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After Gu Chen left, Mrs. Thatcher thought about the meeting alone, so she instructed the secretary to convene a meeting of all the cabinet members in London, and while waiting, she simply asked the secretary to bring all the documents she was going to review today to the conference room. Since the offices of the main government departments were located near 1Downing Street, in less than half an hour, six or seven cabinet members had gathered in the conference room.

Cleaning up the somewhat scattered texts, handing them to the secretary and taking them back to the office, Mrs. Thatcher entered the topic as soon as she spoke: "I just had a conversation with Gu Chen here before you came, you must not have thought of his purpose of looking for me, he wants to obtain the exclusive exploration right of oil and gas resources in the 2oo nautical mile sea area around the Falkland Islands, I don't know where he got this idea from, but he did say so." ”

The Cabinet members on either side of the table look at me, I look at you, and then the Secretary of State says, "Is there really oil in the Falkland Islands?" ”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer shrugged his shoulders and said, "Who knows if there is oil there, Gu Chen has an oil company under his name, which contains shares of Bush's son, and he bought the Singapore Petroleum Company at the beginning of last year, and he just bought the Canadian Petroleum Company a few days ago." Judging from these two acquisitions, it seems that he has a lot of interest in the oil industry, and perhaps he has asked an expert to study the geology of the Falkland Islands, but I have heard that the average water depth off the Falkland Islands is more than 2oo meters, and if you want to explore, the investment is probably not small. ”

Margaret Thatcher tapped the pen in her hand twice on the table to attract everyone's attention: "All right. Now we have to discuss not whether there is oil in the Falkland Islands, but whether or not to give him exclusive exploration rights, knowing that it is the Falkland Islands. ”

The deputy minister groaned. "The Falkland Islands are indeed a sensitive place, and if there were companies authorized by the British government to carry out exploration activities there, it is almost certain that the Argentine government will protest, but now Argentina is weaker than it was before the war, and we can ignore his protests, but those South American countries will put some pressure on us if they show solidarity with Argentina," he said. ”

This time, the Minister of Defense also took part in the meeting. As soon as the deputy minister's words fell, he spoke: "It's just the pressure of public opinion, if Britain succumbs to the pressure of public opinion." Now that the Falkland Islands have long belonged to Argentina, those South American countries simply do not have the strength to confront Britain, and I think that even if Gu Chen does not make a request, we will carry out oil and gas exploration in the Falkland Islands in the future. ”

The Minister of Industry nodded. "Fowles is right. We sacrificed the lives of hundreds of brave soldiers to retake the Falkland Islands, but we did not let it look good, and since it was already our territory, we had the right to open up, not only for oil and gas exploration, but also for the exploration of the island's proven mineral resources such as coal and iron and the fishery resources in the sea. ”

After the Falkland Islands were suddenly occupied by Argentina, in order to recapture the islands in the South Atlantic, Britain did almost all its part, sending a task force, including two aircraft carriers, to thousands of miles away. Not to mention the financial resources expended, the number of British casualties in the war alone exceeded 1,000. It has left at least a thousand families with eternal sorrow.

This was the largest casualty suffered by the British since the end of the Second World War, so in the eyes of all Britons, especially those with high nationalism, the Falkland Islands, which had to be recaptured at such a great cost, were of course to show its value.

Seeing that most of them believe that the Falkland Islands should be explored for oil and gas, the Foreign Secretary has a different opinion: "The United Nations Decolonization Committee has passed a resolution every year since the end of the Falkland Islands War to allow us to negotiate with Argentina on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands. Implications for the UK's diplomatic environment. ”

The Secretary of State for Industry shook his head and said: "After all, the impact of public opinion on the British diplomatic environment is only short-lived, and we do not need to give up real interests because of this temporary impact, and it is an indisputable fact that the Falkland Islands have become an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, and I think we should continue to strengthen the control of the Falkland Islands, including the economy, culture, etc., and use more facts to make the Argentines accept the reality." ”

At this time, the Minister of the Interior said: "Maybe things are not as strict as we thought, just a few days ago there was a large-scale demonstration on the streets of Buenos Aires, which caused more than a dozen deaths and injuries, and the continued economic downturn has made Argentines lose confidence in their elected government. Alphonsin is now definitely bothered by the situation in the country. In addition, Argentina's current economic downturn is directly related to European sanctions, and in order to lift economic sanctions in Europe, the Argentine government may not have much reaction to some of our moves in the Falkland Islands. ”

The economic sanctions imposed on Argentina by European countries with Britain as the United Kingdom are a sharp weapon for Britain to deal with the Falkland Islands issue, but this sanction may not last long, and there are already voices within the French government calling for withdrawal from the sanctions agreement, after all, the interests of Britain in the Falkland Islands relationship, the French government has no need to damage its own interests for the sake of British interests, the reason why it joined the sanctions against Argentina is more because of the all-round close relationship between the two countries, and now the Falkland Islands war has ended for so many years, France has helped everything it should have helped, and it's time to think about itself. And with France's withdrawal, other countries are bound to withdraw as well.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer said: "If Gu Chen really intends to obtain exploration rights, I think we should charge him a higher fee, he is a rich man, and he will not pay attention to such a small amount of money." I mean, of course, the maximum amount set out by law. ”

The Minister of Industry rolled his eyes and said, "Are you crazy about money, Gu Chen is rich but not a fool, not to mention that you think it is necessary to affect the good relationship between the two parties for a little fee?" If you want him to pay for it, you have to wait until the oil is actually ready. ”

Listening to the words of the cabinet ministers, Mrs. Thatcher has already made a decision in her heart, but what Gu Chen wants is the exclusive exploration right, the so-called exclusive exploration right is that only one company can explore, if Gu Chen obtains the exclusive exploration right, it means that only the oil company under Gu Chen's name can explore the waters around the Falkland Islands, and it also means that if there is really oil, the oil company under Gu Chen's name will have the exclusive right to exploit it, although does the Falkland Islands own oil? If so, how much? It is not yet known, but out of prudence, Margaret Thatcher finally felt that it was not appropriate, and the necessary precautions were still needed......

Gu Chen received a call from the Prime Minister's Secretariat the next morning, and he guessed that Margaret Thatcher should have made a decision. Sure enough, when he sat down in the conference room, Thatcher went straight to the point and said, "I agree in principle to your request, but with a slight revision." ”

Margaret Thatcher took an A4-sized map of the Falkland Islands and the surrounding seas from her secretary's hand, and drew in red a long, irregular strip of land in the southeastern waters adjacent to the Falkland Islands, which was about half the size of the Falkland Islands.

"The exclusive exploration rights that you want to get in the 2oo nautical miles around the Falkland Islands, a large part of which overlaps with Argentina's EEZ, and some of which are too close to Argentina, although I think what you said yesterday is very reasonable, but it is necessary to try not to provoke Argentina too much. The area marked in red is the farthest from Argentina and is relatively safe to explore here. In addition, the UK government reserves the right to acquire a 4o% interest in the field if the exploration is successful. ”

According to the current law of the United Kingdom, after the oil company obtains the exclusive exploration right to the oil field, it only needs to pay the exploitation fee to the government to obtain the exclusive exploitation right, and the more oil reserves, the more exploitation fees need to be paid, but the exploration company will obtain all the rights and interests in the oil field within the specified period is a regular practice, and now Margaret Thatcher wants to retain the right to obtain 4o percent of the interest in the oil field obviously wants to keep a hand.

Gu Chen had already guessed that it was impossible for the British government to agree to all his requests, and besides, he really didn't dare to swallow such a big piece of cake in one bite, for fear of indigestion, he carefully looked at the red area on the map, and then said: "Although it is a pity that I can only obtain the exploration rights of this area, I respect Madame's decision." As for Madame's desire to retain the right to acquire 4o percent of the oil field, I find it a little incomprehensible, if the oil field is really present, according to the convention, I have the right to obtain the exclusive right to exploit the oil field for at least 2o years. Of course, if Madame insists, I have nothing to say, but 4o% is too much, you must know that this red area is almost all deep water with a depth of more than 3oo meters, and more manpower and money must be invested in exploration activities here. ”

Margaret Thatcher shrugged her shoulders and said, "Well, 3o%, no less." ”

Hearing this, Gu Chen smiled slightly, and said a little helplessly: "As you wish." "In fact, if the British government has the interest in the oil fields, it is also very beneficial for him, at least in the face of the oil and gas dispute with Argentina, the British government will definitely be more aggressive and tough. (To be continued......)