Any large-scale negotiation is not as simple as fighting for greater interests.

They cannot afford the high cost of their own oil development plans, let alone the relevant technologies.

At this time, you can only rely on external forces to help you develop.

However, as sovereign States, they must do their utmost to ensure that the vast majority of their interests remain in their own countries, which is the basis for negotiations.

To do this, they have to split a plan into dozens, if not hundreds, of smaller items. Then, according to their own strength, each sub-project will be discussed separately in the form of independent development, joint development, and authorized development.

On the first day of the meeting, the two sides, no, now the three parties jointly determine the framework and direction of the negotiations.

Negotiations on any small item must conform to the basic framework.

In addition to complying with their respective laws and interests, this framework must also conform to the rules of the WTO and international regulations.

Therefore, it took three days to determine the general scope and limits of the framework negotiations alone.

At this time, the legal team, the technical team, the coordination team, etc., start the classification group negotiations.

Some negotiations require the participation of the Ministry of Defense, some require the participation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and some require the participation of maritime organizations.

After the framework agreement was reached, Jonas relented and returned to Europe with Erwin.

He will not participate in the later group negotiations, and he will not have time to stay in Angola for a month or two, or even half a year.

In addition to some bigwigs who returned to Europe with him, there was also Isabella, the uncrowned princess who made a special trip back from Switzerland.

She is the eldest daughter of Santos, and since she has enjoyed the rich life and glory that Santos has brought her, she also has to bear her own responsibilities.

Everyone has their own position and attributes in society, and responsibilities and obligations cannot be avoided by everyone.

Isabella didn't think it was a chore, and even thought that being called back by her father to entertain Jonas was a very happy thing to prove her worth.

"Jonas, you're going to invest in Angola, right?"

"At the current pace of negotiations, yes. ”

"Can oil really bring prosperity and happiness to Angola?"

Jonas was silent, and in a way, oil, like gold and diamonds in the beginning, became a source of evil.

The abundance and satisfaction of a country are related to money, but it is more a comprehensive struggle of other factors. Politics, military, technology, and ethnic hatred, etc., only money is far from enough.

Jonas didn't want to deceive the little girl in front of him, who was less than sixteen years old, sighed and said, "At least it will be better than now." ”

As if satisfied with this answer, she nodded and said, "I don't spend much time in Angola, but it is my father's homeland, and I hope they can be as rich as Europe." ”

"In the future, there may be such a day. ”

Jonas added inwardly: At least we can't see it.

The plane arrived at Buox Airport, and after getting off the plane, and taking a speedboat home, Jonas asked Kalisler to take Isabella back to school.

Sophia was eight months old and very lively, and was carried around the floor by the one-and-a-half-year-old Eugene all day.

The floors, tables, and chairs at home were all covered with sponge, and Hannah sat at the top of the stairs every day to play whatever they wanted.

She had lived in this house for fifty years, and refused to move to Neuer Castle.

Jonas didn't want to live in that castle alone, but lived more in the old mansion.

After teasing Sophia for a while, Jonas fed her and Eugene two pieces of chocolate, and the two little ones became intimate with him, pestering him to eat chocolate.

They were rarely fed sweets, with the exception of Jonas. He spends less time with his children and uses chocolate to bring him closer.

It's like Neuer raising horses, no one but her can feed carrots and apples to the two ponies.

After feeding a piece of chocolate, most of it went into Eugene's mouth, and the two little ones saw that there was nothing to eat, and they were not sticky to Jonas.

"Grandma, I'm going to Villa Rosa. ”

"Go ahead, it's important to get down to business. Do you want to eat at home in the evening?"

"I'm not sure right now, I'll call you if I don't come. ”

The bigwigs who had returned with Jonas had already been sent to Villa Rosa, and when Jonas arrived, Richie and them were chatting in the living room on the third floor.

Returning to cold Switzerland from the hot Angola region, Jonas felt a little stuffy when the wind blew again on the speedboat.

Sitting down in the living room, Jonas asked for a cup of hot tea to ward off the cold.

"Jonas, what did President Santos say to you privately? tell us everything so we can come up with the best solution. ”

Jonas nodded to Erwin, and he pulled out a stack of papers and handed them to each one in turn.

Jonas also had one in his hand, and when he opened the first page, there were two coastal maps of the country, one administrative and the other topographical.

"After a week in Angola, most of the consensus that has been reached is known to others. Hoffmann Investment Bank will become a first-tier partner of Petronas Angola and will be responsible for the exploration and development of oil in Angolan waters.

The specific scope roughly includes the overall development rights of about 30,000 square kilometers of shallow sea from Cape Bellas at 9 degrees south latitude to the boundary between Cabinda and Gabon at 5 degrees north latitude, from the coastline to about 100 kilometers from the sea.

In exchange for the licensing of development rights, Angola received a loan of US$800 million from Credit Suisse with a guarantee from the Hoffmann investment bank.

Second, the 30,000-square-kilometer sea area is licensed for 20 years, with an annual base license fee of $2 million, which can be renewed for up to 20 years.

The development license fee is calculated according to the amount of oil reserves and exploitation, and in accordance with international practice, in principle, it will not exceed 20% of the profit. ”

"Is this before or after the profits and taxes?" and does it include the share of Petronas?"

"Before profits and taxes, of course. As for the share of Petronas, a base ratio proportional to the oil reserves has been set, with a limit of 50 percent. ”

To put it simply, the smaller the oil reserves, the higher the share of Hoffman Investment Bank, and the higher the reserves, the lower the share of Hoffman Investment Bank, but the profit obtained by Hoffman will not be less than 50% of the total proportion.

If this is land-based oil, this contract is definitely a fat and flowing oil contract. But this is offshore oil, whether it is exploration or exploitation, the cost will be higher than that of land-based oil extraction.

Rich sighed and said: "This is tantamount to putting all the risks on the Hoffman Investment Bank, if the oil field is found, it is better to say, if there is no oil, the loss of the Hoffman Investment Bank this time will be at least two or three hundred million dollars." ”

Jonas nodded and said, "I've set a $500 million risk line. I believe that Angola is in the same plate as Nigeria, Cameroon and Gabon, and there will be oil found there. ”

Richie looked at Svensson, who said firmly: "I agree with Jonas, although the waters of Cabinda have not been explored in the field, according to the judgment of dozens of geological experts, there is a high probability that there are geological plates of gas and oil. ”

It's a risk for others, but not for Jonas.

Angola became the second largest oil exporter after Nigeria in later generations, mainly because of the shallow waters of Cabinda, which contain 13 billion barrels of oil.

In Rich's view, the contract is decent, but in Jonas's opinion, it is a big profit.

Richie nodded and asked, "Jonas, now that the framework agreement has been signed, it's time for cross-ocean drilling to be prepared." I'm going to send two drill ships over and transfer the two idle rigs from Nigeria and Norway to Angola, what do you think?"

"The upfront words should be enough. However, before that, you need to settle the issue of the maritime demarcation line between Angola and Zaire, which may require you to intervene in person. ”

The Cabinda region of Angola is an enclave separated by the Zairean State's access to the sea.

The most feared thing about oil exploration and exploitation is to be located in a disputed area, because the oil in the ground will never be limited by the national demarcation line.

For example, a large oil field may be exploited in both countries, so it is very difficult to divide how much each country exploits.

Although Zaire's mouth to the sea is only 20 kilometers wide, it is located right in the middle of this plate, so the exploration and oil extraction here must be approved by Zaire.

Zaire's current ruler is Mobutu, the strongman, who has close ties to Armenia and is politically opposed to Angola by the strongman.

Of course, because the two countries are adjacent to each other and have a long national border, the people of the two countries are actually very close to each other.

The reason why the Soviet Union gave up offshore oil development was mainly because of the contradiction with Zaire, they were afraid that Mobutu would listen to Armenia's words and give their drilling platform a few missiles, and everything would be over.

Zaire is one of the world's largest copper producers, with tens of thousands of square kilometres of copper in Katanga province, on the border with Zambia.

In the seventies, Mobutu nationalized the copper mines, and the vast majority of the copper they produced was sold by interest groups.

Katanga is located in the middle of the southern continent of Africa, surrounded by complex ethnic groups and weak state control, where the East and the West have been divided for half a century, and each other is at odds with each other.

The enterprises of Armenia did not dare to go, and neither did the enterprises of the East, and even if they could produce copper, they would not be able to ship it.

Only those in interest groups can be responsible for transporting and selling the copper, which then sells it to the countries that need it.

Mobutu had a close relationship with Rich, and Richie International later became Glencore, and its initial largest industry was the Katanga Mining Company, which was later integrated.

Listening to Jonas's words, Richie smiled: "Don't worry, there should be good news in a few days." ”