Chapter 55: oil strategy

"Mr. Moritz, there is one thing that I think I must tell you in advance. That is, the large amount of crude oil we reserve is not entirely for our consumption. A large part of it needs to be reserved for the government." Qin Tian said with a look on his face. Said seriously.

   "Reserve for the government?" Moritz was a little confused. Now Germany's consumption of oil is not high, so there is absolutely no need for the government to reserve so much oil! After all, the construction of oil storage facilities and the purchase of crude oil require a lot of money.

   "Mr. Moritz, what I'm going to say next involves the military secrets of the empire, so I hope you can keep it a secret, and you must not leak a word." Qin Tian looked serious.

   "Your Highness, I swear in the name of God, I will definitely keep it a secret!" Moritz also looked serious.

"Mr. Moritz, the capital ships currently being built by the Imperial Navy, as well as many subsequent warships, use oil-fired boilers. Therefore, the Imperial Navy's consumption of oil will increase explosively. However, the Empire is another extremely We are a country that lacks oil, so we must reserve enough oil before the war. Otherwise, once the war breaks out and the empire's maritime trade lines are cut off, and we can no longer get oil from overseas, the consequences will be very serious The capital ships we spent huge sums of money on will become scrap iron lying in the port and unable to sail to the sea. Therefore, we must try our best to store enough oil before the war breaks out!" Qin Tian looked solemn .

  Moritz was stunned when he heard the news. Obviously, he never expected that Qin Tian's request to reserve more oil was actually for this reason. Of course, he also knew that this was definitely a military secret. Qin Tian was able to be honest with him, which undoubtedly showed his trust in him, and he was very moved. After all, he has just joined Qin Tian's team.

  The reason why Qin Tian revealed this news to Moritz was that apart from his trust in him, he also specially sent someone to investigate him.

   "Your Highness, please rest assured, I will strictly keep the secret." Moritz said. As a German, he certainly hopes that Germany can win in future wars. Since Qin Tian told him these military secrets, of course he had to keep them secret.

Qin Tian nodded: "Moritz realizes that although the navy and the government will also store oil secretly. However, in order to avoid the shortage of crude oil when a war breaks out in the future, we also need to store crude oil. Two million tons of crude oil , is just a bottom line. If you can, save as much as you can.”

   "Yes, Your Highness." Moritz nodded. However, storing large amounts of crude oil costs a lot of money. But Qin Tian is not short of money at all. The German Welfare Lottery Company is continuously creating huge wealth. This ensures that Qin Tian can start to expand in various fields.

   What's more, the current oil price is very low. A barrel of oil is less than one dollar, and even if it is calculated as freight, it is estimated to be only about one dollar. The exchange rate between marks and U.S. dollars is 4 to 1, that is, one dollar is equal to four marks. A barrel of oil is only worth 4 marks, and a ton of oil plus other costs is only about 30 marks. Qin Tian only needs to spend 60 million marks to store 2 million tons of oil.

   "Mr. Moritz, our company also needs to have the ability to extract oil. For this, you need to find a way to prepare technical reserves and recruit relevant personnel." Qin Tian ordered.

   "Yes, Your Highness."

  Germany is seriously short of oil. Although the coastal shoals in the north have some oil, it is difficult to exploit it with the current technical conditions. Besides, such a little oil, even if it is extracted, cannot withstand large-scale consumption, so it is better to keep it in the ground.

   "Your Highness, do we need to participate in overseas oil field exploitation?" Moritz asked. He knew that there was no oil in Germany, and Qin Tian asked Deutsche Energy Company to have the ability to extract oil, so he must go to overseas oil fields.

  The current major oil mining country is the United States, whose annual oil extraction accounts for 60% of the world's oil extraction. The Dutch East Indies, Baku in Russia and Romania also have oil production. In the Middle East, the largest oil mining area in later generations, only the British are conducting oil exploration in the Kingdom of Iran. Calculating the time, the first oil well that produces oil will not be able to be drilled until next year.

"Although almost all overseas oil fields are controlled by countries such as Britain, France and the United States. However, we may not have no chance at all. Prepare first, and if there is an opportunity, we can try it immediately." Qin Tian's oil resources for future generations The distribution is naturally known roughly. But now, of course, he couldn't speak out. Compared with the United Kingdom, Germany's overseas power is far behind. Once known by the British, Germany will not get those oil fields at all. The safety of these oil fields can only be ensured after Germany defeats Britain and has the world's most powerful navy.

   "Yes, Your Highness." Moritz nodded, he knew that Qin Tian was well prepared.

  After Moritz left, Qin Tian's eyes fell on the map hanging on the wall. In Qin Tian's eyes, many places are resource treasure houses. Especially the Middle East, where there are enough reserves for Germany to use for more than a hundred years. If Germany can defeat Britain in this world war and take the Middle East over. Then, Germany would not have to worry about energy shortages.

  Of course, the prerequisite for obtaining oil in the Middle East is to defeat the British in this war, otherwise, everything is empty talk.

   "The oil in the Middle East cannot be moved before the war. We can only find a way from other places." Qin Tian secretly thought.

   "Libya is also rich in oil resources. Moreover, no one knows that there is oil there. If Libya's oil resources can be snatched, it will be a huge boost for us to reserve enough oil."

   Now, Libya is in the hands of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. However, Italy is eyeing this piece of land covetously. Qin Tian knew that the Italians would attack Libya soon. While the Italian army was rubbish, the army of the decaying Ottoman Empire was not much better. In the end, Italy won the war and got the land. If, as an ally, Germany provides limited support to the Italians. Then, after the end of the war, what Germany wants to acquire Libya is to have exploration and mining rights, which does not seem to be a big problem.