Chapter 3513 Overturning the table

The biggest cost of long-distance transportation is fuel. A 100,000-ton cargo ship requires dozens of tons of heavy oil every day, and can refuel thousands or even tens of thousands of tons of oil at a time. If the price difference per ton is a few hundred yuan, then the difference can be hundreds of thousands of yuan per refueling.

Many ocean-going cargo ships like to refuel in Singapore, mainly because the oil price there is cheap and they can save a lot of money by filling up their tanks.

If Hamid had oil, he would not need to go to great lengths to find buyers. He would only need to sell the oil to Wanlong Palace at a lower price, and Wanlong Palace would then sell the heavy oil to Yisu Shipping at a lower price, and this business line would be successful.

By then, Hamid can make money, Wanlongdian can make money, and Yisu Shipping can save some fuel costs. Given the scale of the fleet, the cost savings may be hundreds of millions a year. This is definitely a win-win situation.

Moreover, relying on the foundation of escorting this route, Wanlong Palace only needs to provide refueling business to Yisu Shipping as a side job.

Although Syria's oil reserves are not as rich as those of the wealthy countries, Ye Chen does not expect Hamid to get a large oil field that can earn tens of thousands of dollars a day. As long as there is one that is enough for Wanlong Palace and Yisu Shipping to digest internally, it is worth doing.

Moreover, Ye Chen did not want to save money for himself. The main reason was that Hamid was a difficult old man. He usually stayed in that poor mountain valley and had almost no source of income. If it were not for his assistance, his base would never have been in its current situation.

But if his expenses are not enough to cover his income for a long time, it will be like a company that is always making losses. The whole company is a bottomless pit. If you force him to make money, he will not be able to do so. At that time, you will have to subsidize him yourself or simply give up on him.

So for Ye Chen, the best way is to help Hamid find a stable source of income.

Syria has been in constant war and the land is barren. It is probably impossible to achieve self-sufficiency even by growing crops, let alone making money to support a large army.

If you want to make some money locally, the best way is to extract oil.

If Hamid couldn't get himself a piece of land that could produce oil, Ye Chen even considered asking him to find an opportunity to snatch one away.

Otherwise, with the huge business he has now, he may not be able to hold on once he stops providing aid.

Hamid also roughly understood what Ye Chen meant. Now that the business has expanded, not only has there been more people, but there are also many more permanent fortifications under construction and requiring maintenance. The overall operating costs have increased several times compared to before. In addition, Ye Chen has been asking him to stockpile enough supplies, and those reserve supplies also require a lot of funds to be constantly replaced. Under this circumstance, his deficit will only become more and more serious.

If you don't hurry up and find a way to make some money, you will become very passive in the future.

So, he said to Ye Chen: "There is an oil field more than 40 kilometers away from me. It has been controlled by the opposition. It can produce about to barrels of oil every day. This is the oil field closest to me. In addition, there are three or four oil fields within a hundred kilometers of me, all of which are controlled by the opposition."

Ye Chen did some calculations and said, "Five to six thousand barrels a day, that's two million barrels a year, about two or three hundred thousand tons. The annual output value is about a little over $100 million. After deducting various costs, a net profit of tens of millions should not be a problem."

After that, he warned, "Brother, you should talk to the core members of the opposition soon and tell them directly that they must give you some compensation for this matter. If they ask you what kind of compensation you want, tell them that you want the oil field closest to you."

"If they give you the oil fields, and everyone lives in peace, you will still be a part of them in name only. If an external enemy appears, you will still fight alongside them."

"If they don't give it to you, you don't need to say anything more. Just lead your troops to attack all the oil fields within a radius of 100 kilometers except this one!"

"How do we fight, brother?" Hamid exclaimed. "Should we just lead the troops and attack?"

"Right!" Ye Chen said firmly, "Just lead your troops and attack them directly. They can't react as quickly as you do. At a distance of 100 kilometers, you can quickly maneuver and take down one of them in a few hours. You have so many soldiers, it's time to take them out for a walk. They've been staying in the mountains and eating imported white flour for so long that they won't even be able to use their guns!"

"Alright!" Hamid said without hesitation, "Then let's beat him up! Anyway, my defenses are well built here. We can retreat after the fight. They won't be able to retaliate even if they want to!"

Ye Chen said: "That's right, when it's time to take action, just summon the army and do it."

Hamid asked: "So what do you think is the appropriate level of beating?"

Ye Chen said seriously, "We must completely paralyze their oil fields, to the point where they cannot be repaired without spending a lot of money and a lot of time. For you, it's nothing more than some normal losses and casualties in war. For them, destroying an oil field may mean losing hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue in the next few years, so it's worth it no matter how we attack you."

"Besides, your base is impregnable. They can't do anything to you. And those oil fields are very close to you. You can fight them with guerrilla warfare or blitzkrieg. After a round of attack, these oil fields, which are like money-printing machines, will all stop working. At worst, you can just flip the table. If you don't let us take a bite, then no one else can take a bite."

Hamid was infected by Ye Chen's words, and immediately said with passion: "Brother, you are absolutely right! Damn it, if you don't give me two bites, I will smash the pot!"

Ye Chen warned him again: "If you win this step, it will provide an idea for other opposition warlords. At that time, many people will definitely want to split up and set up their own factions, which will greatly weaken the strength of the core opposition. Once everyone wants to split up, they will be unable to suppress it. The cost of conquering them one by one is extremely high and the chances of winning are slim. In order to protect their core interests, they will have no choice but to grit their teeth and accept it."

At this point, Ye Chen explained: "Sometimes, safety does not come from strengthening yourself, but also from limiting the enemy. If you can disintegrate the strength of the core layer bit by bit from the inside, then the gap between you and them will become smaller and smaller, and they will naturally not dare to underestimate you in the future. So I think this battle must be fought, and it must be fought as soon as possible!"

Hamid was eager to try, and said excitedly, "Great, brother, it seems like this battle is inevitable! I'll call the core members of the opposition later to communicate. If they dare to refuse my terms, I will immediately launch a devastating attack on all the surrounding oil wells!"