Chapter 499 Oil prices skyrocket

In recent years, the United States has been trying to suppress oil prices.

After all, the United States is the world's largest oil consumer and the world's largest oil importer.

Last year, the United States consumed 790 million tons of oil, which is an astronomical figure, but this is not the largest amount of oil consumed by the United States. In 1980, the United States consumed 850 million tons of oil.

According to 850 million tons of oil, it consumes 6.2305 billion barrels of oil a year.

In other words, the United States needs about 10.4 billion barrels of crude oil a year.

For every dollar increase in oil prices, the United States will have to pay at least tens of billions of dollars more!

Adding other intermediate prices, that is, for every dollar increase in crude oil prices, it is equivalent to an additional 30 to 40 billion dollars a year in society.

Before the first oil crisis, the average price of a barrel of oil was about 3 US dollars, which was only about half the price of coal. Now the average price of a barrel of oil is 35 US dollars, which means that compared with before the first oil crisis, the United States has to pay nearly one trillion dollars more for oil.

From this, we can see why the United States will deindustrialize, because with the high labor costs in the United States, the industries that could have made money are now not profitable, and even have to lose money. If the price is raised, it will not be competitive in the market.

Every $1 increase in oil prices will reflect 3 to 4 dollars in real society, not just 1 dollar.

In order to curb oil, the United States took out its reserve oil in 1982, but it was consumed soon and still failed to suppress oil prices. Later, it needed to import oil to fill the reserve oil, so it was naturally impossible to suppress oil prices.

The price of oil must also comply with the supply and demand relationship.

Now, the United States and Libya are on the verge of a war, and the relationship has become tense. The first to react is the oil market. The oil price in the oil market has risen directly, easily breaking through 4 billion US dollars.

After all, Libya is a major oil-producing country, and its oil production has been ranked among the top ten in the world for many years, and sometimes even in the top three.

More importantly, once a war breaks out, it will be in the Mediterranean, and it will affect not only Libya, not just North Africa, but the whole of Europe, and even the whole world.

This is the influence of oil!

As the world's energy center, every move affects not only the local area, but the whole world.

It can be said that the most uncomfortable country now is the United States. After all, not only does it have to bear the shame of the sinking of the Perry-class frigate, but it also has to bear the pressure brought by the rise in oil prices.

However, all this can't stop the carnival of the capital market, and countless funds have poured into oil futures.

Even Liu Tao's securities company in Hong Kong is no exception. Funds have poured into oil futures crazily.

Oil, weapons, gold, food and other things related to war are all favored.

In the blink of an eye, a month has passed.

During this month, all parties have been engaged in a war of words. The United Nations voted twice, and all parties quarreled.

The Soviet Union cast a veto forcefully, even if the United States, Britain, and France all voted in favor, it would be of no avail.

Three votes in favor, one veto, and one abstention!

This situation is impossible to pass in the United Nations.

Yangcheng Shipyard.

The first Type 039 conventional submarine ushered in the launching ceremony.

After more than a year of construction, this new conventional submarine has completed all construction work except for special outfitting work!

This is a big deal for Yangcheng Shipyard, and even more so for the Chinese Navy, because this is the first launch of a new conventional submarine.

It is precisely because of the importance of this milestone that the Navy Commander brought a group of naval generals to Yangcheng Shipyard.

This launching ceremony is also the most important node in submarine construction.

After the successful launch, the submarine will be towed to the submarine outfitting dock, and it will take two or three months to carry out the final outfitting, testing and trial preparations.

The launching ceremony was chosen at 8 am. The reason for choosing this time point is that Yangcheng at this time will be hot during the day, and it will feel hot to wear short sleeves at noon.

Early in the morning, the leaders of the Navy came to Yangcheng Shipyard early.

At this time, the submarine assembly workshop has already made preparations for launching, and the submarine will slide into the water through a long track.

The officers and soldiers who received the ship also came to the ceremony site at this time. 35 people lined up neatly, wearing white military uniforms.

When Liu Tao arrived, he saw the whale-like body of the Type 039 submarine sleeping quietly on a special car. The most conspicuous thing was the propeller at its tail. These propellers were specially processed by a five-axis machining center, and the sound was very small, which greatly reduced the risk of the submarine being discovered by sonar.

Looking at this new conventional submarine, Liu Tao was in a good mood. This was a new conventional submarine he personally developed, which made China's conventional submarine technology reach the world's leading level, greatly improving the safety and combat effectiveness of China's conventional submarines.

Although conventional submarines are not as high-end as nuclear submarines, this new conventional submarine uses many new technologies and new processes.

Liu Tao saw that everyone had a proud look in their eyes, and his smile became even bigger.

This is a conventional submarine with a 100% domestic production rate, all of which are produced and developed by China itself.

Advanced weapons and equipment can greatly boost the self-confidence and self-esteem of the people!

Look at this submarine that is about to be launched. This new conventional submarine carrying the dream of the revitalization of the Chinese Navy is like a new recruit, with red and ribbons on its body, ready to be launched.

Liu Tao looked at the naval generals again, each of them was very excited and expectant.

No navy does not want to have advanced warships.

Advanced surface ships are needed, and advanced underwater ships are also needed!

With this 039-type conventional submarine, China's submarine forces can quietly enter and exit the first island chain, and the first island chain will be in name only.

Although the relationship between the two sides is close and at its highest level in history, no one is naive enough to think that the two sides can always be friendly.

There are no eternal friends, nor eternal enemies, but only eternal interests.

The Republic has been established for more than 30 years. In terms of governance, it has gradually moved from immaturity to maturity, and it has become more and more aware that national interests are the first priority.

So although the Chinese Navy is still weak, it is constantly making plans to ensure coastal security.

All the naval commanders knew that there was no need to think about aircraft carriers in the short term, and nuclear submarines would not be built in large numbers in the short term, because China was still weak and had a weak foundation, and could not support aircraft carriers, and could not afford to build them. Similarly, nuclear submarines were expensive, and it was impossible to build too many.

This also meant that the main force of China's submarine force in the future would be the Type 039 submarine.

This Type 039 submarine would be a powerful weapon for the Chinese Navy to defend its sea borders and deter jackals and tigers.

Liu Tao was chatting with a group of commanders, and they were all familiar with each other now. After all, they had dealt with each other more, and they were familiar with each other now.

Besides, the Navy had to rely on him to get more warships.