Chapter 117

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“So, are there listings available?”

“Yes. Actually, listings are overflowing. There are so many storage facilities.”

“Price?”

“With word spreading that the Russia-Saudi production cut agreement will be reached soon, prices for storage facilities are also dropping. After the production cut agreement, oil prices will become expensive so they’ll use up everything in storage.”

News was spreading that the production cut agreement would be amicably concluded soon.

Because of that, oil prices were already trending upward, and storage facilities were conversely dropping in price.

“But CEO, did President Jeong really tell you to immediately acquire storage facilities?”

“Yeah. He said to buy up all the listings as they come out?”

“But the storage facilities will have nothing to do with the production cut agreement?”

The executives were puzzled too.

Since shipping was overflowing with money right now, buying storage facilities wasn’t a problem.

But no matter how much capital there was, wasting money was unacceptable.

“But since it’s none other than President Jeong who gave such an instruction, wouldn’t there be a reason?”

“Maybe he’s planning to use the storage for some purpose other than storing oil?”

“Yes. If not that, there’s only one other reason to buy storage.”

“What is it?”

“The production cut agreement suddenly falls through and oil prices get smashed.”

Kim Du-young and the executives fell silent for a moment.

Soon they started snorting with laughter one by one.

“No, there’s no way that would happen.”

“Russia and Saudi Arabia give up on production cuts? That’s like shooting themselves in the head with a pistol—it’s nonsense.”

They say the sun rising from the west tomorrow would be more credible—not agreeing on production cuts would mean everyone dying together during an already difficult time with corona.

“So since that will absolutely never happen, he must mean to use the storage for other purposes?”

“Yes. That’s probably it. He didn’t specify exactly what he’d use it for?”

“Hmm. He just said to buy up all the storage listings that come out. As always, I didn’t pry with questions and just said I’d do it. You know our company motto.”

Don’t talk back to Jeong Jin-ho’s instructions.

In other words, throw away your ego.

If you just do as you’re told, money makes itself.

“Sweep up all the storage listings available. We have money to spare since we’re buying shipping companies at dirt cheap anyway, right? Don’t hold back and spend it. This is also President Jeong’s instruction.”

“Yes, CEO.”

Storage inventory is pouring out from our country to various places around the world.

He didn’t know what all that would be used for.

But curiosity aside, they just need to do as they’re told.

“Ah. What happened with those Middle Eastern shipping companies?”

“I was about to report on that—several shipping companies that came on the market in Europe are currently negotiating with the Middle East side.”

Kim Du-young furrowed his brow.

Levant Link is a shipping company that emerged from the Middle East.

As corona swept the world, shipping collapsed, and as a result, Gwangwoon was very smoothly reclaiming companies.

But someone displeased with Gwangwoon sitting back and getting fat had appeared.

The problem was that troublemaker’s weight class was no joke.

“It seems Levant Link has considerable assets. Especially having rapidly grown by receiving loads of oil money flowing in the Middle East.”

The name Levant itself means encompassing the eastern Mediterranean region, and their goal was to revive that place that had been the center of East-West trade since ancient times.

“Also, Beirut in Lebanon, which serves as the gateway there, is key. Since it’s a strategic point connecting the Mediterranean and Middle East, they’re trying to build a logistics hub connecting Europe, Africa, and Asia by utilizing that geographic advantage.”

“And that Beirut port is now on the market?”

“Yes. As shipping completely died from corona, the companies that originally held the business rights all withdrew, and now Levant Link is trying to take it.”

As with all ports.

Port business involves the state.

Beirut Port was also a core business of Lebanon, maximizing profits through partial privatization.

But as shipping companies collapsed one by one, the port business began struggling, and eventually even the existing companies withdrew and put the business rights on the market.

“And Levant wants to enter there?”

“Yes. The problem is if we leave this alone, the snowball will roll big. As I mentioned earlier, there are many geographic advantages, so if they expand their power on a large scale, they’ll primarily take control of the Middle East, and afterward they’ll extend influence to our side too.”

Gwangwoon Shipping had one goal.

That was to create a shipping company that no one can touch anymore.

But whether they know Gwangwoon’s purpose, or whether they just want to pour all their surplus oil into starting their own shipping business—

A powerful rival had emerged from the Middle East and was rapidly expanding power.

“So in that situation, if we lose that port too, the future is unpredictable?”

“Yes. Plus they have oil money over there. They can secure oil cheaper than anyone. Didn’t our shipping first grow big because we quickly bought before oil prices soared and reduced operating costs?”

Levant was trying to continue price competition similarly through operating cost reduction.

Even if they take losses now, if there’s oil money behind them, eventually the side that holds out wins.

Couldn’t the company be torn away again by bastards like the EU like last time?

To prevent such a disaster, the company needs to become more solid.

So what should they do?

Completely dominate the global shipping market so the shipping system itself can’t function without them.

“Then we need to take this business right by any means necessary.”

“Yes. The Lebanese government also seems to have caught wind of the current situation, so they’re asking for high prices from the start. Even if we pay a high price, we can’t lose to Levant.”

In other words, if they don’t get Beirut Port, a day will definitely come when they regret it.

“Phew. This doesn’t seem like something I should decide alone.”

If it concerns shipping’s future, shouldn’t they definitely consult with the final decision-maker?

————————————————————————————————————————

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, also known as OPEC.

It plays the role of jointly adjusting crude oil production to stabilize oil prices and coordinate member countries’ interests.

Put nicely it’s stabilization, but viewed with a slightly twisted perspective, it’s blatant collusion.

Don’t all countries prohibit corporate collusion?

Anyway, this production cut agreement could be seen as negotiations between OPEC and Russia.

Because Saudi Arabia, the head of OPEC, and Russia, who has the most influence among non-OPEC members after the US, would determine the final oil volume.

“This production cut agreement was essential. Not just OPEC but Russia and other countries were groaning. In other words, if they didn’t cut production quickly, they’d drown in overflowing oil.”

That’s why everyone predicted the production cut agreement would proceed as quickly as possible.

“But… it seems something that should never happen has happened.”

Even the employee reporting was trembling slightly.

“Saudi Arabia and Russia have essentially withdrawn from the production cut agreement, and Saudi Arabia has announced they’ll actually increase production instead.”

Both Saudi Arabia and Russia shot themselves in the head.

“Wait. Are they both crazy? Why the hell would they do that?”

“They’re really out of their minds.”

The employees couldn’t hide their shock at the startling news.

Even more dizzying was Saudi Arabia announcing they’d increase production.

“President. Looking at things lately, the world seems to be going crazy. A virus like corona is becoming a pandemic, and in this situation Saudi Arabia says they’ll increase production. It seems like a world getting further and further from my common sense.”

I was feeling the same way.

This was happening because of futures and storage.

They purchased crude oil through futures, but as the expiration date approached, the crude wasn’t selling and was just trapped in storage.

“But why did it turn out that way?”

“It seems Russia wanted to check the US so they refused too large a cut. They judged that if Russia and OPEC proceeded with cuts, the US would ultimately benefit.”

“And Saudi Arabia got pissed off there?”

“Yes. When Russia came out uncooperatively, the Saudi government seems to have gotten extremely angry. So they decided to increase production, saying they’ll just kill Russia and the US altogether.”

In other words, they chose to increase production through an emotional decision rather than a rational one.

If it becomes like this, isn’t the future obvious?

The problem is storage rental prices are expensive for putting oil in storage, and as storage space runs short, traders have to quickly offload crude even taking losses.

That’s exactly why prices were crashing like crazy.

And if buyers still don’t appear, as Manager Seo said, it goes to negative.

This was exactly why my intuition had reacted.

“With that news spreading, oil prices have already dropped to 10 dollars. Looking at the current trend, it seems like it’ll drop further.”

“If it goes below 10 dollars too?”

“In the worst case, it could even go to negative.”

Negative oil prices.

It meant if I buy oil, the other party pays me instead.

“Many say such an extreme situation really won’t come, but looking at the current falling trend, you never know.”

“Is shipping buying up the storage facilities properly?”

“I received a report that they’re preparing to buy up storage facilities in large quantities, but whether they’ve purchased all of them yet… I’ll find out right now.”

But that became unnecessary.

Because CEO Kim Du-young’s name appeared on my vibrating phone.

“Yes, CEO.”

Seems our CEO Kim isn’t exactly a nobleman.

————————————————————————————————————————

“Wow. How did you find out this time? I was seriously shocked when I heard the news. I mean, who would have known those crazy bastards would actually overturn the production cut agreement.”

Honestly, when I saw through intuition the other day, I roughly expected the production cut agreement might get overturned.

But I never dreamed they’d actually overturn it and even increase production.

As Manager Seo said, the world seems to be going strangely these days. Like a world far from common sense.

“Heh. Is shorting 700 trillion with the National Pension common sense?”

“That’s true too. Ah, what happened with the storage?”

“Hmm. Don’t worry about that. We swept up the storage facilities before the production cut agreement got overturned. It cost quite a lot, but do you know how much those storage facilities’ value has risen since the agreement fell through? Already 50%. It’s really crazy.”

Right now the crude oil market was chaos in a word.

“So. When should we buy oil? It’s already under 10 dollars now.”

“Wait a bit longer. It’ll probably drop further from here.”

“Drop further from here? To where exactly?”

“To negative.”

“What?! Negative? No. Then they pay you to buy oil? There’s never been a precedent of oil prices falling to negative!”

From a common sense perspective, it was nonsense.

Because oil prices had never crashed to negative.

But the current data was saying so, and above all, my intuition had shown me this situation first.

“When people are begging to pay you to take oil, that’s when you slowly start buying. Enough to fill the storage. We need to use a lot anyway, right? For the shipping business going forward.”

“W-well that’s true, but it’ll really go to negative…?”

Perhaps because he’s been rolling around in this field for decades, he seemed to have trouble adapting to a phenomenon he’s never seen before.

Everyone is only selling oil and no one is buying anymore.

But the futures expiration is approaching, and storage costs are rising.

“But did you come all the way here for that?”

“Hm? Ah, no. Actually, there’s something I need to discuss quickly.”

I roughly heard the situation from CEO Kim.

Currently, Gwangwoon had entered a bidding competition for the Lebanese Beirut port, and the concern was that if rival Levant gets this business, they won’t be able to stop its growth.

For us dreaming of a complete shipping group, Levant was a very threatening competitor.

“So even if we take losses, we need to get the port business somehow.”

“Roughly how much is the bid amount?”

“15 trillion won. The problem is the amount will go up from here.”

The port business right is worth 15 trillion won.

It was a much bigger amount than I expected.

Yet both the opponent and our Gwangwoon were willing to pay this amount, which meant Beirut port is that important a location.

I brought my hand to the Beirut port section in the report CEO Kim brought.

“!?”

At that moment, my intuition activated again at the bid amount appearing on the next page.

I froze in my seat.

“President Jeong, are you okay? Your face is completely pale. What’s wrong?”

What was that just now?

It felt like something overwhelmingly beyond my capability to handle struck me.

At the rejection reaction so intense it made me nauseous, I quickly turned to the next page.

I didn’t know exactly what was happening there, but seeing this level of reaction, it seemed better to give up on this business.

What about the bid amount though?

I quietly wrote down bid amounts next to it.

But it didn’t stop and the amount kept rising.

When the price rose to the point where I wondered if this was really right—

My hand stopped.

I glanced at CEO Kim who had been quietly waiting for me to finish reviewing.

Because it was an absurdly ridiculous amount.

“CEO. About this bid amount.”

“Ah, hmm.”

“What would happen if we bid 30 trillion won?”

“Wh-what!? 3-30 trillion won!?”

My intuition stopped at 30 trillion won.

Does this mean that’s the right price?

Is it really telling us to acquire here?

But that terrifying yet overwhelming feeling from just now…

————————————————————————————————————————

After staring at me with questioning eyes for a while, CEO Kim quickly regained composure.

“30 trillion won is… too hard. That’s not just accepting losses.”

“What about the opponent?”

“This isn’t a sealed bid, it’s an open bid, so if we call 30 trillion won, they’ll know right away. And…”

CEO Kim Du-young rolled his eyes hard.

“They’ll probably raise the price at least a little more.”

“That’s right. There’s a very high chance they will. Those guys’ goal is to acquire here and completely dominate the Middle East.”

So even with that outrageous price, they’ll take it.

They have oil money solidly backing them.

Of course, even so, 30 trillion won would be a very big burden on them too.

“Did President Jeong decide?”

After finishing the meeting with Jeong Jin-ho, Kim Du-young hurried back to the company.

The executives had been waiting for him endlessly.

“Yeah. I got a price.”

“How much?”

“30 trillion won.”

“!?”

The startled executives couldn’t even get their voices out.

30 trillion won!

No matter how important that base is, they have to put in 30 trillion won?

“B-but if we spend that much money…”

The executives were flustered, not knowing what to do.

Kim Du-young burst out laughing at their appearance.

“Everyone calm down. You think President Jeong called 30 trillion won to really bid that amount?”

“Pardon?”

“He didn’t say it directly, but I think President Jeong has given up on Beirut. If he really planned to bid here, he would have said to do it strategically from the start instead of bidding high.”

At those words, the executives quickly turned their heads too.

And the conclusion that came was one.

“We’re handing it over but making them pay dearly. Those guys will have no choice but to accept and take it since we bid 30 trillion won.”

That was Jeong Jin-ho’s calculation.

They have oil money solidly backing them.

Of course, even so, 30 trillion won would be a very big burden on them too.

“If we’re handing it over anyway, we can’t just hand it over for nothing. Before they spread their wings and pressure us, we need to fly far away, right?”

Right, Beirut.

You take it all.

While you digest that expensive purchase, we’ll be widening the gap.

“But seeing President Jeong just sabotage and give up on Beirut, maybe he has other plans?”

“Well, who can possibly know what President Jeong is thinking? But he definitely seems to have other plans.”

Something else?

What else could come out here?

Nothing came to Kim Du-young’s head.

But there was one thing weighing on his mind.

‘That look in his eyes earlier.’

Jeong Jin-ho’s strange gaze while looking at the report earlier.

That look kept circling in his head.