In Azerbaijan in 1994, the thirst for funds had reached the extreme, and selling 11 oil blocks in one go, or a large contract of more than 30 years, was also Aliyev's helpless move.

What he didn't expect was that the Azijiu oil block, which was not very optimistic, turned into a super oil field with billions or even tens of billions of barrels of crude oil reserves.

At such times, Aliyev was thinking far from a reduced share, but an increase in income.

An oil field with a daily output of 150,000 barrels of crude oil, whether it is a 40% or 50% share, will always bring much more revenue than an oil field with a daily output of 15,000 barrels.

Whether it is Aliyev's allies or his enemies, their eyes are on the government revenue, and if the profits from the oil fields are insufficient, there is no telling how many incidents will occur.

However, the increase in Azerbaijan's crude oil production is not a good thing for OPEC.

Leaving aside the competition between the Middle East and the Caspian Sea region, the current sluggish demand for crude oil alone has caused headaches for OPEC members, and the addition of hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil per day to the market has turned the crude oil production reduction strategy they have been discussing into a flower in the water.

In the past, when crude oil declined, the common practice of OPEC was to reduce production, and the daily crude oil production of all countries in the world was about 80 million barrels, among which, many major oil-producing countries such as the United States and Britain did not export crude oil, so the real decision on the amount of crude oil in the international market can only be the net exporter of crude oil.

Generally speaking. A 1 million barrel cut in production is already a big move by OPEC, and international crude oil prices are not only rising in response, but also almost in the wind.

A 1.5 million barrel cut or 2 million barrels is an economic crisis. For OPEC, which produces 29 million barrels per day, a 7% cut in total output by 12 countries is a huge sacrifice, or more than 100,000 barrels per country.

As for countries other than OPEC, Russia has made a decision to cut 300,000 barrels, which is almost the limit.

However, Azerbaijan suddenly increased production. The increase in production capacity is more than 200,000 barrels, close to the level of 300,000 barrels, which means that the production cuts of the two OPEC members are contributing to Azerbaijan.

Such a big market shock. It is impossible to expect OPEC to eliminate at the expense of its own interests.

They are not charities, but monopolies between states, with the aim of making more profits. Whether it should be or shouldn't.

The Saudis are the backbone of OPEC. It is also a special existence, because the production of crude oil is high enough, Saudi Arabia has naturally become a buffer for various oil-producing countries, whenever crude oil needs to be reduced, the wealthy Saudis often take the initiative to bear more reduction, and whenever the world is short of crude oil, the Saudis are always the last original supplier.

Until the time of shale oil, Saudi Arabia was almost the last bulwark of the world's commercial oil.

So. When Aliyev appeared, the first to receive him were the Saudis.

After a routine greeting. Jassim, representing the Saudi Ministry of Oil, personally delivered Aliyev to the hotel, and then there was a wave of greetings.

Aliyev enjoyed the process, but remained cautious.

Now those who come to visit are all here to test his tone, which is also because his strength is not strong enough, and if he is the president of a big country, even if the other party wants to do this kind of thing, he should find his subordinates to do it.

However, Aliyev is an old KGB who came from the Soviet era, and he never looks at the weight of his face, and the other party is not in a hurry, so he accompanies him with peace of mind.

It wasn't until al-Naimi of the Saudi Oil Ministry appeared that the two entered a state of preparatory negotiations.

At the age of 59, Naimi was also a bull, he was the person who sat in the position of Saudi Arabia's oil minister for the longest time, and was still active in oil politics until his 70s, and as his strength grew, Naimi once ranked in the top 30 of the Forbes global power list, higher than the president of the United Arab Emirates.

Naimi in 1994 was not very well known, but his strong ideas, or his unique ideas, were still well known to those in the oil circle.

Stable oil prices, opposing the fall of crude oil prices, but also opposing the rise of crude oil prices, is what sets Naimi apart from other oil-producing bigwigs.

Perhaps, this is also the reason why Naimi has been doing it for longer than other bigwigs.

After a few short sentences, Naimi asked the question he was most concerned about: "Is Azerbaijan willing to keep crude oil prices stable?"

"Of course. Aliyev smiled and leaned back on the sofa and said in a very comfortable posture: "Azerbaijan has just started selling crude oil to the international market, and if the price of oil can remain stable, so that Azerbaijan's fiscal revenues can remain stable, then naturally we need it." ”

Oil revenues to ensure finances, this is the demand of every oil-producing country, if it is below this standard, it is very difficult to promote production cuts, Iran and Iraq after the Iran-Iraq war, especially Saddam Hussein in the mad dog model is a precedent, in the difficult period after the war, let alone let them reduce production, the two countries secretly increase production is the main problem.

This question was said by the gentlemen who interviewed the former interviewers, and Naimi nodded and said directly: "What is Azerbaijan's budget for this year?"

"About $1.5 billion. "Aliyev gave a lot of water.

For Azerbaijan now, $500 million is enough to make ends meet, and as for getting by, naturally no amount of money is enough.

According to the current oil price, even if Azerbaijan can pump half of each barrel of crude oil, that is, between $8 and $9, the whole of Azerbaijan produces 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day, and after the maintenance period is removed, the annual crude oil production will be 90 million barrels, and less than $800 million will fall into the hands of the Azerbaijani government.

In a few years, when production in the Caspian oil zone rises sharply to 2 million or even 3 million barrels per day, and oil prices double and double, Azerbaijan will become a truly rich country.

Naimi pondered for a moment and said, "1.5 billion is a reasonable number, but can His Excellency the President postpone the harvest period of crude oil and stabilize the current unstable crude oil price?"

"Can be considered. Aliyev smiled.

Naimi was slightly excited, and said: "The OPEC ministerial meeting in January this year was originally planned to reduce production, but in the end it was inconclusive, so this summit is the last chance of the year, and I am confident that I can persuade OPEC members to finally make a decision to reduce production." ”

"The rise in oil prices is also good for Azerbaijan now. Aliyev changed his words and added: "However, the Caspian oil field has just begun to enter production, the costs of the companies have not yet been recovered, and the equipment is not running very smoothly, so it is estimated that it will take some time to convince them to extend production......

"It also takes time to coordinate OPEC countries, how about 1 month?"

"It's hard to say. Other than that...... The delay in production will cause short-term revenue shortages, and the government should also coordinate. ”

Naimi tilted his head to listen to him, wanted to roll his eyes, and said in his heart: You just received so much signing money, will you still have insufficient income?

The other party was the president, so Naimi had no choice but to ask calmly: "What about the coordination time?"

"I'm not sure...... By the way, have you contacted Kazakhstan?"

Naimi immediately knew what Aliyev wanted to say, and said with a headache: "Kazakhstan has also put forward some demands, mainly in terms of oil pipelines and oil refineries...... However, Kazakhstan's crude oil export channels are different from ours......"

"Kazakhstan did not agree to a request for a reduction in production?"

"Yes. ”

Aliyev said without seeing his expression: "I will make a decision after consulting with my staff." ”

"Thank you, Your Excellency, for your reception. Naimi can only hope that Aliyev will make a decision that is beneficial to his side. Although OPEC can exert pressure, it is not necessarily worth cutting production for the sake of hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil.

Aliyev watched Naimi leave, and said slowly: "Let the news out." ”

"Okay. His media manager nodded slightly, took the elevator in the hotel suite, and left the building.

At this moment, the financial reporters who are surrounding the hotel and expect first-hand news from OPEC are waiting anxiously.

…… (To be continued......)