Based on what we know.
Although the Houthi forces have captured Yemen's capital city.
The actual area they control is still very small.
They only control a few small and medium-sized oil fields.
These oil fields have low oil reserves, and they lack advanced oil exploration and development technology.
They can only use the most primitive methods to extract and transport oil.
This not only depresses oil production but also increases the cost of extraction.
In addition, Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia, which control oil pricing power, deliberately lowered prices.
This resulted in the Houthi forces earning only a meager profit from oil.
They essentially used all of this profit to buy weapons from arms dealers.
Therefore, their priority is to find a medium-sized or large oil field.
At the same time, they need to improve their oil exploration and development technology.
Only then will their organization be able to obtain enough oil and profit.
The oil exploration and development technology isn't a problem, as the game has units like 'Oil Development Companies' and 'Refineries' that can be directly exchanged for.
Right now, he just needs to find a large oil field.
He said, and Hu Jun opened the regional map of the area controlled by his forces again.
As a Middle Eastern country, Yemen naturally wouldn't lack oil beneath its land.
Water, however, is scarce here.
It's essentially impossible to develop agriculture.
Therefore, Hu Jun was determined to find a large oil field.
After outlining a large area, Hu Jun used the one-time oil mineral exploration permission granted by the Newcomer's Gift Pack.
The area he had circled began to be scanned.
The one-time oil mineral exploration permission allows Hu Jun to find the largest oil field within the area he designated.
After only a minute, a red area appeared within the selected area.
At the same time, a message appeared in front of Hu Jun.
【Congratulations player on discovering an oil field with geological reserves of 9,000 tons.】
【Available crude oil reserves: 72 million tons, available natural gas: over 7 billion cubic meters...】
【The system detects that the player does not have relevant extraction or refining factories. The system suggests automatic matching of required building units for the player. Would you like to proceed with the exchange?】
【After exchange, the cost of extraction can be controlled at $15 per barrel.】
An oil field with 9,000 tons of reserves?!
Hu Jun was overjoyed after hearing the game's prompt.
According to standards, oil fields with recoverable reserves of over 500 million tons are considered extra-large, 70-100 million tons are considered large, and those under 70 million tons are considered medium or small.
Moreover, while some oil fields have large reserves, their production may not be high, which is mainly influenced by the driving force of the oil field.
This oil field's recoverable crude oil reserves are 72 million tons, which is quite good.
Furthermore, the location of the oil and the exploration and extraction technology will affect the cost of extraction.
Venezuela, ranked first, has oil reserves of 300.9 billion barrels, with a daily production of around 2 million barrels.
However, their cost of extraction is around $23.5 per barrel.
Saudi Arabia, ranked second, has slightly lower reserves than Venezuela.
But their oil extraction costs are extremely low, generally controlled at $10 per barrel.
Many oil fields have extraction costs as low as $1 per barrel.
China, ranked in the teens, despite possessing powerful oil exploration and extraction technology.
The location and difficulty of extracting oil lead to high extraction costs, which generally stay around $50 per barrel.
Therefore, being able to control the extraction cost at $15 per barrel is quite good.
The lower the extraction cost, the more profit you make.
Hu Jun roughly calculated that one ton of oil is equivalent to seven barrels.
So, the total output of the oil field he discovered could be roughly 600 million barrels.
Based on the current international oil price, the total revenue of this oil field alone would be around $700 to $800 billion.
Of course, this is the total value of the oil field.
Given their current capabilities, being able to extract one-tenth of it per year would be impressive.
Adding the value of the large amount of natural gas produced along with the oil and subtracting the development costs.
They could earn at least $7 billion.
That means this oil field could bring them a total revenue of around $900 billion.
And this is just the first large oil field they have discovered.
Based on the oil and natural gas reserves in Yemen, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
As long as he can fully control Yemen, he can continuously explore and exploit oil and natural gas.
Even if they don't develop any high-tech industries, they can still live a prosperous life like Saudi Arabia, relying on energy sales.
Their wealth source will be extremely stable.
Of course, the prerequisite for all this is that the Houthi forces take control of the entire Yemen.
And they must escape the harassment and invasion of Saudi Arabia, the United States, and other countries.
After all, when you have resources but lack the ability to defend them.
These resources won't lead to a prosperous life, but will instead become your death knell.
Like Iraq, Afghanistan in the past, and Lebanon, Syria, which are frequently in turmoil.
They become fish on a chopping block, where major powers fight for their interests.
However, regardless of anything else, this oil field solves the Houthi forces' most basic economic problems.
Hu Jun immediately, without hesitation, used 300,000 personal prestige points to exchange for the optimized plan provided by the game.
Soon.
An oil exploration center and two refineries rose from the ground in an empty area unseen by others.
The game automatically assigned technicians and workers to these construction units.
Hu Jun doesn't have to worry about anything, he can just lie down and count his money.
However, the 500,000 personal prestige points he had just received were almost completely depleted.
Hu Jun felt very heartbroken.
After all, he still has many weapons and building units that haven't been exchanged.
"Looks like I need to earn personal prestige points quickly if I want to develop quickly!"
Hu Jun muttered to himself with a wry smile, looking at his almost empty personal prestige points.
To earn personal prestige points, the fastest and most direct method is to wage a war.
As long as he wins a war, he can gain a large amount of prestige points from his own forces and the enemy.
"In that case, let's start with the Yemeni government army!"
Hu Jun, with his mind made up, had a sly smile on his lips.
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