Chapter 403 These are my beloved relatives, friends, brothers and sisters!
Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes.

So, Saudi Arabia may appear as a whole to the outside world, but internally, there are love and hate, and closeness and distance among the princes. This kind of thing is actually very common.

After all, in history, it is not uncommon for brothers to fight against each other and for fathers and sons to kill each other.

It now seems that Prince Tarak is not on the same side as the previous Saudi prince.

This is good news for Li Changhe.

After all, no matter what, a large part of the US dollars that Li Changhe earned in the Silver Storm came from the Saudi royal family's money.

If the other party hates him because of this, it will not be a good thing for Li Changhe's future plans.

As for how the other party discovered him, Li Changhe didn't care.

This thing itself is difficult to keep secret, especially in this era of human operation.

Nowadays, some securities companies and brokers will brag about their performance to attract customers, especially those securities companies and brokerage companies that made money in the silver storm. Even if they have signed a confidentiality agreement, the news will definitely leak out.

In the end, the clues were traced back to Bao, which was not particularly rare.

Li Changhe didn't think about hiding completely. All he wanted was to hide the final benefits and his identity on the mainland behind the Bao family.

So far, this is relatively successful. Most people stop when they find Bao Yugang. After all, he is an Asian billionaire and the world's shipping king. It is normal for him to have venture capital.

What's more, everyone is operating behind the scenes, so we can't blame anyone for cheating anyone else.

However, Li Changhe is now very curious about the reason why the other party pointed out this matter.

The best way to deal with this kind of thing is actually to play deaf and dumb. After all, we are all decent people, especially when we are still discussing cooperation. Why bring up previous conflicts at this time?
Make negotiations more awkward?
Or do you want Li Changhe to give in?
When Li Changhe was thinking about the other party's ideas, Prince Tarak answered Li Changhe's doubts.

"Mr. Victor, according to the information provided to us by Manhattan Bank, you are now investing in spot oil, right?"

Tarak continued to ask Li Changhe at this time.

"Yes, so I am very interested in the oil in Prince Tarak's hands."

Li Changhe nodded and spoke directly and clearly.

"Well, I wonder how much Mr. Victor can eat?"

Tarak asked curiously at this time.

"I want to know, Your Highness, how much do you want to sell this time?"

Li Changhe asked thoughtfully.

"Sixty million barrels, can you eat that?"

Tarak opened one hand, stretched out five fingers, and asked Li Changhe.

Oil transactions in Europe and the United States are all in barrels. One barrel is 42 U.S. gallons, or 158.97 liters. About 7 barrels is one ton. This number will fluctuate depending on the quality of the oil.

6000 million barrels is actually about 857 million tons.

Upon hearing this, Li Changhe looked at Prince Tarak in surprise.

As expected, the other party’s control over Aramco is not very strong at present.

Is 6000 million barrels of oil a lot?

In the oil market, it is actually not that much.

Because as far as Li Changhe knows, Saudi Arabia's current daily crude oil production is around 990 million barrels.

In other words, 60 million barrels is actually Saudi Arabia’s crude oil production in one week.

Of course, the real data is definitely not calculated in this way. For example, when Aramco was allocated to Saudi Arabia, it was most likely to be given the output of an oil field and put them under the jurisdiction of the Saudi royal family.

Therefore, these 60 million barrels may be the production of the oil fields they hold during this period of time.

But even so, this number is still a bit beyond Li Changhe's budget.

Today's oil price has risen to $27, and the total price of 6000 million barrels of oil is about $16.2 billion.

Li Changhe has now spent nearly $2 million on the Chicago Stock Exchange.

He only had less than 3 million US dollars left in his hand. Even if he added the more than 11 million US dollars that Bao Yugang supported him, the total amount left was only about billion US dollars.

It's a bit difficult to spend this amount of money!
"I wonder how much your Highness intends to offer?"

Li Changhe continued to ask at this time.

Tarak smiled and said, "The current price of crude oil in the market is $27 a barrel, but I said, I want to make friends with Mr. Victor, so I will give Mr. Victor a $2 discount for every barrel, so $25 a barrel, how about that?"

Tarak smiled at this time.

After hearing this, Li Changhe was very shocked.

Are all Saudi princes so generous when making friends?
A discount of $2 per barrel means 6000 million barrels.

In other words, if Li Changhe could take it all in one go, he would get a profit of 1.2 million US dollars.

Spend $1.2 million to make friends with Li Changhe?

Jim, who was standing by, was stunned when he heard this, and Li Changhe was also very surprised.

"Your Highness, this is really beyond my expectation. Your generosity makes me realize the preciousness of friendship."

“For $25 a bucket, I could eat it all!”

Li Changhe said decisively at this moment.

At $25 a barrel, 6000 million barrels in total equals $15 billion.

Li Changhe now has 11 billion US dollars. If the 2 million US dollars in Manhattan Bank controlled by Jim is added, he will have 13 billion US dollars.

There were only 200 million US dollars left, which was not difficult for him.

Don't forget, he still has 3 million US dollars in the Japanese bank.

Although all the money was converted into Japanese yen, he still has a savings certificate!

There are many Japanese banks in New York, so it is not difficult for him to get a loan of 2 million US dollars by using certificates of deposit.

Before, Li Changhe just didn’t want to use the money, but now that the Saudi prince has made such a huge concession, Li Changhe has no reason to miss it!
"Sure enough, I knew that Mr. Victor is a very powerful businessman. In this case, shall we reach an agreement on this?"

Tarak didn't seem too surprised that Li Changhe ate it in one bite. Instead, he said with a smile.

Li Changhe also showed a bright smile at this time.

"Your Highness, you can just call me Vic."

"Also, I have a request that I hope His Royal Highness can grant!"

It's so strange to still call him Mr. Victor at this time. For $1.2 million, it's a good deal to change the name.

"Oh? Vic, tell me!"

Prince Tarak also changed his name.

"I would like to ask Your Highness to help me store this batch of crude oil for a period of time. I can pay the storage fee according to the time."

Storage is not a big deal for Saudi Arabia. As a major crude oil producer, they have enough oil storage tanks.

"That's no problem, but how long do you want to store it?"

Tarak agreed without hesitation, storage was not a big deal.

"In this case, it will be limited to 7 months. In addition, I hope that this batch of oil will be stored in the southern region, preferably near the Strait of Hormuz!"

Li Changhe said seriously at this time.

Tarak looked at Li Changhe meaningfully at this time: "It seems that Mr. Victor has made a judgment. Is he afraid that the Persians will block the strait?"

Neighboring Iraq is now preparing for war with the Shiites. The Saudi royal family naturally knows more about this than the United States.

More than just knowing, they are raising funds now with the intention of preparing for this.

Compared with Iran, Iraq is still smaller, so it needs the support of its Sunni brother countries.

Before coming, the gentleman told him that Victor was certain that there would be a war between Iran and Iraq, so he invested in oil. Now it seems that the other party has indeed made up his mind.

"In fact, Vikni doesn't need to worry too much. Iran's navy is not strong. Their navy was previously configured during the Pahlavi dynasty, and now they don't have the ability to block the strait." "This war is destined to be a war on land, but since you have made a request, I am of course willing to help."

"But I still suggest you put it in the oil storage area near the port of Dammam. It is convenient for port loading and it is the headquarters of Aramco. You don't have to worry about the risk of war."

Tarak said to Li Changhe seriously.

Li Changhe did not agree directly, but started thinking about it in his mind.

To be honest, once a war breaks out, transportation in the Persian Gulf will definitely be affected, but whether this impact will affect Saudi Arabia is actually another matter.

After all, Saudi Arabia is not a direct participant in the war. Even if Iran attacks sea transportation, it will at most attack Iraq's oil transportation. There is no reason to attack Saudi Arabia.

From this point of view, Tarak is right.

However, Li Changhe did not want to take this risk. No one could control the risks of war.

Especially since Li Changhe himself bet on venture capital, the risks in the Middle East are too great.

"Well, let me think about the storage issue, and then discuss it with His Royal Highness the Prince!"

Li Changhe said thoughtfully.

Hearing this, Tarak smiled and shook his head.

"How about this, Vic? I'll help you transport the crude oil to the oil storage area on the Red Sea coast. We also built that area to guard against accidents in the Persian Gulf. But you will be responsible for the transportation costs."

"When the time comes, you can transport goods directly from the ports of the Red Sea without having to go through the Persian Gulf!"

Tarak then gave Li Changhe another choice, which was beyond Li Changhe's expectations.

"If that's the case, thank you very much, Your Highness. We will cover all the transportation costs."

This is really like a case of after climbing mountains and crossing rivers, you think there is no way out, but suddenly you see a new village with willows and flowers.

Unexpectedly, Tarak could help him transport crude oil to the west coast of Saudi Arabia.

If you go through the Red Sea, the safety will be greatly improved.

As for the high transportation costs, compared with the profits, they are naturally insignificant.

"Okay, then it's settled. We can sign the contract in the next two days."

"That's great, Vic. I want to hold a cocktail party at home tomorrow night. Can I invite you to come?"

"Of course!"

Li Changhe agreed without hesitation.

This is Tarak, but he is his beloved relative, brother!
After leaving Tarak's villa and returning to the hotel, Jim was still dizzy.

I thought today would be a heated negotiation, but I didn't expect the deal to go so smoothly.

Not only did the other party not make things difficult for him, but they also gave him enough discounts. Even Jim was shocked by the discounts.

When did business become possible?

The first thing he said was to give up 120 million US dollars?

"Jim, do you want to take part in the crude oil trade with Manhattan Bank this time?"

"The price of $25 is a good deal in today's market."

After returning to the hotel, Li Changhe asked Jim.

Although he agreed to Tarak's request, Li Changhe had no idea whether Manhattan Bank would follow him and take over all the crude oil.

After all, the other party can also buy it in the United States or the United Kingdom, which is not only risk-free but also convenient for local transactions.

After hearing this, Jim began to think about it.

Although we have to follow Li Changhe to buy crude oil, the New York Stock Exchange can buy crude oil from all over the world, so there is no need to buy it from the Middle East.

Of course, it’s not a loss to buy it now. You can ship it back to the United States in advance and wait for the price to go up.

In the 1980s, the United States was still an oil importing country and had a huge demand for oil.

"Buy, of course. $25 already guarantees some profit. But our crude oil will be transported back to the United States immediately."

After Jim thought about it for a while, he made up his mind.

Since I have decided to buy oil, of course I will buy it from a cheap place.

"Okay, in that case, I'll give you one."

"In this case, I still have a gap of 2 million US dollars. So, please go back and ask Manhattan Bank if they are willing to provide me with a partial credit loan."

The so-called credit loan is actually a loan amount given directly based on your credit.

This actually means providing direct financial support without any credit guarantee.

Just like the 15 billion Hong Kong dollars that Bao Yugang borrowed from HSBC before, it was actually a credit loan that did not require any collateral. HSBC directly gave him 15 billion in cash.

Li Changhe now wants to see how much financial support Manhattan Bank can give him.

No matter how nice Dennis' words are, it will be useless. Only by supporting him with real money can he see your sincerity.

Hearing Li Changhe's words, Jim nodded: "Okay, I'll go back now and ask Mr. Dennis for you!"

Jim certainly couldn't make the decision on this matter, so he could only go back and ask Dennis.

Of course, Jim was also confused. Even for Mr. Dennis, it would be difficult to approve such a large amount of credit loan.

But since Li Changhe had spoken, he had to go back for consultation no matter what.

On the other side, inside Tarak’s villa, the financial manager he brought with him also tried to persuade Tarak.

"Your Highness, you have given too much concession to this Asian."

"If this were known in China, there would be a lot of opposition, after all, this is a disguised loss of our money."

Tarak asked for a concession of $1.2 million right away, which would definitely cause dissatisfaction at home. For Tarak, this was not a good thing.

Tarak smiled when he heard this and said, "Akaz, do you know why Rabui was withdrawn?"

"Because he lost money in the silver investment market, we lost a lot of money."

The financial manager replied immediately.

Tarak nodded: "Yes, because he failed in his investment. Why did Rabui fail in his investment? Because he chose the wrong partner."

"Europeans and Americans look down on us. The financial elites on Wall Street only want to cheat us out of our money instead of investing with us."

"Otherwise, that idiot Labui would not have been so easily deceived by the Hunter family because no one would play with him."

"For us, if we keep the money in our hands, it is just waste paper. We need to continuously invest the money to generate profits. This is one of the reasons why we came to the United States."

"As for the investment, do you rely on me or on me? Isn't it an investment genius with a great vision that we need?"

"Since the Americans won't play with us, we have to find other investment elites, and Victor is the best among them."

"Vic is currently the investment genius we know, but you have to understand why he wants to make money with us?"

"Only when there is a relationship of interest can we get in touch with Vic."

"Of course, we can also take this opportunity to see his investment capabilities."

"It just so happens that what he wants to do is invest in oil, and we have plenty of oil."

"As for the excuses for the low price, there are many. For example, the risk of war in the Middle East is too great, so we can only sell at a low price to expand our customer base first."

"Anyway, oil doesn't cost us much. There's plenty of it under the desert and ocean. We'll just lose $100 million. If we can get a genius to lead our investment, do you think it's a loss?"

Tarak said nonchalantly, while the financial manager fell into deep thought at this time.

He didn't expect that his Royal Highness the Prince had such a long-term vision.

Yes, if Mr. Victor is really an investment genius, then if he invests with the funds of the Saudi royal family in the future, the profits he will earn will definitely not be comparable to the 100 million US dollars today.

(End of this chapter)