My 1999

"Boss Xu, Andrew is here." Li Jinling reminded.

After Xu Liang nodded, he took the clothes she handed over and put them on. He simply tidied himself in front of the mirror and went to the living room.

Andrew Forrest was already waiting here with his assistant.

Seeing him coming down, he hurriedly greeted him.

"Boss."

"Where are the others?"

"I asked them to go to the venue first."

Xu Liang nodded and looked at his watch.

"It's almost time, let's go too."

"Okay."

Led by Xu Liang, the group walked out of the villa.

Six black Maybachs drove towards Rio City Hall.

Today is the day of the sixth round of offshore oil bidding of the Brazilian Petroleum Administration.

Nearly 40 oil companies, including oil giants such as ExxonMobil, BP, ChevronTexaco, and Total, as well as large and medium-sized oil companies such as Continental Petroleum, Fina Petroleum, and Norwegian National Petroleum, gathered here.

Of course, this number is not very large.

Brazil has not discovered any exciting super-large oil fields with more than 5 billion barrels in decades of exploration on land and sea.

If it were a traditional oil-producing country like the Middle East, the number of oil companies gathered here would be four or five times higher, and the fierce competition would make the NBA playoffs pale in comparison.

"Boss, we're here."

After Xu Liang looked at the two-story Baroque building with white exterior walls and gorgeous reliefs, he opened the car door and walked down.

Apparently, the City Hall had made a lot of preparations for this oil bidding. Not only did a large number of police officers protect the representatives of the oil giants who came from afar, but also specially arranged service personnel to guide them.

"Mr. Xu?!"

As soon as Xu Liang stepped into the hall on the red carpet, he heard a familiar voice from the side.

"Mr. Marcos?"

Looking at the middle-aged Mediterranean man in a black suit walking towards him, Xu Liang was surprised.

"I didn't expect to see Mr. Xu here."

After holding the other party's right hand that he took the initiative to extend, Xu Liang smiled.

"Compared to me, the chairman of the board of directors of Unocal, it is more surprising that Mr. Musk, as the chief operating officer of Morgan Stanley, appears here."

Sean Marcos smiled.

"Mr. Xu is wrong.

Many oil companies need bank loans for exploration and development, and my job is to finance them.

Of course, if Unocal needs it, we can also cooperate."

"Haha, I will definitely trouble you if you need it."

As a world-renowned super-rich and financial hunter, Xu Liang's personal arrival was obviously beyond the expectations of most people.

After all, he is notoriously low-key.

He rarely participates in any social activities.

Many people were surprised by his sudden appearance this time.

But it also made people understand the importance of Unocal to the Brazilian oil bidding this time.

After greeting Musk, Xu Liang instantly found himself the focus of the whole audience.

The opportunity was rare, and soon someone came up to make a connection.

"Mr. Xu, Jun'ichi Watanabe, President of Sunbright Co., Ltd., is very honored to meet you."

Xu Liang smiled and shook the other party's right hand.

He is not unfamiliar with Sunbright Co., Ltd.

One of the world's top 500 and famous oil engineering contracting companies in Sakura Country.

It has amazing strength in oil and gas development, oil processing, natural gas processing, petrochemicals, life sciences, and medicine.

Especially in the field of LNG engineering contracting, it shares 90% of the world's LNG engineering contracting share with Chiyoda Chemical and KBR.

After a simple handshake between the two parties.

"I don't know which block Xu Jun is interested in, we can cooperate."

Because of the high cost and huge uncertainty of oil exploration.

In order to share risks, major oil companies combine with each other, and bidding for oil blocks in the form of a consortium is a common thing in the process of oil development.

In most oil fields in the world, the equity is jointly held by several or even more than a dozen companies.

"I appreciate Mr. Watanabe's kindness.

We already have a partner.

If there is a next time, Unocal is very willing to cooperate with Sunrise Co., Ltd."

He didn't want to talk much, so he found an excuse and left.

...

It's different from art auctions such as Christie's and Sotheby's.

Because the number of participating companies is not too large, there are not rows of seats in the auction hall.

Instead, there were dozens of round tables.

Independent bidding companies had independent round tables, while bidding groups that formed corporate groups occupied a round table.

Of course, one round table was not enough for the latter, but there were extra chairs next to them.

Unocal was undoubtedly an independent bidder.

After sitting down on the chair, Xu Liang frowned secretly when he felt the eyes gathered around him.

He received too much attention today.

It would be bad if it affected Unocal's bidding.

"I wouldn't have come if I had known."

But now that things have come to this, it's too late to regret.

"Andrew, you raise your sign later."

Andrew nodded after looking at the calm expression of the big boss.

"Also, in addition to the three ultra-deepwater oil fields that we must take, we will bid on two other popular oil fields."

Andrew is also a smart man, and he understood the reason after a little thought.

"I understand."     "Mr. Xu."

A tall, thin white man in a brown suit walked over with a smile.

"Mr. Watson?"

John Watson, chief operating officer of ChevronTexaco.

Two years ago, when Hanhua held a financing reception in the United States, the other party was one of the guests present.

Later, Unocal acquired it and the two parties became rivals again.

However, Xu Liang had no intention of actually acquiring Unocal at first, and withdrew after CNOOC joined.

Later, when George W. Bush gave Unocal to him in order to calm the conflict between him and the elder Soros, the suppressed Chevron himself withdrew.

So there is no big conflict between the two parties.

John Watson's eyes quickly glanced over Andrew and others.

"It seems that Unocal really attaches importance to this Brazilian oil tender. You and Mr. Andrew are actually here."

Xu Liang smiled and said: “Unocal does not have as rich oil and gas resources as ChevronTexaco.

We cannot penetrate big markets such as the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, and the North Sea.

So we can only try our luck in emerging markets like Brazil. "

"Is Unique ready to learn BP?" Watson smiled.

In the 1990s, it took over 9 of Azerbaijan's 11 oil blocks and developed Aqijiu, a world-class super oil field with reserves of 4 billion barrels.

It surpassed Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Total and Shell and became the world's most valuable and prosperous oil company in the 1990s.

"Unocal doesn't have as much wealth as BP, so it's enough to try its luck with two or three exploration blocks. The one that really plans to imitate BP is Mobil.

They bid for all 7 blocks in the shallow sea area and 6 blocks in the deep sea area. " Xu Liang said.

John Watson couldn't help but look towards the center of the venue.

ExxonMobil CEO Paul Stevenson is leading more than 20 members of the bidding team, plus affiliated oil companies, forming a huge team of nearly a hundred people, occupying the most prominent position in the center of the venue.

As the world's largest oil conglomerate, ExxonMobil is undoubtedly the focus of the entire venue.

"The one that has the most hope of surpassing them now is ChevronTexaco. So, Mr. Watson, you must seize the opportunity."

John Watson smiled faintly.

"Although ChevronTexaco is superior in scale, Mr. Xu has strong capital and has more hope of overtaking ExxonMobil than we do."

"I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint Mr. Watson. Our targets today are only the two exploration blocks No. 2 and No. 6 in the shallow sea area."

"No. 2 and No. 6?"

"What? ChevronTexaco is also interested in these two blocks?"

"We intend to bid independently," Watson smiled.

"Then let's all rely on our own abilities."

"Of course. ... Although there is competition, I hope that pure business competition will not damage the relationship between ChevronTexaco and Mr. Xu."

Xu Liang: "Business competition is business competition, and personal feelings are private feelings. I can still distinguish this."

"That's good." After a pause, John Watson looked at his watch, "Mr. Xu, it's almost time. I'll go over first. After today's bidding is over, I will visit you in person to have a chat with you."

"Easy to say."

"goodbye."

"goodbye."

Looking at the leaving figure of John Watson, a glint flashed in Xu Liang's eyes.

"Boss, this person has been testing our bottom line." Andrew said.

Xu Liang: "This is a shrewd guy with a keen sense of smell."

"You mean he's aware of our true goal in this bid?"

“That’s not the case.

It's just a test.

Don't be polite to me when blocks 2 and 6 are released later.

Don't give up unless we're in the top three. "

No. 2 and No. 6, two exploration blocks in shallow sea areas, are undoubtedly the hottest spots in today's oil exploration bidding.

15 kilometers away from them is the Yalma oil field discovered by Petrobras.

This is a medium-sized oil field with reserves of 65 million tons.

There are also some small and medium-sized natural gas fields near the inland location of the Yalma Oilfield.

So, if there is oil lurking in Brazil's offshore waters, it's most likely near Arma.

As the time approached, representatives of major oil companies also became quiet.

When the clock reached nine o'clock in the morning, a middle-aged man wearing a black suit and leather shoes walked onto the central podium.

"Bang bang..."

After taking a few shots of the microphone it felt like it was in good condition.

"Good morning, gentlemen and ladies.

I am Roberto Muric, deputy director of the Brazilian Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and welcome everyone to the beautiful and vast Brazil. "

After a polite round of applause.

“It is a great honor that I will preside over today’s bidding for fifteen offshore oil blocks in the Santos Basin.

Those present today are all top oil companies, most of whom have participated in more than one Petrobras bid.

Rich experience…”

After another long-winded introduction to the development history of Datong Brazilian Petroleum and the Brazilian government’s prospects for future oil exploration and development, the auction finally entered.

"Next let's look at Block 1."

On the big screen in the middle of the conference room, simple information about Block 1 appeared.

Immediately afterwards, several consecutive lines of fonts appear.

When the font on the screen is slightly stable, you can see what is displayed at the top.

"Shell, signing fee of US$15 million, maximum obligated investment of US$80 million, 42.2% local procurement."

Signing fee, maximum work obligation and local procurement ratio are the three most critical weight coefficients in this Brazilian oil bidding, which directly determine who can bid in the end.

As the name suggests, the signing fee is money directly given to the Brazilian Petroleum Administration.