, to continuously obtain more oil exploration rights from oil-producing countries. In order to win more oil exploration rights, several large European and American companies have joined forces, making it difficult for other oil companies to get involved here. For example, if you want to seize the mining rights of a certain oil field, Europe and the United States will unite to suppress oil prices; even after you buy it, you will not dare to exploit it, because the more you exploit it, the more you will lose. The joint approach of suppressing oil prices at low prices was very effective. Soon the world's oil-producing countries were basically monopolized by seven European and American companies. They were the famous Seven Oil Sisters.

The term "Seven Sisters of Oil" first appeared in the 1950s, proposed by Enrico Fonte, the president of Italian oil giant Eni. At that time, the Seven Sisters of Oil specifically referred to the United States' Mobil, Exxon, Chevron, Mobile and Gulf. Oil company; the remaining two were British Petroleum Company and Shell Oil Company. Shell was jointly operated by the United Kingdom and the Netherlands at the time. Of course, these seven are not the only ones, other oil companies also have plans; it’s just that their strength is too weak compared to the Seven Sisters, so they are rarely mentioned. But they all acted together with these seven families.

Europe and the United States control oil pricing, and it stands to reason that they should raise prices to make huge profits. After all, these capitalists are greedy, but they do the opposite and continue to suppress oil prices. Even starting in the 1950s, the export price of refined oil products was lower than the extraction price. Why did the oil giants sell at a loss?

This involves a huge conspiracy between the United States and Britain. After World War II, the West was eager to restore its economy, so it urgently needed cheaper oil, natural gas, etc. In order to support its European allies, the United States of course also wants to better control them. Therefore, oil companies are required to sell at low prices, and these oil companies have to cooperate with the actions of the US government; after all, the big American capitalists at this time do not have much influence on the US government.

At the beginning, everyone exported crude oil and refined oil products at low prices, and the giants still made profits. As the United States continued to target the Soviet Union, the Cold War slowly rose. At that time, the Soviet Union discovered large oil fields; and the extracted oil began to be exported to the European market, which made the United States and Britain anxious. So the two countries launched an oil war, constantly lowering the price of exports; trying to hit the Soviet Union's share of oil exports, thus hitting the Soviet economy. This behavior of sacrificing the interests of oil-producing countries and oil giants to help the United States and Britain attack their opponents certainly makes the oil-producing countries very unhappy, but they have no ability to resist.

In September 1960, the world's five largest oil-producing countries gathered in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, and announced the establishment of the "Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries", also known as OPEC. The five largest oil-producing countries were Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Hope to join forces to regain oil pricing power.

However, the initial effect was not good. It was not until the Libyan leader appeared and through a series of operations that the oil price returned to OPEC's hands. However, Mitsubishi directly enters the upper reaches of the supply chain, so to speak, without any middlemen. The profit for the same price will inevitably be higher, so it is not an exaggeration to say that it has obtained Japanese pricing power.

But they don't dare to cut prices too hard. After all, the price of bulk crude oil is still basically in the hands of OPEC. At the same time, Mitsubishi must ensure sufficient profits, otherwise it will be difficult to survive.

But this is enough to make the Japanese excited and expectant. After all, before; they were not qualified to participate in the field of oil exploration in the Middle East.

As for the construction of several factories, that is also the expansion of enterprises. The Japanese have no priority on this point, as their land area is small; it is impossible to build all factories domestically; that would take up too many resources, and the gain would outweigh the loss.

On the contrary, the government and the people also hope that companies will go abroad. Go abroad to expand territory, make money from abroad, and subsidize it at home.

As for the secret operations between the two parties, it is no longer that important whether they agree to open a factory or invest in an oil field first. The current results are very good and it can be said to be a win-win situation. As for the rest, no one cares!