The Commerce Department has close ties with the OPEC side, and Xu Zhenbo sent a letter to the OPEC representative office in China, offering a desire for an informal meeting. A few days later, two OPEC negotiators flew from Vienna to the capital, and Xu Zhenbo hurriedly told Feng Xiaochen to come and talk to the two officials.

"This is Mr. Bradman, the OPEC Special Representative, and this is Mr. Graeme, Mr. Bradman's deputy. …… This is Mr. Feng Xiaochen, General Manager of China Equipment Industry Corporation. ”

In the conference room of the Ministry of Commerce, Xu Zhenbo personally served as the master of ceremonies, introducing Feng Xiaochen and OPEC officials to each other. Feng Xiaochen shook hands with Bradman and Graeme, the guests and hosts sat down, and the talks officially began.

"Mr. Xu, Mr. Feng, we were invited by you to come to an informal meeting, and we would like to know what you would like to discuss with us?" Bradman asked straight to the point.

Xu Zhenbo gestured to Feng Xiaochen, Feng Xiaochen coughed lightly, and began to speak: "Dear Mr. Bradman, Mr. Graeme, it is a pleasure to meet with you in the capital. We took the liberty of inviting you to China because we noticed that in the past six months, OPEC has adopted a policy of cutting production and raising prices, which has led to a 50% increase in international crude oil prices from the level at the end of 2003. Moreover, as far as we know, OPEC's production restriction policy will continue to be implemented, and international oil prices have a trend of further rising. ”

"We are very sorry for this. Bradman said, "OPEC is also forced to take measures to reduce crude oil production." Recently, several OPEC member countries in the Middle East have encountered serious security risks, and the political situation has been threatened. In order to avoid the impact of political turmoil in a certain oil-producing country on the international crude oil market, we have to adopt a policy of production reduction in advance so that the international community can adapt to the impact of production cuts. ”

This explanation is pure nonsense, and Bradman did not expect the Chinese to believe such an explanation. All he had to do was provide an explanation. The real reason for OPEC's production restriction is actually understood by all countries, and Feng Xiaochen and Xu Zhenbo are also aware of it. For this kind of tacit matter, Bradman doesn't need to say too much, he believes that Feng Xiaochen can know what he really means.

Feng Xiaochen smiled slightly and said: "Mr. Bradman, you should know China's attitude towards international affairs, we never interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, so the political turmoil in North Africa and other countries has nothing to do with our country. We can understand OPEC's concerns, but it is very unfair to let a neutral country like China suffer from the rise in oil prices. ”

"We apologize for this. Bradman nodded slightly, giving Feng Xiaochen an answer.

Feng Xiaochen raised his eyebrows and asked, "What, does Mr. Bradman think it's okay to apologize?"

"Yes, as I said, we had no choice but to do it. ”

"We don't care how international oil prices change. But we have a tacit understanding with OPEC before. The three refineries that we have just commissioned have been designed to handle sour crude in response to the requirements of Saudi Arabia, a member of OPEC, and Saudi Arabia has pledged to provide us with a stable supply of crude oil. However, due to OPEC's production restriction policy, the Saudi side is now unable to guarantee the supply of crude oil to us, is this a breach of contract?"

"I think this should be a force majeure clause in the agreement between China and Saudi Arabia, right?"

"This is true for the agreement between China and Saudi Arabia. But this force majeure is artificially set by OPEC, and it cannot be changed by manpower. We hope that when OPEC sets crude oil production quotas, it will specifically list exceptions to China, allowing Saudi Arabia and other countries to provide China with sufficient crude oil supply in accordance with previous agreements. ”

"I'm afraid I can't do that. Bradman replied coldly. China is an important market for OPEC, which is why Bradman is willing to deign to come to China to negotiate with Feng Xiaochen. However, Feng Xiaochen's request is beyond OPEC's bottom line, and Bradman will naturally not agree.

In fact, when the Chinese side requested talks, OPEC had already discussed this issue internally. The rise in international oil prices will undoubtedly have the greatest impact on China, and all OPEC members are very clear about this. Then the Chinese official invited OPEC to come over for talks, and it must have wanted OPEC to give some price concessions. After discussion, they said that they could not agree to China's request in this regard, because it was a matter involving the interests of OPEC member countries.

The premise, of course, is that China does not have the means to make OPEC bow its head. If the United States makes the same request, OPEC will at least consider how to respond even if it is unwilling to agree, and dare not refuse so resolutely.

"Mr. Bradman, China is a big oil consumer and will become the world's largest oil importer in a few years," Feng said. OPEC is the largest oil exporter, and we should maintain more consensus between the two sides to avoid large fluctuations in oil prices and oil supply. I hope Mr. Bradman understands that fluctuations in oil prices will affect not only China's economic development, but also the economic stability of OPEC countries. ”

"I take Mr. Feng's words as a kind reminder that we will take this into account when formulating policies in the future. Bradman replied gently, he said it so politely, but the subtext was cold, that is, he didn't care about Feng Xiaochen's reminder or threat at all, I have oil in my hands, who else am I afraid of in this world?

Feng Xiaochen said: "We hope that OPEC can take this into account now, so as not to cause some unnecessary misunderstandings between the two sides, resulting in common losses for both of us." ”

"I don't see what OPEC is going to lose. Bradman said arrogantly.

Feng Xiaochen nodded and said, "Since this is the case, then we can only let the facts speak." We will give OPEC a week to think, and within that week, OPEC is ready to renegotiate with us. In a week's time, we will have to take some action, and I ask Mr. Bradman's understanding if it causes some unnecessary distress to OPEC at that time. ”

"What are you going to do?" Graeme couldn't help but ask. He didn't think Feng Xiaochen's threat was a bluff, and he invited them all the way over just to say something completely unfeasible, this kind of thing was unlikely to happen to a high-ranking official. Feng Xiaochen's actions may not be as powerful as he said, but there is no doubt that he will definitely take some kind of action. As for whether this action will have an impact on OPEC, Graeme thinks it would be better to ask first.

Feng Xiaochen shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Graeme, it's inconvenient for us to disclose our plans at this time. We're just informing OPEC that if OPEC can make commitments to us on crude oil supply and oil prices in the context of the overall situation of our cooperation, then we can consider suspending these actions. Instead, we have no choice but to do so. ”

"Thank you, Mr. Feng, for your candour. "Graeme is out of line, people are holding back their strength to sell Guanzi, can he still pinch Feng Xiaochen's neck and let him say it?

The two OPEC representatives left, and Feng Xiaochen smiled and sent them out of the Commerce Department building with Xu Zhenbo. Watching them walk away, Xu Zhenbo asked in surprise: "Mr. Feng, why don't you poke the coal-to-oil matter directly to them? Since we have mastered this technology, as long as we tell them, they will feel threatened and will be willing to negotiate with us." If you play dumb riddles with them now, they won't bow their heads nine times out of ten. ”

Feng Xiaochen shrugged his shoulders and said, "What I want is that they don't bow their heads." If they don't bow their heads, I will have a reason to ask the NDRC to start the construction of the coal-to-liquid project. If they bow their heads, the NDRC has no reason to do so, and the project will be shelved?"

"Wouldn't it?" Xu Zhenbo looked at Feng Xiaochen and said with a dissatisfied face: "Director Han asked you to negotiate, but you are thinking about breaking things down so that you can start the coal-to-liquid project and meet the wishes of your equipment company." Director Han, is this a non-person?"

Feng Xiaochen said: "Director Han also supports me. Regardless of whether OPEC can accede to our request or not, the coal-to-liquid project must be launched, which is an issue related to our country's long-term energy security. ”

"In that case, what else are you going to talk about with OPEC? Once your project starts, there will be no point in negotiating with OPEC. ”

"Who says there's no point? They will naturally bow to us when they see our strength, and we hope to bring down the price of crude oil. ”

"But if they cut the price, will your coal-to-liquid project continue?"

"Of course it has to be built. Feng Xiaochen said confidently, "We have invested so much money in the early stage, why don't we build the technology that we have finally come up with?"

"So, what's the point of OPEC bowing its head?"

"They can get us a promise not to spread the technology outward, or at least to slow it down. ”

"Uh......" Xu Zhenbo was dumbfounded. I've seen hooligans, but I've never seen them like Feng Xiaochen, is this the rhythm that drives OPEC officials crazy?

Thankfully, this is my teammate, not my enemy, otherwise......

Xu Zhenbo silently lit a pillar of incense for Feng Xiaochen's opponents, praying that they would not die too ugly.

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