On the shores of Lake Turkana, a steam drilling rig billows black smoke, boiler workers continue to fill coal into the furnace chamber, driven by turbines, heavy metal drill bits continue to work, up and down, through the rock formation, workers bring out the rock debris with tools to clean up the rock debris on a wheelbarrow, push away and pile aside, here is an oil exploration site in East Africa.

"Mr. Kars, can we really find oil here? This is the sixth well we've drilled this year, and I feel like we're working in vain. Saul, an oil worker, asked.

Saul's team returned from studying in the oil-producing regions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and returned home three years ago to help find oil in East Africa on orders from the kingdom.

The team's steam drilling rig was commissioned by a German machinery company from East Africa and then shipped by sea to Mombasa, and finally transported by rail and road to Turkana province.

"According to my judgment, there is indeed evidence of possible oil around Lake Turkana, such as some ancient fossils and relics, but we have no relevant theoretical support at present, so the only way to dig up the oil here is through continuous attempts." Kars said.

"What does this mean is that you don't know if there is actually oil in Turkana province?" Thor asked.

"Ahem, that's true." Kars said with some embarrassment: "However, oil is a very scarce resource, and at present, the world's oil production areas are basically distributed in the United States and Eastern Europe, so it is normal for us to find oil." ”

Thor frowned and asked, "Our East Africa is not a small area, and it is impossible for such a large country to not find a drop of oil!" ”

"Mr. Saul, it's too early to draw conclusions, in fact, oil exploration is a matter of luck, and that's how the oil industry in the United States developed, after all, they also lack relevant theoretical foundations, and rely more on fossils, geology, etc. to speculate, and the area we are exploring now is not even one-third of Lake Turkana, not to mention the entire Turkana Province, or the entire kingdom."

"It's a gamble!" Saul originally thought that as an expert geologist, Kars had some real skills, but in the end he ended up relying on this way, which is really regrettable.

After all, it's just constant drilling, and Thor himself can do it himself, while Kars seems to be useless, and everyone has to listen to his command.

Kars argued: "It cannot be said that we cannot accurately locate oil through theory, because this is new knowledge for us humans, a few decades ago we did not even have the so-called oil industry, the history of large-scale application of oil in the industrial field is too short, if we can succeed, it will accumulate experience for the future development of oil exploration technology." ”

He then cited the United States, which has the most developed oil industry, as an example.

"In 1859, Edwin Laurentini Drake, a train driver in Pennsylvania, drilled the first oil well in the United States. Located in Tusville, Pennsylvania, and dug to a depth of more than 21 meters, this well kicked off the U.S. oil industry. ”

"Rockefeller himself started by building oil refineries, and now has a monopoly on more than 80 percent of the oil refining capacity in the United States, more than 90 percent of the oil transportation, and 20 percent of the crude oil extraction."

"If it weren't for the layout of the oil industry in Austria-Hungary and Romania, Europe would probably have become a Rockefeller market, and the United States alone produces about 70 percent of the world's oil, so it is not easy for us to find oil in the interior of East Africa."

"In fact, even if there is oil from Austria-Hungary and Romania, the international oil price is still in the hands of the Americans, and the good news is that now oil production is much greater than demand, so the price of oil is acceptable, which is also a factor in the import of oil in East Africa, but the kingdom attaches more importance to oil than any country, I think it has something to do with the automobile industry in East Africa."

As for whether East Africa is betting its fortunes on the oil and automobile industries, it is not up to the little man Kars to know.

Although oil and automobiles have already appeared, the main role of oil is still used as a means of lighting such as "kerosene lamps", after all, the spread of electricity is a long process.

Cars are the playthings of the "powerful", and even the lowest-priced bicycles can only be consumed by the middle class, so without decades of development, the future of these new industries is not clear for most countries, and only East Africa is going all out to promote the development of related industries.

"Mr. Saul also worked in the oil producing areas of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and he should also know that the current discovery of oil was originally accidental, just like the Americans, they used the most simple and crude way to discover oil, so we can only complete the early oil exploration work of the kingdom through the most primitive means, regardless of success or failure, this is a valuable experience."

At present, there is no real technical content in oil exploration technology in the United States, and even one of the most common methods is to find oil by riding a horse in the West cowboy and then "drilling" where the wind blows his hat off.

This method is more "metaphysical" than that of East Africa, but Americans rely on this method to make some people rich overnight.

Of course, this is also related to the westward expansion of the United States, after the discovery of the first oil well, many "madmen" bought land in the west, and then bet on the existence of oil on their land through cowboy hats, which is the real "gamble".

Like East Africa, it is incomprehensible that Ernst has long known that there is an oil "wall" in Turkana province, and Ernst knows that in the past life Ethiopia and Kenya, and at the intersection of Somalia, there is such potential.

"Only when we actually drill an oil well can we turn experience into theory, and then find more oil through theory, so Mr. Saul, what we are doing now can definitely advance the course of human history, even if we don't find oil in the end, we can make discoveries and innovations in the field of geology!" Kars said.

"Don't say such frustrating words, in case you ......" Thor was not finished.

"It's oiled, Captain Thor!"

Thor's mouth was like a light, and Kars was also a little stunned, as soon as he said that he might not find oil, he was slapped in the face, this feeling is indeed very complicated, but it is more exciting.

Amid the loud noise of the steam engine, there was a cheer as the first oil well in East Africa was finally born after three years of "hard" fighting.

The underground "black gold" gushing out of the wellhead may create another "wealth legend" if it were placed in the free world, but in East Africa, where nationalization has become the mainstream, this is the wealth of all East African citizens.

"Don't get too close to avoid the release of harmful gases from the well, and fence this place......," Thor began, drawing on the experience of working in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to direct the oil workers on site.

After three years of working in East Africa, I was finally able to use my expertise, although there was a lot of drilling work before, but most of them were dry wells, but this time it was a real oil well.

(End of chapter)